Pink Orbs

[ox5477]

Hey there, since nobody is looking at my tank thread, I will post here and see if anyone know what the hell these things are. They are small hot pink orbs that are bunched together. It almost looks like eggs, but I don't have any mating fish (or atleast I don't think so, have two yellow fairy wrasses). I found the bunching of orbs when I was xfering my rockwork over to the new tank from the old and they were hidden inside a little cave made between two rocks. In the picture they are in the center of the pic in the shadowed area of the rocky outcrop. Sorry about fuzziness but with my camera not being farsighted (cannot focus on anything within three ft) this was the best I can get.

 

[Colin_T]

why is the picture blue?
any chance of taking a pic with the normal lights on so we can see it a bit better?

 

[ox5477]

ya, that was because of the actinics. I took em real quick so this was the only pic I got.

Normal lighting prob wouldn't help with my camera. but it looks like a stack of pink round balls stuck together.

 

[Colin_T]

could be octopus or cuttlefish eggs. Maybe nudibranch eggs. How big are they?

 

[ox5477]

octopus or cuddlefish? where the f*** would they come from? I had the 30 set-up for close to a year with no new additions so whatever it is, it has grown in that tank. They are maybe 1/8 to 1/4" in diameter. not that big individually. but the mass itself is just under maybe 3/4" around. But I seriously doub they octopus or cuddlefish eggs....

 

[SkiFletch]

Tough to say, pic isn't the greatest. But if it's not a sponge, chances are it might be wrasse eggs. Watch em closely and see if they change

 

[ox5477]

ya, well I don't think pics are gonna get better. I tried to get some better pictures tonight but everything looked like crap. Its my cam

Its def not a sponge, im pretty sure of that. It would be cool if my wrasses bred but with there being virtually no info out there I can find on wrasse breeding (as it's pretty rare I guess in home aquairia due to normal large "Harem" style family pods in nature), I'm wondering. Maybe something will happen.

 

[Colin_T]

they are not wrasse eggs. Wrasses scatter their eggs into the water column.

I wasn't sure how long the rock had been in the tank for. If it was relatively new it could have octopus or cuttlefish eggs on. But if it has been in your tank for more than a few months it won't be that.

Can you take a picture with just normal lighting. Stand back 3ft to do so and just crop the image down after you have taken the picture. We only need to see the actual thing, whatever it is.

Could be nudibranch eggs or possibly little sea squirts.

 

[ox5477]

Got a better pic. anybody know what these are now?

http/i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/ox54...dots_5_6_08.jpg

 

[ox5477]

bumpy bump bump

 

[SkiFletch]

My guess is one of the thousands of Tunicate species inhabiting the reefs. They typically inhabit places just under ledges like that. Do they change in size or move at all?

 

[Colin_T]

I can see coralline algae and a yellow thing. The roundish pink thing to the right of the yellow looks like it might have a couple of holes in it. If so it could be a sea squirt of some sort. They have a couple of holes for breathing and filtering the water. They grow slowly over time and normally prefer shaded sites. They are like jelly sacs with a couple of small snorkles and come in a huge range of colours.
The other thing would be a cluster of dottyback (Pseudochomis) eggs but if you don't have dottybacks in the tank then it won't be that. Also their eggs hatch after about 5 days.

 

[ox5477]

well I'm glad the semi-better picture helped....

ski......I don't see any noticable change in size and no, they haven't moved from where I have seen them first, though the second colony to the left of the yellow splotch is new only about a week ago....


colin..... it is a colony of small pink orbs, the same as the colony to the left of the yellow splotch. I don't dottybacks so no eggs. they could possibly be sea squirts, but it looks likes a colony of small organisms, not one large organism with a breathing snorkel and mouth

 

[SkiFletch]

Well it's not likely to be eggs. Anything small enough to fit in your aquarium will have eggs that hatch very quickly... It's only the big things like sharks really that have long incubation periods.

 

[ox5477]

well after researching the fish I have, ya, it wouldnt be eggs due to the way the fish rerpoduce... so I'm think it's gotta be either small sponges or sea squirt colonies or some small coral polyps that are non-photosynthetic that feed on any leftover mysis I feed my fish maybe?