Help!!! I need an ID!

[Fin-up reefing]

I just bought a reef tank on Craigslist again haha and these redish brown stringy tentacle things have been holding my crabs and fish down... What are they?

 

[COreef8]

I just bought a reef tank on Craigslist again haha and these redish brown stringy tentacle things have been holding my crabs and fish down... What are they?

Looks like spaghetti worms to me. They are actually beneficial and typically do not cause any problems so I wouldn't worry about it. Curious what you mean by holding your crabs and fish down though?

 

[Fin-up reefing]

They wrap around them and then they can't move

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

I have them in my tank no problems. Good to have IMO

 

[COreef8]

They wrap around them and then they can't move

That's crazy! If you can get a picture of that, it would definitely be a contender for photo of the month. I've never heard of that happening.

 

[motortrendz]

Hmmm. I'd love to see that. Are the fish getting held down and eventually get away? Or are they dying? Maybe very weak and landing in the worms? Just a thought bc I've never heard of that happening with a healthy fish.

 

[Fin-up reefing]

Hmmm. I'd love to see that. Are the fish getting held down and eventually get away? Or are they dying? Maybe very weak and landing in the worms? Just a thought bc I've never heard of that happening with a healthy fish.

I don't have a pic, the fish is very healthy. It's a sixline wrasse

 

[motortrendz]

Did it get stuck? How did it get away?

 

[ScottR]

They wrap around them and then they can't move

Do you have video or pics? I’ve never heard of this before. So they wrap around the fish and crabs, hold them down and then let them go?