Help I.D. please

[Dfrashid]

Can anyone help my understanding is this a barnacle or something else and is it safe and if not how do I remove it? It's the white round looking things

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can anyone help my understanding is this a barnacle or something else and is it safe and if not how do I remove it? It's the white round looking things

Pictures a little fuzzy but looks like filter feeding spirobid worms

 

[Dfrashid]

Pictures a little fuzzy but looks like filter feeding spirobid worms

If they are so called worms is there anything I can do to get rid of them also is there anything else I should be looking for to help identify them? Cause I also herd they are barnacles but I need to be 100% before I build a plan of action....

 

[tbrown]

If they are so called worms is there anything I can do to get rid of them also is there anything else I should be looking for to help identify them? Cause I also herd they are barnacles but I need to be 100% before I build a plan of action....

They are not barnacles. They are the spirorbid worms. They're not necessarily a pest but can be a nuisance if they have a population explosion. They're filter feeders.

 

[Dfrashid]

They are not barnacles. They are the spirorbid worms. They're not necessarily a pest but can be a nuisance if they have a population explosion. They're filter feeders.

How do I get red of them is there a fish or something that will eat them?

 

[tbrown]

How do I get red of them is there a fish or something that will eat them?

Not really. Scrape them off. Sometimes Wrasses will eat the worms but not the shells.

 

[Dfrashid]

Not really. Scrape them off. Sometimes Wrasses will eat the worms but not the shells.

I bought a 6 line wrasses I don't see them moving but they are doubling in popular and how can you tell they are worms and not barnacle so I know how to tell the difference?

 

[tbrown]

Six-line Wrasses are one that can eat the worms. Barnacles are usually bigger and open and close like a little beak with a feather for a tongue? Google spirorbid worm.

 

[vetteguy53081]

If they are so called worms is there anything I can do to get rid of them also is there anything else I should be looking for to help identify them? Cause I also herd they are barnacles but I need to be 100% before I build a plan of action....

Scrape off with edge of an old credit card or similar into a net

 

[AydenLincoln]

You will never get rid of all of them! They are harmless spirorbis worms. There’s a lot of things I don’t like/I feared at first now I’m just used to it! That’s the nature of a saltwater tank. Hitchhikers are unavoidable once you add your first coral or piece of live rock. And a sterile tank with dry sand and dry rock and just fish isn’t good either. Common hitchhikers include worms lots and lots of different worms, snails, starfish (asterina/aquilonastra), sponges, etc. https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/guide-to-common-hitchhikers-in-reef-tanks.861/

 

[WheatToast]

…and how can you tell they are worms and not barnacle so I know how to tell the difference?

Spirorbid worms live in tube-like shells that are coiled into small spirals with an opening at one end. They feature a fan-like crown of tentacles which they use to filter-feed and probably retract by simply pulling them into the shell (I’ve never seen it personally in spirorbid worms, but this is the technique used by other filter-feeding worms). These are incredibly common hitchhikers on rock, frags, etc. and are usually unavoidable.

Barnacles are very rare in the hobby and are sometimes encountered on Floridian ocean rock. These are usually larger than spirorbid worms and form volcano-like shells (with some exceptions like the club-like goose barnacles) with an opening at the top; the opening is protected by a pair of plates (opercula). Barnacles feed with their legs, which are curled, rather than pulled back into the organism.

 

[tbrown]

Spirorbid worms live in tube-like shells that are coiled into small spirals with an opening at one end. They feature a fan-like crown of tentacles which they use to filter-feed and probably retract by simply pulling them into the shell (I’ve never seen it personally in spirorbid worms, but this is the technique used by other filter-feeding worms). These are incredibly common hitchhikers on rock, frags, etc. and are usually unavoidable.

Barnacles are very rare in the hobby and are sometimes encountered on Floridian ocean rock. These are usually larger than spirorbid worms and form volcano-like shells (with some exceptions like the club-like goose barnacles) with an opening at the top; the opening is protected by a pair of plates (opercula). Barnacles feed with their legs, which are curled, rather than pulled back into the organism.

I've received 3 different maricultured frags with stupid barnacles. So irritating.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I've received 3 different maricultured frags with stupid barnacles. So irritating.

Barnacles are awesome! Why stupid/irritating?

 

[tbrown]

Barnacles are awesome! Why stupid/irritating?

They were on Acros and killed them.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

They were on Acros and killed them.

Oh, sorry.

 

[tbrown]

Oh, sorry.

I actually received a barnacle rock from Mexico once a couple of years ago. The barnacles were alive when I received it but my tank must have been too clean because I lost them one at a time over the course of a couple of weeks.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I actually received a barnacle rock from Mexico once a couple of years ago. The barnacles were alive when I received it but my tank must have been too clean because I lost them one at a time over the course of a couple of weeks.

They usually don't survive for long in our systems...

 

[tbrown]

They usually don't survive for long in our systems...

I figured as much but it was still neat

 

[jabberwock]

If they are so called worms is there anything I can do to get rid of them also is there anything else I should be looking for to help identify them? Cause I also herd they are barnacles but I need to be 100% before I build a plan of action....

I would not do anything.