i found this sponge in my tank

im not sure if you guys can see it too well but if you can tell me what type of sponge you think it is that would be great! =]

also it may be dieing but im not sure i read somewhere that sponges can be toxic after they die so i need to know if i should be worried.

 

If your talkinng about the greyish brown part, yes it looks like a sponge.
The red looks like a colony of sea squirts,

i wouldnt worry about the small sponges on your rocks posioning your tank, if you had a large sponge, like one you bought from a lfs, then id be concerned.

have no idea exactly what kind of sponge,they come in so many colors and shapes, maybe someone else can help on the name.

 

Julianne, the red structure in question is not a sponge or tunicate at all but a soft coral called Tubipora musica(pipe organ) with polyps retracted!

 

my bad, just looked alot like this tunicate colony i have.

 

I can see your point of view, but if you look closely at tunicates, they have two syphons(inhalent and exhalent).
Good suggestion on the id BluePhish!!!!

 

If it's the grayish-blueish on the pipe organ it look like an invasive sponge, if the pipe organ is not a live on I would take it out and wash the sponge of under high water pressure or let the piece dry out. It will grow over polyps and other low low corals and smother them out, on the other hand if it's a fish only tank I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Actually jcreek the sponge in question looks like its in petty good shape at least the part of it that has spread to the left. I wouldn't be to worried about toxicity though, I have had sponges that up and died on me and they never caused a problem.

I had an great big orange one and a piece of SPS fell over right on top of it and before I noticed it the coral had kill the whole sponge and other than looking a little ugly it didn't cause any problems.

As far as the name or type of sponge I Will leave that up to someone like geekdafied..

+2 on the Pipe organ, But I am not seeing even one polyp extended, is it alive or just a rock with thee skeleton on it?

 

oh sorry to disappoint you guys that pipe organ is dead. right now its a fish and invertebrate only tank but down the road we will be adding corals. im not sure if its dieng or not ive noticed that some parts of the sponge are hard and others are soft. does that mean anything?

 

If you have dying sponge in your tank can this not spike your ammonia?

 

good point your probably right