They should pop out of the sand when food is put in the tank. You are feeding fish or corals? Is this a newly cycled tank where you just introduced inverts first and haven’t added corals or fish yet?
Tank has been cycled since August. Currently only fish, none are invertebrate eaters (2 clowns, starry blenny, foxface, pintail wrasse, and YWG). I have had inverts for awhile now (2 months), not many since I didn't have crazy algae growth, but was starting to hit the ugly stage and wanted some help with keeping the tank clean. Currently in the tank are 3 nassarius (if they are still alive), 2 prickly cerith, 4 ninja star, 3 blue leg hermit, 3 other larger hermit crabs, 1 skunk cleaner, and a tiger pistol, 75 gal tank.
Just to answer others as well, I used to see the "snorkels" pretty frequently, a couple would come out at night and lay eggs too for the first month or so, and then a week ago after a water change they decided to poke out again, but haven't seen any activity since.
I was away for about a week and a half and when I got back my sand looked like an alien hell-scape covered in what I think are diatoms and cyano, and one of my ninja stars (and maybe another), along with a trochus I haven't seen in a few weeks, I believe are dead. Trying to sort through the outbreak now but I figured lack of presence from the nassarius plus a couple deaths implied the nassarius hadn't made it either. Parameters aren't unbelievably high either, but trying to bring them down. Have seen all the hermits walking around, and both shrimp are fine.
I will try to feed later at night once the lights start to dim and see I can get them to come out.
