ID on these worms in my reef tank sand

[razorskiss]

I'm not as familiar with the breadth of marine species but they're a bit too big and the description of the shape doesn't sound like a nematode. Except for some endoparasites, most max out at ~1-2 mm in length and generally don't have any kind of branching structures.

 

[safi]

I'm not as familiar with the breadth of marine species but they're a bit too big and the description of the shape doesn't sound like a nematode. Except for some endoparasites, most max out at ~1-2 mm in length and generally don't have any kind of branching structures.

I did another tank clean but they haven't appeared again! I will keep an eye out and if they make another appearance I will try and get a better picture.

While doing maintenance again the other day I noticed some spiral shapes on a piece of rock that came with my purple fuzzy mushroom attached. I dipped it before adding it to the tank but these were definitely not on it back then! (Got it about 5/6 wks ago) They were hard spiral shaped and the ends stuck up a little. Dark in colour. Unfortunately I didnt get any pics as i panicked thinking Vermetid snails so I scooped the rock and coral out into another bowl with tank water in and got as many off as I could see. Do these sound like vermetid to you at all? Thanks

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I did another tank clean but they haven't appeared again! I will keep an eye out and if they make another appearance I will try and get a better picture.

While doing maintenance again the other day I noticed some spiral shapes on a piece of rock that came with my purple fuzzy mushroom attached. I dipped it before adding it to the tank but these were definitely not on it back then! (Got it about 5/6 wks ago) They were hard spiral shaped and the ends stuck up a little. Dark in colour. Unfortunately I didnt get any pics as i panicked thinking Vermetid snails so I scooped the rock and coral out into another bowl with tank water in and got as many off as I could see. Do these sound like vermetid to you at all? Thanks

Yep, that sounds like vermetids. They aren't the end of the world though..

 

[safi]

Yep, that sounds like vermetids. They aren't the end of the world though..

Keep seeing posts online saying they multiply like mad and can take over. Apart from manual removal is there any other suggestions to get rid of them? At the moment I could only see them on the small isolated rock the coral is on so I was able to remove most (not sure if i got them all) but if they spread to the larger pieces of rock then thats going to be more difficult.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Keep seeing posts online saying they multiply like mad and can take over. Apart from manual removal is there any other suggestions to get rid of them? At the moment I could only see them on the small isolated rock the coral is on so I was able to remove most (not sure if i got them all) but if they spread to the larger pieces of rock then thats going to be more difficult.

They definitely can multiply quickly, but again, that's not really a big deal. Some varieties throw out relatively large mucus nets to capture food, but there are others that rarely do anything.
Stir up your sand a little so there's some particulate in the water and see if you notice any webs coming from the tubes.
Some coral can be irritated by the webs but unless they are touching a coral, they are still not a problem and will help clean your water just like other filter feeders.

 

[safi]

They definitely can multiply quickly, but again, that's not really a big deal. Some varieties throw out relatively large mucus nets to capture food, but there are others that rarely do anything.
Stir up your sand a little so there's some particulate in the water and see if you notice any webs coming from the tubes.
Some coral can be irritated by the webs but unless they are touching a coral, they are still not a problem and will help clean your water just like other filter feeders.

Stirred the sand yesterday whilst doing maintenance/water change etc but didn’t notice any mucus/webbing of any kind. I’ll keep an eye out for them and see how it goes. You have put my mind at ease a bit more though with what you’ve said so thank you.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Stirred the sand yesterday whilst doing maintenance/water change etc but didn’t notice any mucus/webbing of any kind. I’ll keep an eye out for them and see how it goes. You have put my mind at ease a bit more though with what you’ve said so thank you.

Honestly, the worst thing about them IMO is that some rocks can get hard to pick up... have some rock from a tank breakdown that had so many (apparently unoccupied) vermetid tubes that it was like picking up a pine cone, lol. (But this was a rock that spent a long time in a very neglected tank... still nothing to worry about for most people)