eggs or something in my tank

Question

eggs?   Hi, i have noticed what looks like eggs in my tank but am not sure where they came from. It is a fairley new piece of rock they are on (2 weeks) but i didnt notice them before. I have 2 starfish, and about 6 fish none of which are pairs. can you help at all
Thanks

Answer
Hi Wayne,

Live rock can contain an array of marine life, including micro-organisms; most are welcome additions to the home reef aquarium. Some of these hitchhikers can include: various polyps, sponges, fan worms, copepods, amphipods, spaghetti worms, flat worms, glass worms, bristle worms, mollusks like barnacles, sea whips, small species and/or young species of invertebrates, including: crabs, shrimp, and starfish...

Here is a guide to live rock hitchhiker identification:
http://www.worldwidereefers.com/forums/showthread.php?4768-Hitchhiker-id-guide

Here is a "how to" on curing live rock. I am posting this for all beginners who are reading this, and just starting off in the hobby:
http://www.ocreef.com/curing_live_rock

In conclusion, perhaps it does appear to be some kind of eggs... However from the image I cannot determine which species of marine animal these are from. You could ask the dealer whom you've purchased the live rock from, to see if they know what this cold possibly be.

My second guess, is that it's some kind of sponge species, which can often look like a bunch of eggs bunched together... however again from this image I cannot determine which species of sponge it would be...

Keep in mind that whatever they are, they will most likely not survive. I say this because most marine fish well-guard their eggs before and after they hatch. If these eggs were to hatch into their larva stage, usually your resident fish would make a meal of them, or they'll get sucked into the filtration system...

You could place this piece of live rock in a nursery rearing tank for a while, that includes a sponge filter. This would give you a chance to monitor it for a while...

Sincerely,
David - All Experts Editor.