Strange Egg Sacks

[Squishie89]

A few months ago these egg sacks appeared. It would be a few. It now has gotten out of hand. They cover anything they can. They definitely prefer the bottom of the tank, never going more than ~4" off the sand bed. Sometimes they "hatch" and you can see 1-2 dozen dots around the egg, no sign of movement though. 

 

Only inhabitants are; 1 clownfish, 1 gumdrop coral croucher, 1 nerite snail, cleaner shrimp, 3 nassarius snail, 1 cerith snail, 4 miniature nassarius snails, 1 astrea snail, 2 trochus snails, 1 filter feeding clam thing. No corals, no macro algae. 

 

Tank was started with dead rock and sand. Last time a live critter was added was over a year ago. Making my own water at home with RODI and Reef Crystals. 

 

Also have possibly diatoms in tank, and also strange squishy brown gunk. But one thing at a time 

 

 

[ReefdUp]

It'd be awesome to see these under a microscope. If you come to Fragfest, I'd love to get a sample from you to look at.

[DaJMasta]

They look like nerite snail eggs, I've seen some like that on my tanks, though I don't remember seeing them on the rocks, basically just on the glass.  Possibly collonista snails?

I know nerites can't actually reproduce in only saltwater, but I don't know if the egg sacs can still hatch, maybe that's a point in the collonista direction.  Maybe some combination with something else, like spiorbid worms?

Edited October 2, 2022 by DaJMasta

[Squishie89]

1 hour ago, ReefdUp said:

It'd be awesome to see these under a microscope. If you come to Fragfest, I'd love to get a sample from you to look at.

I unfortunately was unable to get that Saturday off from work. But I do live not too far that I could possibly swing by. I tried on my crappy not expensive microscope and got zilch. I haven't tried on the better one we have at work. 

1 hour ago, DaJMasta said:

They look like nerite snail eggs, I've seen some like that on my tanks, though I don't remember seeing them on the rocks, basically just on the glass.  Possibly collonista snails?

I know nerites can't actually reproduce in only saltwater, but I don't know if the egg sacs can still hatch, maybe that's a point in the collonista direction.  Maybe some combination with something else, like spiorbid worms?

These eggs don't lay flat like a nerites, a lot of the eggs are partially attached. And my nerite is at least 10 years old and has been alone for a long time. 

There's no tiny snails in the tank that I've seen. I've had collonista snails before. 

Not spiorbid worms, unless these are some weird broken kind, as there are no filters being put out. 

[DaJMasta]

Do they definitely hatch and go away on their own?  If not, maybe foraminifera?  Usually they have some sort of geometric element to them, but it would likely be visible with a magnifier without having to go to a full microscope.

In any case, a magnifying lens of some sort may be helpful in figuring it out.  They sort of look like reddish flatworms I've had on algae before, but of course while some can be round, they move around and usually don't look round, so I really doubt it's something like that.

[Squishie89]

1 hour ago, DaJMasta said:

Do they definitely hatch and go away on their own?  If not, maybe foraminifera?  Usually they have some sort of geometric element to them, but it would likely be visible with a magnifier without having to go to a full microscope.

In any case, a magnifying lens of some sort may be helpful in figuring it out.  They sort of look like reddish flatworms I've had on algae before, but of course while some can be round, they move around and usually don't look round, so I really doubt it's something like that.

They don't always hatch, or if they do, we don't always see the groups of tiny dots. I've circled the areas with the tiny dots before to be able to come back the next day and look, and it will be the same. It's almost like they hatch and spread out a teeny bit and then either die or attach to the tank. It's so very bizarre. I can't guarantee if the egg sacks go away on their own. I'd need to do more watching. 

 

However I did look up foraminifera, and this picture seems to be on the right track. I have seen some have anchor tendrils, but not all of them. 

 

I think you are right, I need to get some better macro or micro scopes on these. I'll try and bring a sample to work and see what I can't find. 

[Squishie89]

Got in a new phone macro lens and got these pictures. Definitely leaning more towards the foraminifera. 

[Origami]

Cool pics, Jessica!

[DaJMasta]

Well they certainly have those little filaments, but I don't know if I'm any closer to being sure, haha.  I wonder if that central larger thing with the filaments is a foram and the others are something else or maybe developing offspring for it.

There isn't any chance that they come off of the glass, do they?  I'm not so far away and could take a look under a microscope to try and get some even more zoomed in images if you were curious, but I wonder if they would even come off intact.  Maybe a more elaborate way could be to magnet a few glass microscope slides to the side of the tank where they like to grow and wait for some to take hold.

[Squishie89]

On 10/21/2022 at 12:34 AM, DaJMasta said:

Well they certainly have those little filaments, but I don't know if I'm any closer to being sure, haha.  I wonder if that central larger thing with the filaments is a foram and the others are something else or maybe developing offspring for it.

There isn't any chance that they come off of the glass, do they?  I'm not so far away and could take a look under a microscope to try and get some even more zoomed in images if you were curious, but I wonder if they would even come off intact.  Maybe a more elaborate way could be to magnet a few glass microscope slides to the side of the tank where they like to grow and wait for some to take hold.

I honestly don't know how they do what they do. They are starting to cover the rocks as well. 

I can put a shell in and they'll cover it and I could put it in a container.