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White Hair Worms?

whitebear1020

whitebear1020

Hello all,

I have these thin long white threads sticking out of live rock everywhere. :( It is very hard to take a picture because they are very thin and constantly moving. I tried to google and didn't see any answers or pictures as to what this can be. These worms live inside the rocks and as soon as I stop the pumps to feed the fish, little white legs are coming out of every tiny hole ??? ... they don't seem to bother any corals or fish but the amount of them is growing .... does anyone know what creature would control these worms? I was thinking may be a dragonet?
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Without pics, I'd agree with Mike. It could be either of those based on your description. I'm leaning more towards the Spinoid based on your last post re: spaghetti worms.

Both are generally harmless (won't kill or "sting" anything) but they can irritate your corals and affect their growth rates by keeping them closed up. They are actually pretty good filter feeders and will help clean debris floating around in your water. I have a bunch of both in my tank and don't worry about them unless they start bothering any corals.

Not sure of any natural predator's for these things. I know the dragonets won't touch them because mine (target mandarin) ignores them all.

The spinoids make their tubes out of sand they catch in the water column. If you want to cut the population down on these, you can easily take a finger and snap off their tubes. It won't kill the worm because it will hide in the rock it's attached to... but it will annoy them enough to not come out as much.

The vermatids have a harder calcium based tube, sort of like a snails shell. They tend to encrust onto the rock and are harder to get off. You may need a chisel or some kind of tool to peel them off the rocks. Some also take the rock out of the tank and smash them with a hammer! :eek:
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
You probably mean asterina starfish Joejoe. Those are relatively safe with corals, but they eat coralline algae (the purple stuff growing on LR) and you don't want that! They also sometimes bother zoas and other small corals as they feed on coralline around it.

Asterinas multiply like rabbits too and your tank can get overrun with them very fast.

I recommend removing any of them that you can find.
 
J

Joejoe

TanksNStuff said:
You probably mean asterina starfish Joejoe.  Those are relatively safe with corals, but they eat coralline algae (the purple stuff growing on LR) and you don't want that!   They also sometimes bother zoas and other small corals as they feed on coralline around it.

Asterinas multiply like rabbits too and your tank can get overrun with them very fast.

I recommend removing any of them that you can find.
Click to expand...
No I have asterina starfish to. I mean micro serpent stars. This one in the vid is pretty big about 1inch across. Most of them are smaller. When ever I feed, and turn off my powerheads these little white arms come out of the rock everywhere.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g407/jjuliano1/744407c7.mp4
 
dnov99

dnov99

FRAG SWAP VENDOR
If they are indeed spaghetti worms than there is no need to kill them. They are harmless scavengers and are usually beneficial to a tank.
 
dnov99

dnov99

FRAG SWAP VENDOR
I suppose if they get to plague proportions they can be a nusiance. I dont know if there are any natural predators. Copperbands are worm eaters, but not sure if they would feed on these. Can you get the piece of LR out?? If so you can cook it and recure it.
 
The_Codfather

The_Codfather

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
dnov99 said:
If they are indeed spaghetti worms than there is no need to kill them. They are harmless scavengers and are usually beneficial to a tank.
Click to expand...
+1
whitebear1020 said:
dnov99 said:
If they are indeed spaghetti worms than there is no need to kill them. They are harmless scavengers and are usually beneficial to a tank.
Click to expand...
+1

I read that, but look at this photo here:

http://s1007.photobucket.com/albums...rms/?action=view&current=spaghettiworm-vi.jpg

These worms are spreading quickly and I am afraid the entire live rock will be covered with them like on this picture. :eek:
Click to expand...
I have 100's in my 40gl and i love them.. They don't do any harm.. In fact having stuff like that in the rock gives it the true meaning of live rock.. Enjoy them! :)
 
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