ID please... what is on this frag plug?

CrimsonTide

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I noticed under my Kenya Tree frag plug there is some fan looking thing coming out of a tube. It is encrusted on the frag plug and if you squirter water at the thing it does retract into the tube and come back out later.

20210322_130245.jpg


Any input is nice and appreciated. I am not used to hitch hikers. I have an idea what it is but would love input. Thanks!
 

lelandmarine

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Here’s a link about common hitchhikers

Common hitchhiker guide from R2R

 

Gtinnel

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I agree that it's probably a feather duster. I'd be more concerned with having the kenya tree in my tank than the feather duster. They grow quick and start dropping babies that you have to remove. I put one in my tank and wish I wouldn't have.
 

Gtinnel

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The white things and the tube worm looking thing. Not the kenya tree on the plug
Oh ok. I see the kenya tree, what looks like a feather duster below that, and then spirorbid worms on the side of the plug. None of those are anything to be concerned about.
 

Soren

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Do we know if there is something that eats these if they get to plague stage later. They aren't bad at this point.
With a bit of research, it looks like the quick answer is that wrasses (especially sixline wrasse) eat them, as well as hermit crabs and peppermint shrimp.
 
OP
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CrimsonTide

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With a bit of research, it looks like the quick answer is that wrasses (especially sixline wrasse) eat them, as well as hermit crabs and peppermint shrimp.
Thanks. I had planned a 6line later downtrend road possibly so if it gets bad maybe he will be the answer. But from what looked up they don't seem to be harmful in the tank. So thats good.
 

Soren

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Thanks. I had planned a 6line later downtrend road possibly so if it gets bad maybe he will be the answer. But from what looked up they don't seem to be harmful in the tank. So thats good.
Yes, they seem to usually not be a problem, though some have had explosions in population. It sounds like most people with the problem of too many had almost no success in limiting population with a sixline wrasse, hermit crabs or peppermint shrimp, though. Some success seems to come from the introduction of asterina starfish (which can become a problem in large populations themselves) or bumblebee snails (which can also be destructive to other invertebrates typically desired in a reef tank).

I know they are in my current FOWLR and are not a problem, so it seems reasonable to agree with your plan of not trying to eliminate them unless they become a problem.
 

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