My 17g's been inseminated!

DurocShark · Apr 28, 2016

My 17 gallon tank has been fallow for 2 months (velvet). I have a couple of corals and hermit crabs, and one big nassarius snail. I drop a couple of PeeWee pellets in every month or so for the crabs to get some protein, but that's it. Many water changes since going fallow.

Tonight I look over at the tank and there's a swarm of what can only be described as sperm. I assume they're worms of some kind, but they aren't settling on anything. Just swimming around in the water column.

I also found a larger worm on the glass, so I'm thinking offspring of some kind?

Best pic I could get with my Lumia 950 (DSLR is at work for a project). Flash on because they move too fast, and lots of LED light:

Here's the bigger worm (no flash):

Is this something I should worry about? This tank will soon be a coral holding tank while I replace my 70 gallon with a new acrylic.

KorL · Apr 28, 2016

hard to see the pic, but my guess is little shrimp

Humblefish · Apr 28, 2016

Not sure about pic #1, but pic #2 looks like a bristle worm to me. They are beneficial detritivores, just don't pet one.

[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG] for Id of pic #1.

Diesel · Apr 28, 2016

With no fish in the tank you'll see al kinds of critters as there isn't a predator.
Have no clue on pic #1, @Lionfish Lair she's our treasure chest it it come down to stuff like that.

DurocShark · Apr 29, 2016

I figured it for a bristle worm too. But what's weird is this is a dry rock tank. So whatever's in there came in on the couple of coral frags or the hermits.

Diesel · Apr 29, 2016

DurocShark said:
I figured it for a bristle worm too. But what's weird is this is a dry rock tank. So whatever's in there came in on the couple of coral frags or the hermits.

Yes that's right, if you don't dip your corals everything that's on there and you be surprised how much that can be will house your tank.
There are good guys which are beneficial for your tank and there are BAD guys that you never want to bring in, for that most ppl dip their corals in a solution mix (I use Bayer) to kill off everything that's alive on your coral.
Most solution mixes if not all won't kill the eggs for that you can quarantine your corals not a whole lot of hobbyist do it but it's the same as quarantine your fish in order not to bring any diseases in you tank.