Tubes with threads coming out

[bprewit]

Man I have these in my tank, always have but lately their population has exploded and they are really everywhere. I am searching for the name of them and i think they are pretty common. They are a small hard tube almost like a tiny feather duster but they send out small long strings like thread out into the water and catch things drifting by, then pulling the thread back in kinda like their own personal fishing rod. Anyone know the common or scientific name of these critters?

[GaryP]

spaghetti worms

[BA]

spagetti worms?

[JimD]

Gary, I dont hink he has Spaghetti worms, bprewit, do a search on Vermetid snails, I believe these are the things your refering to. Ive had them before and I usually super glue their escape hatch closed, imo, a pita...

[Instar]

Spagetti worms live in the sand. Web worms and those 2 tentacled worms live in the rocks most of the time. The hard calcerous web worms, Vemetid snails, will harm your sps and aggrivate your other things with their "fishing rod" phlem strands. I break them off with needle nose pliers and throw them out for fertilizer. I agree with JimD, undesireables for sure.

[CD]

Vemetid snails,

Awww crap. We have these things in our tank too. Wasn't really a problem until I've been kinda overfeeding the tank to try and get the Hippo to eat. They seem to be popping up a lot here lately. Ours are rather small...the part that attaches to the rock (or whatever) looks somewhat like a coiled up snake with a hard calcerous tube sticking straight up out of the middle. There is a mucus type thread that comes out of the tip which seems to aggrevate whatever coral it touches.

Not being sure what they were, I've been leaving them up to now. Just went and broke one of them off the coral it had attached itself too - sure enough, there was a *very* small, white snail like looking creature inside the tube. I guess I've got some work ahead of me - finding and disposing of them. :P

Wendy

[JimD]

Wendy, theyre really not a major problem, annoying more than anything and the ywont spread to plague proportions if that makes you feel any better. Just locate them, and like I said, dab a little super glue on the opening and say bye-bye!

[::pete::]

This Link should help ...

[CD]

Thanks, JimD and Pete!

Well, I guess an all out search and destroy isn't necessary then, but I'll at least get rid of the ones that are aggrevating some of the corals :w00t

Wendy

[bprewit]

Thanks everyone for the info. I think that I will cut down their population in my tank a bit, they are pretty much everywhere! Mainly in the crevices of the live rock where they are hidden a bit but can get their fishing lines out into thewater colum easily. I think I will try the kalk cement I use for tiny aptasia and just cement the ends of their tubes. Dont exactly care to exterminate all of them but definatly cut down on their population.