White Circle Eggs

[pugpet]

When cleaning my tank today I found a perfect circle about 1/2" in diameter that looked like a continous long string formed into a circle placed on the back glass of the tank. Has anyone seen anything like this? I tried to take a picture but due to location could not get one to come out

[Frogfish]

sounds like it could be snail eggs. But of course a picture would help.

[zhenya]

Hi pugpet,

When cleaning my tank today I found a perfect circle about 1/2" in diameter that looked like a continous long string formed into a circle placed on the back glass of the tank. Has anyone seen anything like this? I tried to take a picture but due to location could not get one to come out

I agree that it could be snail eggs, my Cerith snails used to lay eggs in that pattern.But, of course, it could be many other things trying to reproduce. Can you tell us more about your tank, livestok?

[pugpet]

Zhenya.. Sorry for the very late reply. I have been in and out on business lately. In reply to your question regarding the type of livestock. Here is the list. My tank size is a 58 gallon and has been up and running for close to one year.

Livestock:
Fish: 1 Orange Diamond Back Goby
1 Flame Hawkfish
1 Foxface
1 Spiny Box puffer (1 inch)
2 yellowtail Damsel
2 Percula Clown (Black)

Cleaners:
Nassarius Snails
Asteea Conehead Snails
Turbo Snails
Banded Trochus Snails
Blue and Red leg hermit crabs

Coral: Button Polyp
Sea Mat
Gold Xenia
White Bubble
Green Brain
Fiji Pom
Flower Leather
Fuzzy Green and Maroon Mushrooms
Spagetti Finger
Anemonie (bubble tip)

Recently have seen at least three of these same circular egg shapes in the tank and have noticed new sand sifting and turbo snails on my glass. I hope this is what I am producing. My concerns came when I found two nubibranches in my tank.

[Ninong]

When cleaning my tank today I found a perfect circle about 1/2" in diameter that looked like a continous long string formed into a circle placed on the back glass of the tank.

Was this 1/2" diameter formation a simple closed circle or was it a spiral? Some snails lay their egg strands in formation but it is usually a zigzag pattern. Ceriths are known for this egg-laying formation. They lay their eggs in the same pattern in which they graze.

On the other hand, nudibranchs are known to lay their egg strands in a spiral. Most start the spiral from the inside and work out but a few start the spiral from the outside and work in. I'm not sure if nudibranchs would lay their egg spirals on a vertical substrate such as the walls of the tank rather than on the live rock.

[Ninong]

Recently have seen at least three of these same circular egg shapes in the tank...

Are we talking about egg strands in a circle formation approximately 1/2" in diameter again? Were they on the glass again?

...and have noticed new sand sifting and turbo snails on my glass.

If by "new" you mean baby snails, it is almost a certainty that your Nassarius are not reproducing successfully in your tank. They have pelagic larval stages. Some Turbo snails do have direct reproduction but it's still highly unlikely that most Turbos will successfully reproduce in a typical reef tank. What often happens is that Collonista snails will suddenly appear out of nowhere and since they look like baby Turbos (1/4" across), aquarists think that their Turbos are reproducing.

As far as Nassarius, sometimes people will see tiny Columbellids in their aquarium and think that they are baby Nassarius. Columbellids will easily reproduce in most reef tanks, as will Collonistas. Stomatella varia will also reproduce like crazy in our tanks but they cannot possibly be mistaken for either Nassarius or Turbos.

I hope this is what I am producing.

See above.

My concerns came when I found two nubibranches in my tank.

Did you remove them? How large were they? Are these really small (1/4") or were they larger? Were they white or some other color?

[pugpet]

Thanks for responding to my thread Ninong. In response to your question are the egg formations in a spiral shape?..yes they are, and all three have been found on the glass. I have searched the rocks as well and have not noticed any usual formations or white discolorations. Also the Nubibranches that I found were both different in shape and color. The first Nubi that I found was pink in color and mimiked the shape and color of my Fiji Poms. The second that I found was pure white in color. Both of these Nubi's were approximately 3/4 inch in lenth and about a 1/4 inch in diameter. I removed them both, only b/c I was unsure of their intentions towards my soft corals.

[Ninong]

Also the Nubibranches that I found were both different in shape and color. The first Nubi that I found was pink in color and mimiked the shape and color of my Fiji Poms. The second that I found was pure white in color. Both of these Nubi's were approximately 3/4 inch in lenth and about a 1/4 inch in diameter. I removed them both, only b/c I was unsure of their intentions towards my soft corals.

It was a good idea to remove the nudibranchs. All nudibranchs are carnivorous with specialized feeding habits. When we discover them in our reef tanks, it usually means they were imported with their preferred prey item, something we paid good money for.