What the freak are THESE now?

Bear with me....I have no way to get pics of these thingy's. All I can do is describe them.

The past few days I have seen these very tiny, very thin...uh....critters?....in my tank. At first I thought maybe it was just a hair (only saw 1 in the beginning), but then I noticed the sucker move and react. It's very fine, like a strand of silk or spider web, white, and apparently elastic. It/they can extend themselves waaaaaaaay out from where they are sitting/anchored/dug in/whatever. Now I see LOTS of them. They react and will completely retract if disturbed. What in the H.E.Double toothpicks are they???

I WISH I could get some photos of them!

I wanted to add that some of them can stretch out a couple of inches or so and have formed a group between a frag and the rock it's anchored to. They appear feathery like as well.

Do they look like thread? Coming out of the sand from like a crusty tube? I have tons of those. I just write off to be some sort of filter feeder. Then the feathery things that look like small chicken feathers? They are ok too. I was told they are called feather dusters. I think same purpose.

Meredith I have had those too a few times. They are caused from over feeding. Here is a quick solution. Put your Betta in the tank. He will eat all of them. In a few days they'll be gone. Bettas are carnivores and will eat anything that moves. Works great.

08can-am... Yeah they do look like thread and I guess I would say more bristly than actually feathery. They are totally different looking "feather" wise than my feather duster, anyway, as the feathering or bristling is all down their length. These things can stretch way out too! They seem to be fixed in place, at least they don't crawl or move around like I've read that bristle worms do. I just don't want them to do anything detrimental to my Jasmine polyps as that seems to be one place a group of them has anchored under is between the frag and the rock that it's secured to. When the lights are off, they stretch out crazy long!

Hiya Whisper!! If it were FW Chi would already be living in there! LOL! He's doing AWESOME, btw! He's just amazingly beautiful!!! I love the white tracings along the edges of his fins...and of course I LOVE his Betta personality! :) I will do everything I can to get pics of him for you one day soon. I've already been begging hubby for a new camera! LOL!

possible apapttasha(spelling?)..... wish you could post a photo.

Oh sorry I didn't understand that it's a SW that your talking about. No you don't want to put Chi in there LOL. Although you know that when fish get the ick you can do a 5 second drip in a net in salt water and that will cure the ick. I've done it and it works great..........Glad to here Chi is doing so good. Would love to see pics of the little guy flaring. I found another little male the other day. He is even smaller them Chi and sooooooooooo freaking cute. A tough little guy. He flares at everything LOL. Thinks he's a really killer LOL.

PTD... I have NO idea! I don't think it's aiptasia, but then again, I have no clue! I don't know if these are larval stages of something, or what. I wish I could get a pic of these things too....

Whisper, there's no way there's anyone smaller than Chi! LOL! Although, I swear he's gotten bigger....I know his fins have really grown, so maybe that's why he doesn't look as dinky. I just know that I love him bunches! hehehe!

Glad to know he's growing up.

Could these be some sort of larval fan worm??? I only have the one, but maybe it was pregnant... OK, I doubt it was pregnant, but I'm at a loss!

yes, possible.. maybe googling for a photo that is close to what it looks like could help.

https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=images+of+Bristle+Worms+&pbx=1&oq=images+of+Bristle+Worms+&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=1998l11901l0l12332l24l22l0l2l2l0l769l4842l1.10.9.0.1.0.1l24l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=be038c7d0d7306ce&biw=1024&bih=626
Ray ???

lifeisgood wrote:

Ray ???

"What did you do, Ray?"

I googled and did a search on bing, but can't find anything that really looks like these thingys. I read a few things on feather duster repro, and some of it sounds like maybe it could be, but I'm just not convinced of that.

Basically I lived with them , I put some Arrow Crabs in , and they catch and eat the small ones .Every now and again they would latch on to one too big and , well , in the morning there it would be . all torn apart and consumed. Also had 2 Six Lined Wrasse whom ate the small ones . I had a long ( 16 inch ) pair of tweezers that I would reach in the tank and grab them when I saw them .Lift rocks and have a net ready as there will usually be several under the rock.Also have the tweezers ready as some will be hanging to the rock .
If you do not have any corals and such on a rock ,place it in fresh water and swishit around for a minute . They will die almost instantly on contact fresh water.
I have been told that if your mix up a bucket of really strong salt water , and place the rocks in it , they will come out and try to get away . I have not tried that method though.
Good luck with your tanks .
Ray

If its a really thin white thread like thing coming out of the sand or rock you should be ok. If you message me your cell I can text you a pic

its useless without a pic but you said they don't move? then you can rule out Bristle worms however Bristle worms are great scavengers they can also become a problem if they are allowed to grow large and they also pack a nasty sting, they have also been known to eat large coral colonies as well as large fish if the are allowed to grow too large"can reach 4ft in length in a large enough tank". there are many varieties of fan worms their harmless and are great filter feeders. Aiptasia are a pest anemone and should be gotten rid of as you see them because they multiply like crazy, if in fact they are Aiptasia I hit them with AiptasiaX as I see them and it keeps them in check, Joe's juice is another good product. some people even use Kalk to kill them. here are pictures to help determine what you have.
Bristle worm this guy was stressing out one of my BTA's

Aiptasia Anemone AKA glass Anemone"pest"

Feather dusters" harmless"

The best way I have found for Aiptasia , get a "diabetic " Syringe and put some concentrated lemon juice in it . "stick" the bugger at the base of the stalk and inject . Poof ! Be gone !! And it does not effect the rest of the tank . But I still think you are describing Bristle worms .
Ray

theres no way she is describing bristle worms.. her words"It's very fine, like a strand of silk or spider web, white, and apparently elastic. It/they can extend themselves waaaaaaaay out from where they are sitting/anchored/dug in/whatever." Meredith they may also be Vermetid snails they are good filter feeders and send out white stringy things that are actually mucus.
Vermetid snail

Speghetti worm "filter feeder"

Thanks guys! So far, there isn't anything that looks like them....maybe the spaghetti worm, but these guys are a singular entity with no webbing or rooting out, and they react to stimulus. I SOOO need a working camera.

They don't seem to be bothering anything, so I'm just keeping an eye on them. They're scattered about throughout the tank...some are on the substrate and rockwork, some are "attatched" to pieces of my macroalgae, and there are a few that are under my polyp frag between it and the rock. They aren't nocturnal or diurnal, though they seem to stretch out farther when the lights are off, they're out all the time (unless you scare them).

On the upside, the copepod population that came in the chaeto has exploded! They're everywhere...until I turn on the tank lights, then they scatter and hide. I may be ready for my Mandarin Dragonet before I thought I was gonna be! Woot!

sounds like your typical HH fan worms. if you get a Mandarin consider geting it from ORA they will not only except enriched mysis/brine but will also eat copepods, one Mandarin can wipe out your pods poplutaion PDQ then youre SOL also pods come and go sometimes their everywhere then poof! gone.. so its a good idea to have a fish that will eat both pods and enriched Mysis/ Brine. my Seahorses hunt on the rocks when they have their fasting day, they love Halocaridina rubra I added them before I got the ponies so they could populate the tank.
good luck

you sure they're not just spaghetti worms? google hitchiker's guide to the reef

what do people do if they have spaghetti worms? don't mean to hi jack the thread but I have what looks to spaghetti worms. i also have this hair algae looking stuff but it's white I can take photos.

Does your white thread gradually build up a sand barrier around where it lodges? I ask because my wife has one in a rock, long, very thin white thing comes out from a small cave in a rock. She's flushed the rock hole out a couple of times (Turkey Baster works well), and within 48 hours its created a new door. No idea what it is though. I'm leaning towards a spaghetti worm, but there are so many types, but it's not harming the tank .... so far.

PTD if this is a hair algae then I would look to my Phosphates and Nitrates, though hair is usually green as I'm certain you know.

or I found this link, doesn't help much, but maybe you could contact him?

http://www.marineaquariumsa.com/showthread.php?t=26666

So far, no tubes or anything being built by these things. Some of them are very long when they're fully extended. Still, they don't seem to be hurting anything, so I will continue to monitor them. They're just weird!

got mine fixed, with ajusting the flow, and not using petco salt. (no no put the nerf base ball bats down.)... also upgraded my tank to a 40g. I have zoas, a big finger leather, and a 3 head hammer colony growing just fine it... 5 blue green chromis, 2 false clowns, and a lawn mower blenny....... starting to get the hang of saltwater . sorry didn't mean to high jack, just wanted to say hey, thanks my problem i was having is solved.