What in the world is this?

[noirsphynx]

When I peared in to my nano this morning I noticed this thing. I have no clue what it is and I don't think it was there yesterday. It's a hard and stuck to the back wall.

[andestang]

Looks like a Chiton, which are harmless.

[justinl]

maybe some kind of bubble snail? Does it move? when you say hard, do you mean it has a shell or that it is rigid?

[noirsphynx]

Originally Posted by justinl

maybe some kind of bubble snail? Does it move? when you say hard, do you mean it has a shell or that it is rigid?

It's rigid and stuck, does not move.

[justinl]

might be a sponge then.

[noirsphynx]

Originally Posted by justinl

might be a sponge then.

I don't see any openings. Don't all sponges have some sort of openings for feeding?

[dsaundry]

It looks like a chitton but they are usually in the sand and not on the glass. If it doesnt move at all I would think it could be a sponge of some type..if nobody here can identify it...razor blade it off and throw it out..

It could be the fish version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"

[justinl]

No many demospongia do not have any large obvious oscula (big holes). All sponges however have small pores called ostia... not always visible to the naked eye.

I don't think it's a chiton... it hasn't moved any and I don't see any of the shell plates. for the record chitons can be anywhere in the tank but usually graze on rocks.

you can scrape it off, but ten bucks says there's others in the tank you just haven't found yet.

[noirsphynx]

Originally Posted by justinl

I don't think it's a chiton... it hasn't moved any and I don't see any of the shell plates. for the record chitons can be anywhere in the tank but usually graze on rocks.

you can scrape it off, but ten bucks says there's others in the tank you just haven't found yet.

I don't think it's a chitton either. It's still in the same place. I found it odd that it would show up overnight that large, I know it wasn't there yesterday. I do a daily tank check to see if there's anything out of the ordinary. It's probably 1/2" long or so. I may scrape it off but I'm so curious to see if anything further happens with it but then again what if something does happen(maybe something growing in there?) and it's a bad thing, lol.

[justinl]

ahh well, such is the nature of the hobby. it's really your choice since so far no one knows what the hell it is. Personally I think a lot of people overestimate hitchhikers and kill a lot of harmless - even beneficial - organisms. I would just let it live and keep an eye on it, and for others like it.

as for not seeing it until today, I don't mean to suggest you don't pay attention to your tank, but things can pop up like that without you noticing; especially if your tank is large. Almost every time I look into my tank I notice something new. Just because you didn't see it until today, doesn't mean it wasn't there yesterday. again, one more beautiful characteristic of the hobby.