Just noticed this on a frag plug...

[iannarelli]

Is this some sort of super tiny feather duster and will it grow to be bigger? It retracts into the tube as a reaction to motion.

The fan portion is perhaps the size of a pencil eraser.

Also is this an aptasia wedged in between the two disc?

Thanks!

 

[KrisReef]

Fan worm near full size.
The aiptasia is waiting to be removed

 

[Uncle99]

Good catch.
Kill that pest!

 

[iannarelli]

Fan worm near full size.
The aiptasia is waiting to be removed

Is there any way to relocate the fanwom from the frag to somewhere else in the tank? If it's harmless I'm happy to keep it but don't want to I just or kill it. Was planning to pop the smaller discs off the larger one before placing the coral.

 

[iannarelli]

Good catch.
Kill that pest!

Any risk to taking the frag out and scraping it off with a scalpel?

 

[PharmrJohn]

Good catch.
Kill that pest!

No kidding! And THAT'S how we prevent aiptasia outbreaks!

 

[KrisReef]

Is there any way to relocate the fanwom from the frag to somewhere else in the tank? If it's harmless I'm happy to keep it but don't want to I just or kill it. Was planning to pop the smaller discs off the larger one before placing the coral.

If it is the only pest on the plug can you put the plug in the sump and let it live here?

 

[iannarelli]

If it is the only pest on the plug can you put the plug in the sump and let it live here?

Is it a pest or a friendly though?

 

[Rjukan]

Is it a pest or a friendly though?

The 2nd pic is a pest. Needs to be removed, or I would just cover it with superglue since it's in a bad spot to nuke with boiling water in a syringe.

1st pic is a fan worm, harmless and fine where it is.

 

[Uncle99]

The 2nd pic is a pest. Needs to be removed, or I would just cover it with superglue since it's in a bad spot to nuke with boiling water in a syringe.

1st pic is a fan worm, harmless and fine where it is.

Me, I don’t like both.
Just in case the worm. Coral may not appreciate it and doesn’t need to be there.

For sure sure sure that little aptasia.

 

[Rjukan]

Me, I don’t like both.
Just in case the worm. Coral may not appreciate it and doesn’t need to be there.

For sure sure sure that little aptasia.

Shrug. It's at the bottom of the plug not even close to touching the frag. But to each their own! I look at it like "aww a little fan worm" lol

 

[iannarelli]

Me, I don’t like both.
Just in case the worm. Coral may not appreciate it and doesn’t need to be there.

For sure sure sure that little aptasia.

Shrug. It's at the bottom of the plug not even close to touching the frag. But to each their own! I look at it like "aww a little fan worm" lol

Maybe I get lucky when I pop the smaller disk off the larger on and the worm stays on the larger disk. I guess we'll find out.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Is it a pest or a friendly though?

Is this some sort of super tiny feather duster and will it grow to be bigger? It retracts into the tube as a reaction to motion.

The fan portion is perhaps the size of a pencil eraser.

Also is this an aptasia wedged in between the two disc?

Thanks!

If you want to move the feather duster there is 2 things you could do you could manually remove him(carefully) and relocate him. You could also place the frag plate somewhere the feather duster wont like (higher flow area or an area harder for him to catch food) and he *may* come out of his tube and build a new one somewhere else. If he comes out some fish might eat him so be careful. Both might stress him out too much which might make him shed his crown. Once feather dusters shed their crown they never usually recover and their new crown will not be as large. You should probably just keep him there because feather dusters are extremely sensitive. Also take everything I said with a grain of salt because everything I said is from the internet, but feather duster are not very well studied.