questions please help

bluedevils38 · Dec 15, 2013

ok so i have a 55 gallon tank with a 20 gal long refugium i custom built and ive had my tank up for about a year now and im getting these white little specs on my rocks and powerheads and glass and im wondering if anyone could tell me what it would be! i was thinking it could be coralline algae but idk! any info will help thanks and all of my water parameter are where their supposed to be

GoTakeANap · Dec 15, 2013

Looks like coralline algae to me. If it is, it should turn purple/reddish over time.

JMSKI333 · Dec 15, 2013

Are these specs moving throughout the tank or stayin put? They could be flat worms.

howaboutme · Dec 15, 2013

Spirorbid worms

tektite · Dec 15, 2013

+1, spirorbid worms.

bluedevils38 · Dec 15, 2013

they stay still im pretty sure there just keeps getting more and more little by little! spirorbid worms what are they? are they good? Bad?

gobeach · Dec 15, 2013

They are considered part of the cuc, I found a nice article, I was curious because I have them also: The Worms Crawl Inâ€¦ by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

excerpt:
Feather-duster worms are not all alike, yet there are sufficient similarities for most taxonomic authorities to put them in the same general group. They are all robust worms, rather broad for their length. Inside the tube the body is regionated. There is a head region, defined by the feeding tentacles called "radioles." Below the head is a region called the "thorax." The major function of this region appears to be that of providing locomotion up and down in the tube. Although the body appendages are reduced from what is seen in free-living worms, they still bear large and evident bristles, which are mostly modified into rows of small gripping hooks.

As far as aquarists are concerned, the worms differ primarily in the construction of their tubes and their sizes. The distinguishing characteristics of feather-duster worms, by family, are:

Family Spirorbidae: small calcareous tubes, tube arranged in spiral on aquarium rocks or wall; the coiled tube is less than one fourth of inch across. They are common hitchhikers into marine aquaria. The most common genus found in reef aquaria is likely Spirorbis. They reproduce well in aquaria and sometimes become very abundant.