SAND TENTACLES ???

mckinleyw · Oct 3, 2017

Could anyone help me id these Please. Some are reddish brown and others are opaque. sorry about pic quality.

Big G · Oct 3, 2017

Hair/spaghetti worm: good guy
https://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/polychaete-terebellid/

Dsnakes · Oct 3, 2017

Big G said:
Hair/spaghetti worm: good guy
https://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/polychaete-terebellid/

+1
Those things can stretch out too. I've seen them reaching out from under my rocks

mckinleyw · Oct 3, 2017

These things pop up everywhere. So they are good? I think they are interesting to watch stretching out lol

Mike N · Oct 3, 2017

mckinleyw said:
These things pop up everywhere. So they are good? I think they are interesting to watch stretching out lol

They are detritivores, very beneficial.

Greybeard · Oct 3, 2017

Wish I could find some... I used to get them from Inland Aquatics, but they're not what they used to be. IPSF has their 'Mama Mia' worms, but I've never had any luck getting these to grow and reproduce in my system. Used to get a few in Garf's Grunge, as well, but they seem to be struggling without LeRoy. Shame, really. With the decline in popularity of deep sand beds, the old reliable suppliers are getting iffy.

mckinleyw · Oct 3, 2017

Greybeard said:
Wish I could find some... I used to get them from Inland Aquatics, but they're not what they used to be. IPSF has their 'Mama Mia' worms, but I've never had any luck getting these to grow and reproduce in my system. Used to get a few in Garf's Grunge, as well, but they seem to be struggling without LeRoy. Shame, really. With the decline in popularity of deep sand beds, the old reliable suppliers are getting iffy.

Hmm interesting. I only have a 1inch sandbed. Fiji pink sand that i actually took out of my 220 and had sitting in a bucket for 4-5 monthes. I rinsed it very well with rodi before i put into my tank. Very interesting that i have so many in a shallow sand bed

Greybeard · Oct 3, 2017

mckinleyw said:
Hmm interesting. I only have a 1inch sandbed. Fiji pink sand that i actually took out of my 220 and had sitting in a bucket for 4-5 monthes. I rinsed it very well with rodi before i put into my tank. Very interesting that i have so many in a shallow sand bed

It's not that spaghetti worms need a DSB... they don't... but a DSB only operates properly if you populate it with micro fauna. It was mainly the DSB folks that were ordering these critters, along with mysid and gammarus shrimps, copepods, amphipods, micro brittle stars, and whatever else we could get our hands on.

I too am running a shallow, large grain sand bed these days. Modern techniques for maintaining low nutrient systems are more effective, and less problematic (not to mention less unsightly!) than DSB's. Still, I must admit, the 240g reef I had about 15 years ago, with 400 lbs of Southdown Sand in the bottom of it, may have been the healthiest, most stable aquarium I have ever maintained... for a while. DSB systems seem to have a finite life expectancy.