help me identify what's in my sand

Thomas36 · Jan 1, 2016

Hey guys,
Someone had given me 450 gallon saltwater tank as I'm sure some of you have seen I opposed to numerous questions about moving the tank etc. The move was a success when I got the tank for my friend he told me make sure I don't play with the sand as it was teeming with life so I spent a few weeks visually inspecting this and see if I could see anything and I could not hello I recently I started seeing things protruding out of the sand they appear to release the same sticky string than enemies do when attempting to feed I was kind of hoping you guys could help me identify what they are

vic5hands · Jan 1, 2016

Tube worms

Thomas36 · Jan 1, 2016

Are tube worms benificial?

Justiful · Jan 1, 2016

Thomas36 said:
Are tube worms benificial?

Yes, are they alive? What colors did you get? Some of them are really expensive.

Justiful · Jan 1, 2016

Thomas36 said:
Are tube worms benificial?

Yes. Are they alive or just shells? If you see the feather duster pop out you know it's alive. Some of them actually cost a fair amount.

Thomas36 · Jan 1, 2016

I got the tank from someone so I'm not sure I haven't seen any feather dusters coming out I've only noticed one having a strand hanging out. This one looks like it has some thing coming out of it the rest are just poking out of the sand but I dont see anything 9n any if the other ones

Justiful · Jan 1, 2016

Awww thought they where feather duster.

Vermetid Gastropod, 99% sure from the picture you just posted.

Both live in tubes and without them popping out it hard to know from the tube. They are not bad IMO, I have some in my tank.

Lionfish Lair · Jan 1, 2016

The second pic could be a vermetid because of the casting mucous looking stuff, but here's my confusion....

Is the top picture the same critter as the bottom for sure? Vermetids don't often have their homes in the middle of the sand bed. They generally don't have that general growth pattern either. It kind of looks like there's sand around those tubes, which doesn't sound like a vermetid, but another critter, a Chaetopterid or Spionid worms. They also have two tentacles that peek out of a tube and build their tubes with a sticky substance. Could it be either of those?