Is This Bad?

[Wwidener]

I have intermediate experience keeping a reef aquarium but I have never seen this white root like growth in my live rock and on the back of my tank. It does not look worms. It literally looks like a root system. But it also looks like it's growing slowly. I don't know.

I would post a photo but nothing happens when I click choose file.

 

[evil Nick]

I have intermediate experience keeping a reef aquarium but I have never seen this white root like growth in my live rock and on the back of my tank. It does not look worms. It literally looks like a root system. But it also looks like it's growing slowly. I don't know.

I would post a photo but nothing happens when I click choose file.

Look at my post in identification and see if its the same. First thing I figured was a sponge, more than likely what you have to.

 

[Wwidener]

Okay, here are photos

What is this spaghetti looking like stuff everywhere?

 

[Sniperhank]

Eunicid worms. Pretty common worm. They make and live in rock tunnels.
As for them being bad, I wouldn't call them bad...though with their growth I can understand your concern.
I'll assume this is a newly set up tank. With new tanks, there are usually excess nutrients left over in the water column. The worms are feeding off of those nutrients. More nutrients means more or larger worms.

 

[Wwidener]

Thank you so much. How can I get rid of them?

 

[evil Nick]

surprised that coral banded isnt eating them then, dont they love stuff like that?

 

[Sniperhank]

It can't get at them due to the calcium based tubes they live in. To get rid of them, I'd start breaking the tubes. Nature will take its course.

 

[Wwidener]

So I looked up eunicid worms online and didn't see much of this white spaghetti stuff. I did see something similar and called it tentacles. Is that right?

 

[Wwidener]

I did find a red worm once inside the coral tube but couldn't get it. THAT looked like a worm.

 

[bribo12]

It looks like feather duster tubes or spaghetti worm tubes. Either way they're beneficial to the system. Why do you want to get rid of them?

 

[Wwidener]

I have feather dusters so I know it's not that.

 

[bribo12]

Dusters come in tons of forms. I believe I can see little transparent white fans coming out of most of those tubes.
Still didn't explain why you want to get rid of them? They aren't harmful

 

[Wwidener]

Taking a look at them under both max light and night light, I'm not seeing anything blooming from them. They look like things spaghetti.

 

[Wwidener]

On another note. They are very hard. Like dried ramen noodles.

 

[Wwidener]

I tried to pull them off.

 

[bribo12]

I'm saying I have the exact same tubes in my tank and they are just tube feather/fan worms. They're harmless and pretty prominent In newer tanks