Here I go again.

[New2Salt]

ok, these have been multiplying in my tank for the last couple days, they have really multiplied since yesterday. We have a 29 gallon with live rock and live sand. 2 scooter blennies that pick at the glass and get the small copepods that I've seen on there, but they don't touch these. Any idea what these are, and please don't tell me they are baby snails, they don't move, they stay in the same spot, but just multiply. The pic isn't that great and with the camera I have it doesn't zoom real well.

LOL maybe I should start a book called "What is this?" Sorry I keep posting all the time in here. We are going out to buy more books this weekend.

 

[reefrunner69]

If they look like little tiny spirals they could be vermetid snails...they don't move, more like a tube worm that is really a snail with an identity crisis. Or they could be calcerous tube worms. Either way they are harmless.

 

[fishfreek]

Ok. the pic is a bit hard to see but I think i know already.

If you look real close does it look like they have a spiral pattern to them?

If you take your fingernail will they scratch right off?

If so my guess is that they are baby featherdusters.

 

[michealprater]

looks like a result of a good calcium level. thats a good thing.

 

[Pineapple House]

I agree with RR, likely a species of vermetid snails. They're quite harmless feather dusters feeding on plankton. I have them everywhere in my tank

PH =)

 

[New2Salt]

Whoa, cool, feather dusters on the glass now that's pretty cool! so do I just leave them? I looked up the vermetid snails found one site that showed the tubes, I have one of those tubes on my live rock, was wondering what that was, thought it was something that was basically dead. SURPRISE! So I take it nothing eats these things? Do I just scrape them off the glass?

Thank you all for the quick replies!

 

[michealprater]

You can scrape them off if you dont want them to take over your glass. They are filter feeders, they get microscopic food from the water. If they are multipling then they are probably eating well.

 

[New2Salt]

Ok thanks, so far they really haven't taken up the front of the tank that much, are they beneficial to the tank? From what I read on another site sounds like they could be bothersome with how much they populate.

Thanks again!

 

[Anemoneman]

a species of vermetid snails. They're quite harmless feather dusters feeding on plankton. I have them everywhere in my tank

Actually vermatid snails and feather dusters are two different things. Vermatids will send out a mucus "fishing line" or "net" to snare floating plankton or bits of food. These nets become visible after feeding invert food, they look like cobwebs. They are actually sedentary snails that live in tubes rather than shells. I have literally hundreds ranging in size from a needle to a a small pencil. You can see the mouth structure on the large ones as they "reel in" the mucus to feed. I have a rock with the larger ones that have acropora growing on the outside of the tubes. Looks very much like a symbiotic thing but I think the acro is just being opportunistic. I'll post a pic if I can get a good one.

 

[New2Salt]

Ok, great, I look forward to the pic thanks! And thank you for the info!

 

[Anemoneman]

Here they are...

 

[New2Salt]

they are kind of cool looking, how long does it take for them to get that big?

 

[Anemoneman]

Months. I got this from a friend when it was almost dead. I put some on another rock to see how it grows without the vermatids. I don't really care for this particular piece but there it is.

 

[ReefLady]

Anemoneman,

Awesome pic of the Vermetids. I have a page dedicated to them on the site for our old 75g tank - here: Vermetid Snails

I don't think that's what these are, though. Any chance of a closer pic? Are they just spots, or do they look "curly", or do they have 'legs' like spiders?

Some type of "spot" would be indicative of an egg. A "curly" shape might be a spirobid worm, which is a small feather duster. Here is a close up pic of these:

.

That is from this site: http://web.uvic.ca/~reimlab/Snails.html

Hydroids look like "spiders" (white spots with legs):

That picture (and more info.) is here:

http://www.rshimek.com/odd_critters.htm

HTH!!

 

[New2Salt]

Wow cool links, no mine aren't curly, they are like white eggs, and I have a few of the hydroids, is that good or bad?

 

[ReefLady]

The hydroids won't hurt anything, and will most likely dissapear as quickly as they appear.

 

[New2Salt]

Ok, thanks, so if it isn't Vermetid and it's not any of the other on the links you gave, it is the shape of an egg, oval looking with a milky white outer layer and there is a beige like center in it, they are really multiplying like crazy especially if I have scraped some of them off the glass it seems the next day there are more of them. They are even on the back of my turbo snails, I'll try and get a pic of it.

Hope these don't turn out something bad because the tank really seems to be going good.

Thanks for your help!

 

[New2Salt]

Ok, I found the Turbo, he was in the corner, they are on his shell and also all over the back and sides of the tank. I tried to get a better pic close up but camera won't focus on it, I will have to read up more on the manual.