Urgent GSP Covered in Stringy Sponge?

I will post pictures around 530pm EST

Basically I've had this 3" frag of GSP(Green Star Polyps) for a few months. It was one of the few frags I did not ever superglue, just found a tight fit in the LR but was on top of a small ball sponge that I tore away mostly. It appears the ball sponge has been growing under the "skin" of the GSP preventing it from attaching to the rock in this particular section of the GSP patch. Within the past 3 weeks I've noticed some white filament slowly creeping within the GSP patch and as of lately has engulfed a good section and I've torn it away, tried scraping away white stringy fungus looking substance, only to have it return within 2 or 3 days. I'm debating whether to flush this frag or not because I do not have a QT tank, and I would hate for this to spread to my Hammer and Torch Corals, and my Bird of Paradise SPS.

Any insight on what this might be would be great, it looks like pictures people post on ID This, when the ID ends up being some stringy white sponge.

The GSP isn't dying but it isn't growing either, and the parts effected by this "fungus" or "sponge" or "bacteria" is not sprouting during the days, rather it remains retracted in it's purple skin

Thank you anyone who may have some insight on fixing this or what may be the problem, or if you've ever experienced this

 

bump? You people really hate threads w/o pictures!! lol - once I leave class I'll get them up for you junkies

 

Well, without seeing the problem we really don't know what we are up against. That's the sad part. It isn't we are against them but it's like jumping in to murky water... you don't really know what is just beyond the surface so you'd rather wait to check it out further before you go jumping in.

 

Found a few photos here on another 3reef thread:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/id/white-sponge-fungus-112690.html

It looks exactly like this except on rock it's on my GSP:

 

BTW you can't "mostly" remove a sponge and expect it to stay gone. People harvest them from the ocean and claim they will grow back in 1-5 years depending on what kind of sponge they are. They are very resilient as you have noticed. From my understanding what's happening is that I think your GSP is fighting with the sponge and the sponge is growing faster. Was this frag on a plug or something before you stuck it over the sponge? Then I guess the sponge and the GSP both grew out from the plug and now fighting to attach to the rock. You might have to cut the GSP back to the plug if that is the case and start over in another location.

Least from what I read I can give you that much. However, till I see a picture for sure of what is going on that's the best I can do. Probably the same for others.

 

No frag plug to start with, just a patch of purple skin about 3" long and 1" wide. Thought it was a good steal from the $5.99 frag tank

The sponge I placed it near or on was a yellow ball sponge, and yes these things are tough, I've removed a few of them only to have them grow back in two's or three's. Also there is one particular sponge that always is reproducing so I have tiny ball sponges starting here and there where lower flow allows them to grip to rocks or shells.

The type of sponge that's growing on my GSP is not the same as a ball sponge as the photo above shows. I wonder if I can just completely move the GSP to a clear location, and take a toothbrush and scrub away the sponge.

Unfortunately i'm stuck in class for another 2 hours, so pictures will be up as soon as I get home

Thanks for humoring me before I can post my own photos

 

Unfortunately you are going to have to wait for someone with a bit more knowledge of GSP's than myself. Maybe Mr. Bill, 2in10, or Corailline can chime in to help you with this one. I am thinking you should remove it from the tank in maybe a tub of water and clean it like you want in the tub. Then, remove, rinse with a bit of clean tank water(don't dip it in your tank or in the tub you just used, the idea is to rinse it with water that doesn't have particles you just cleaned off in it so maybe dump some tank water over it and let it run back into your cleaning tub, then dispose of the water) then maybe do a freshwater dip and then return it to your tank. That's about all I have. Probably really make it angry... but it might save it.

 

I won't do much more other than fill a cup with tank water, scrub it off, dump cup in sink, refill with more tank water, repeat until clean?

Not sure how long to do a FW dip, never needed to.

Hopefully pictures will bring in more resolutions or ideas.

 

Okay finally got up some pictures!

Like I said before it appears to be a fungus or sponge of some sort that grows in compact strings

Sorry for low quality!
Here you can see the white growth starting to take over the purple skin on the GSP


Here is where the initial GSP was placed, I moved the part that was most affected by the growth to a spot I can more easily work, also you can notice the ball sponge that was growing underneath the GSP

 

Sponges give off toxins to compete for space. Some more potent than others. It's possible the white sponge is engaging chemical warfare on your GSP.