Help wanted identifying this alien

[JohnH123]

Morning Everyone,

Just noticed this growing out from under my live rock in my FOWLR tank. Friend or foe? Thanks for your help folks.
Cheers
John

 

[Tahoe61]

It looks the the remnants of plant or sponge material, doesn't look alive.
The Vermitid in the foreground would concern me more.

 

[JohnH123]

It looks the the remnants of plant or sponge material, doesn't look alive.
The Vermitid in the foreground would concern me more.

Many thanks for your reply. Don’t think there are any vermetid snails in the tank though. Just a discoloured piece of coral sand. Wished I’d put the fine sand in instead.

 

[HJCRUZER]

Have to agree with Tahoe61, I would go with dead sponge as well

 

[Tahoe61]

Many thanks for your reply. Don’t think there are any vermetid snails in the tank though. Just a discoloured piece of coral sand. Wished I’d put the fine sand in instead.

Naww I am pretty confident I see Vermitid.

What is that!! A R2R guide to common new tank hitchhikers.

One of the greatest things about starting a reef tank is getting your live rock in and admiring all the diversity within it. The rock comes to life different creatures. This is a guide that I, along with a very well known critter identifier @KJ , have put together for the new reefer on what...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[JohnH123]

Naww I am pretty confident I see Vermitid.

What is that!! A R2R guide to common new tank hitchhikers.

One of the greatest things about starting a reef tank is getting your live rock in and admiring all the diversity within it. The rock comes to life different creatures. This is a guide that I, along with a very well known critter identifier @KJ , have put together for the new reefer on what...

www.reef2reef.com

Hi Tahoe61,

I see what you mean! God knows how that got in there. Tank is probably 5 years old and hasn’t had any new live rock or coral sand since then. Are there likely to be more and do I need to get it out? Cheers John

 

[Tahoe61]

Hi Tahoe61,

I see what you mean! God knows how that got in there. Tank is probably 5 years old and hasn’t had any new live rock or coral sand since then. Are there likely to be more and do I need to get it out? Cheers John

Hi John,

It could have come in on a Snail. Snails can subtly bring in Vermitid, Apitasia......
Where there is one there are typically more. Vermitid feed off suspended particulate matter in the water column. The available foods source dictates their population numbers.
I snap them off at the base and cover the remnants with superglue or underwater epoxy. Bumblebee Snails also reportedly eat Vermitid.