Feather duster or tube worm??

gibec · Apr 3, 2022

In between my blastos there is a white tube that is becomming longer and longer and at the tip is a polyp that looks like a mini feather duster. It quickly hides back into its white tube if anything comes to close...

My problem is my blastos is skeletonizing in the base and was wondering if this was the cause. Also i see my hermit crabs clawing away where the skeleton is forming so i thought they were the culprit, but when i ask around some saying they only eat the bacteria that is being formed around the already skeletonizing coral...

If this featherduster/worm is bad for my coral how do i get rid of it?? The white tube is rock hard and i couldnt scratch it off with my metal twizzer. and the polyp hides in its tube too quickly for me to grab.

Thank you

gibec · Apr 3, 2022

You can see on the right the skeleton... the polyps look healthy and eats just fine, but just the stem or the base is not looking so great.

Tankkeepers · Apr 3, 2022

They will not hurt anything hard to see but both mirco feather dusters and tube worms are on this and every coral I have here the main colony in the back

vetteguy53081 · Apr 3, 2022

Tube worm which uses its fan to capture food. Can and may irritate your coral. Scrape off at bottom of base of worm and discard

homer1475 · Apr 3, 2022

Feather duster is a tube worm. lol Feather duster is just the hobby name.

I would say it's fine. Never had a feather duster bother a coral, and I have many of both.

Tankkeepers · Apr 3, 2022

They are beneficial and help remove excess waste and are a good sign you have enoff trace elements in your water

Tankkeepers · Apr 3, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
Tube worm which uses its fan to capture food. Can and may irritate your coral. Scrape off at bottom of base of worm and discard

Not the small ones like that

can and will coexist just fine

touching your coral at all is more harmful the the micro dusters and tube worms that put out a fishing line had them in ever tank for 12 years they hurt nothing

Klyle · Apr 3, 2022

Sounds like a vermitid snail. If it is they usually will have a string coming off it after you feed the fish. If it is and its the only one GET RID OF IT! These things can become plague like and are horrible when you have hundreds growing on your rock. Trust me. Breaking the tube off doesn't kill it. You have to make sure you get the base off which is like trying to get super glue off your coffee table.

Tankkeepers · Apr 3, 2022

homer1475 said:
Feather duster is a tube worm. lol Feather duster is just the hobby name.

I would say it's fine. Never had a feather duster bother a coral, and I have many of both.

Yep but to identify them apart from one another fether duster is used as I have 3 types of tube worms alone

Most also say tube worm meaning fishing line type with feather dusters being seperated

vetteguy53081 · Apr 3, 2022

Klyle said:
Sounds like a vermitid snail. If it is they usually will have a string coming off it after you feed the fish. If it is and its the only one GET RID OF IT! These things can become plague like and are horrible when you have hundreds growing on your rock. Trust me. Breaking the tube off doesn't kill it. You have to make sure you get the base off which is like trying to get super glue off your coffee table.

Not Vermetid which will have a calcareous tube structure and breaking at base WOULD eliminate them- crushing the tube will invite more.

Tankkeepers · Apr 3, 2022

Again they hurt nothing if you have 100s of them you have a difrent problem that needs to be addressed as in to much raw food not being removed as these guys are also part of the normal tank

You all removing the beneficial organisms in your tanks I will never understand

Klyle said:
Sounds like a vermitid snail. If it is they usually will have a string coming off it after you feed the fish. If it is and its the only one GET RID OF IT! These things can become plague like and are horrible when you have hundreds growing on your rock. Trust me. Breaking the tube off doesn't kill it. You have to make sure you get the base off which is like trying to get super glue off your coffee table.

homer1475 · Apr 3, 2022

Klyle said:
Sounds like a vermitid snail. If it is they usually will have a string coming off it after you feed the fish. If it is and its the only one GET RID OF IT! These things can become plague like and are horrible when you have hundreds growing on your rock. Trust me. Breaking the tube off doesn't kill it. You have to make sure you get the base off which is like trying to get super glue off your coffee table.

Vermetids are also black or brown, and always in a curly que. Micro feather dusters tubes are white.

Klyle · Apr 3, 2022

Tankkeepers said:
Again they hurt nothing if you have 100s of them you have a difrent problem that needs to be addressed as in to much raw food not being removed as these guys are also part of the normal tank

You all removing the beneficial organisms in your tanks I will never understand

I had a problem. You're right I was feeding way too much. I don't anymore but they're still there

Tankkeepers · Apr 3, 2022

Klyle said:
I had a problem. You're right I was feeding way too much. I don't anymore but they're still there

They will slowly die off over time as they starve if correct husbandry is in place but it will take a long time as with anything in this Hobbie

Klyle · Apr 3, 2022

homer1475 said:
Vermetids are also black or brown, and always in a curly que. Micro feather dusters tubes are white.

A lot of the ones I have don't curl up, just grow straight. Maybe I don't know what they are then

Klyle · Apr 3, 2022

Tankkeepers said:
They will slowly die off over time as they starve if correct husbandry is in place but it will take a long time as with anything in this Hobbie

The tubes stay behind though. I have to break them off

Tankkeepers · Apr 3, 2022

Tubes don't hurt nothing coral will just over grow it not sure what the problem is here

Klyle said:
The tubes stay behind though. I have to break them off

homer1475 · Apr 3, 2022

Klyle said:
A lot of the ones I have don't curl up, just grow straight. Maybe I don't know what they are then

Feather dusters have, well a, "feather duster", or crown as their feeding aparatus that sticks out of the tube. They also have white tubes. The "feather duster/crown" can be many colors, but very visible when feeding.

Vermetids cast a mucus "net" when they feed, the tubes are always curly que at the base, and never white.

Could also be a barnacle which often has a "crown" that looks similar to an eyelash, and in an even smaller tube.