ID please

[rookiereeferchicago]

Do you guys know what these tiny "post" looking things are on my rocks? When I stirred my sand bed they all released substances that look like spider webs. They look and seem harmless.

 

[P-Dub]

Better pics would be helpful but based on what I can see and your sliming description I would bet Hydroides elegans.

 

[rookiereeferchicago]

I tried taking better pictures. I literally have hundreds of these boogers. How do I get rid of them?

 

[S.O.MLemos]

They look like little feather dusters to me but they shouldn’t slime. Are you sure the slime isn’t from something else and just caught on them from stirring?

 

[ntayler]

Definitely look like Vermatid snails, bane of my existence as well. Haven’t done much harm to me thus far, although their mucus webs I’ve heard can irritate snails

 

[Jose Mayo]

They are vermetid snails, their feeding webs (mucus nets) can irritate corals ... the way to get rid of them, over time, is to break their shells ("tubes") one by one, with a sharp stainless steel rod, or a long screwdriver.

Best regards

 

[ntayler]

Irritate corals...not snails. I’ve heard their numbers self regulate based on nutrients, although mine boomed with zero PO4 and no3. Nothing eats them and there really is no getting rid of them short of manual removal or covering tubes with super glue. Neither of which are practical at the rate they reproduce

 

[S.O.MLemos]

This stuff is good to know because I have them too but was told they were something else. Thanks guys

 

[P-Dub]

Definitely, Vermetus Sp.