Help with ID of possible pest

[Afaylenerich88]

Going to use attachments instead of direct photos.

Any help with ID of this creature would be great. Thanks.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R!
Looks like your snail has a little feather duster friend Harmless

 

[Afaylenerich88]

I just hope it's not burrowing so deep in shell that it's acutely feeding off the snail while it's alive? Not sure how this will effect snail in long run.

 

[AcroNem]

Agreed, feather duster

 

[Crabs McJones]

I just hope it's not burrowing so deep in shell that it's acutely feeding off the snail while it's alive? Not sure how this will effect snail in long run.

It won't, it's a filter feeder, so the part that you see is where it collects particulates from the water and eats them. Not harming the snail at all

 

[Afaylenerich88]

Ahh, okay. The only ones I've ever seen are Hawaiian feathers. But they have a shell that looks like a cat turd. And are in the sand when I seen them. I hope it survives. Do they reproduce a sexual?

 

[AcroNem]

Ahh, okay. The only ones I've ever seen are Hawaiian feathers. But they have a shell that looks like a cat turd. And are in the sand when I seen them. I hope it survives. Do they reproduce a sexual?

Yes there are feather dusters that build a calcium tube and others that build a sediment tube using the too-large-to-eat particles it catches. Some of the small species can reproduce in aquaria but it depends on the amount of particulates in your system. Often they won't become a nuisance or too abundant.

 

[Afaylenerich88]

Updated pictures. Has grown quite a bit, then again I don't run a skimmer so I'm sure there is enough food to keep this guy happy