Tube worms in the rocks?

[mikedgrok]

Hi all,

I have noticed a few of these things growing / living around various parts of my rockwork ... And a few more in number than several weeks ago. I think one or a few of these came in on a frag and now I've got quite a few.

They protrude maybe 0.25 inch long, and appear to have strands come out from the end (to catch food particles, guessing). No feather duster-like crown that I can see.


Any thoughts as to what these are? Good? Bad? Jump for joy??

Thank you so much!!

 

[Alaeriel]

Those look like vermetid snails to me

 

[vtecintegra]

I put them in the top five worst pest to have. And they remind me of roaches. For every one you see, there are five more hidden some where that you don't. If they're happy, then can over run the rock.

 

[mikedgrok]

Thx for the response guys ... I'm actually talking about the darker, purple-ish tubes coming off the rock.

You've got me now wondering about the white flecks as well. I think might be sand. But now you've got me worried there too.

Any idea on the tube worm creatures?

 

[Sharkbait19]

The purple tubes are the vermetids. The small white stuff looks to be a mix of sand, feather dusters, and spirobid worms (all fine).

 

[mikedgrok]

Acknowledged ... and yikes. Okay. Time to do my reading ... I know exactly which LFS I will not be buying coral from ever again!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Acknowledged ... and yikes. Okay. Time to do my reading ... I know exactly which LFS I will not be buying coral from ever again!

No escaping hitchhikers wherever they are. Be grateful you caught it early though.
Try to break of the whole thing and crush it, then super glue over where it was. Bumblebee snails are supposed to help (mine didn’t though).

 

[mikedgrok]

Thanks again to all for your help today. I do think I've caught this fairly early. At least, I'm still feeling hopeful.

I've gone around where I see the lovely mucous strands and found most if not all of these active buggers. Two of them are on the frag plug of a lovely alveopora - will have to wait til the coral retracts to go for them.

Question here is ... I have glued over the tubes ... Will these snails be able to move elsewhere and build new tubes?? Guess I'll find out

Satisfying for the moment to see this super glue around the tank. Hopefully some coralline finds it in a few weeks.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Snails will die inside the tubes as they cannot feed. It’s important to break of the tip first though I believe.

 

[mikedgrok]

Quick update here ... while it is still early, I am pleased to report that after superglue over ~10-12 tunnels, I am seeing no 'webs' during feedings, including coral feeding via broadcast ... which is hugely satisfying.

More diligence to be done here, along with some patience.... but wanted to thank you guys for the quick and helpful replies!!

 

[timry2]

How do you get ride of them when there’s too many to crazy glue

 

[timry2]

So how do you get rid of them when there’s too many to crazy glue

 

[Pistondog]

How do you get ride of them when there’s too many to crazy glue

Some report bumblebee snails are predators

 

[mikedgrok]

So how do you get rid of them when there’s too many to crazy glue

I've glued about 30 of these since I started this thread. Really not so bad. I add another 2-3 every few days to that count. Wondering if they will eventually stop spreading. Also not sure how long it takes for them to die after glueing. I do want to take some of the glue off!

Fortunately these guys are super easy to find during feeding times or when stirring up sand.

 

[timry2]

I missed the boat, not realizing how fast they multiply. I feed frozen food and noticed they are in that area mostly. So ill hold off on frozen food, start a pellet diet. How long does it take to starve them out. If they die all at one time i would be okay. I have extra skimming equipment i can use to overskim

 

[mikedgrok]

I missed the boat, not realizing how fast they multiply. I feed frozen food and noticed they are in that area mostly. So ill hold off on frozen food, start a pellet diet. How long does it take to starve them out. If they die all at one time i would be okay. I have extra skimming equipment i can use to overskim

I'm going to do a test when back from vacation this week and remove the glue from a few of the tubes I had dealt with in the beginning. See if they respond over a few days to feedings etc.

Vacation with the apex neptune and trident isn't so bad