Growing on my live rock

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Hi, could anyone help with an Id please, this guy started really small on my live rock and has been growing over the last 3 weeks, it’s started to spread too. The tank is a seahorse tank so just wanting to make sure it’s safe. Thanks

hitchy.jpg
 
Hi, could anyone help with an Id please, this guy started really small on my live rock and has been growing over the last 3 weeks, it’s started to spread too. The tank is a seahorse tank so just wanting to make sure it’s safe. Thanks

hitchy.jpg
Very cool looking. It's a worm of some kind. Filter feeder from the looks. Someone here will know what it is..
 
It doesn’t move at all, at first there was just one, now there is three right near each other.
If it was a sea cucumber would it be moving around?
Are they safe in my tank?
 
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It looks most like a sea cucumber but you're right, those don't usually spread. It's possible it could be some kind of anemone, but it's not one I've seen before. It looks a tiny bit like a hellfire anemone, but different in a lot of ways too. Tagging along to learn more!
 
It looks most like a sea cucumber but you're right, those don't usually spread. It's possible it could be some kind of anemone, but it's not one I've seen before. It looks a tiny bit like a hellfire anemone, but different in a lot of ways too. Tagging along to learn more!
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not Not the best pics but I think you can make out the mouth.
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These pictures make me think its definitely a sea cucumber. With anemones, the flat disc around the mouth is almost always the widest and largest part by far. With these, you can see there is a very large, thick body behind it extending into the rocks.
 
Definitely a hidden sea cucumber (Pseudothyone belli). I would think it should be harmless, they are filter feeders and don’t have a sting that I know of. The only thing to worry about is the general sea cucumber warning, that they can release toxins when they die or are disturbed. Probably best to just leave it or remove the whole rock (seems to happy and growing though, I think it’s pretty cool, I would probably leave and just keep a close eye on it, if you notice a decline, remove the rock).
 
It doesn’t move at all, at first there was just one, now there is three right near each other.
If it was a sea cucumber would it be moving around?
Are they safe in my tank?
Some sea cucumbers like to just pick a spot and stay there, so it might just decide not to move. Given that you said this one started real small and kept growing, it's possible you just had all three come in at the same time, possibly from the same batch of baby sea cucumbers. If that's the case you either could have just missed them because they were so small, or the other two may have just moved over there because the conditions there are more favorable for their larger size than the previous area they were in.

Regardless, most sea cucumbers are generally safe in reef tanks (not much tries to eat them, so generally you don't need to worry about them getting overly stressed), but you should probably make sure your equipment is sea cucumber safe (i.e. you want to make sure they can't get pureed by going into one of your powerheads or something), and - as was mentioned above - they can release toxins when they die, so you'll want to keep an eye out for that. A lot of sea cucumbers will give you some sort of warning before they die (such as contracting to look short and squat - a defense mechanism/sign of extreme distress that they use to try and escape predators/death - or ejecting a cloud of toxins - because of how this actually works, the cucumber generally dies after releasing the toxins), and some of them, as long as they don't get hyper distressed, (as I understand it) won't intentionally release toxins in your tank - they just die like a normal animal, so as long as you remove the body fast enough, it won't poison your tank.

On the off chance that they do decide to release toxins into your tank, if you catch it early enough, you can run carbon, do a big water change, and (if necessary) transfer your livestock to another tank. I would strongly recommend using protective equipment in this case as some sea cucumbers when they release toxins can be dangerous to humans, but, ideally you wouldn't need to worry about it. Ideally, you'd just remove the cucumber either soon before or soon after it dies (the people I've talked to said they didn't need to run carbon or anything when theirs died in their tank, so as long as you catch it before the body starts degrading you should pretty much be fine as I understand it).

Lots of scary info there, but generally sea cucumbers are safe to keep, and as long as they are physically safe from harm in your tank the chances of them "cuke nuking" it by releasing toxins into your tank are very slim.

Hope this helps!
 
Some sea cucumbers like to just pick a spot and stay there, so it might just decide not to move. Given that you said this one started real small and kept growing, it's possible you just had all three come in at the same time, possibly from the same batch of baby sea cucumbers. If that's the case you either could have just missed them because they were so small, or the other two may have just moved over there because the conditions there are more favorable for their larger size than the previous area they were in.

Regardless, most sea cucumbers are generally safe in reef tanks (not much tries to eat them, so generally you don't need to worry about them getting overly stressed), but you should probably make sure your equipment is sea cucumber safe (i.e. you want to make sure they can't get pureed by going into one of your powerheads or something), and - as was mentioned above - they can release toxins when they die, so you'll want to keep an eye out for that. A lot of sea cucumbers will give you some sort of warning before they die (such as contracting to look short and squat - a defense mechanism/sign of extreme distress that they use to try and escape predators/death - or ejecting a cloud of toxins - because of how this actually works, the cucumber generally dies after releasing the toxins), and some of them, as long as they don't get hyper distressed, (as I understand it) won't intentionally release toxins in your tank - they just die like a normal animal, so as long as you remove the body fast enough, it won't poison your tank.

On the off chance that they do decide to release toxins into your tank, if you catch it early enough, you can run carbon, do a big water change, and (if necessary) transfer your livestock to another tank. I would strongly recommend using protective equipment in this case as some sea cucumbers when they release toxins can be dangerous to humans, but, ideally you wouldn't need to worry about it. Ideally, you'd just remove the cucumber either soon before or soon after it dies (the people I've talked to said they didn't need to run carbon or anything when theirs died in their tank, so as long as you catch it before the body starts degrading you should pretty much be fine as I understand it).

Lots of scary info there, but generally sea cucumbers are safe to keep, and as long as they are physically safe from harm in your tank the chances of them "cuke nuking" it by releasing toxins into your tank are very slim.

Hope this helps!
Mine has been in the same rock for at least 3 years. Banded pattern on the body. Very thorny. I've never seen all of him and don't know what it is exactly. Here's a better pic I hope.
 
Mine has been in the same rock for at least 3 years. Banded pattern on the body. Very thorny. I've never seen all of him and don't know what it is exactly. Here's a better pic I hope.
 
@Duncan62 The photo's not showing for me. A lot of people have been having problems with the photos no uploading lately. Some people have had better luck uploading screenshots of the original photos if that helps.
 
Ok, i have some better pictures. Thanks for all the help so far. The rock these are on is very thin, there is nowhere for a hidden body, you can see in these pictures that some of them have a stem. I have found 6 of these in the tank and they seem to be popping up in clusters.
 

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Ok, i have some better pictures. Thanks for all the help so far. The rock these are on is very thin, there is nowhere for a hidden body, you can see in these pictures that some of them have a stem. I have found 6 of these in the tank and they seem to be popping up in clusters.
They're beautiful. Cucumber or filter feeding worm no matter. Filter feeders are most often harmless and can be a good indicator of water quality. I most certainly would not remove them unless a problem in the future. My favorite part of this hobby is the cool creatures you get for free. Lol. Enjoy your creatures.
 

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