Omg what is this in my tank?!

[R33FDr3amer]

I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum but I wasn't sure where to post since idk what this "alien thing" is! it just came out of nowhere. I haven't added anything new to my tank in over 3 months. The only thing that has changed is my trochus snails exploded babies all over lol please help....what is this and how/should I remove it? If removal, what is the best way? Like it has moving "tentacles" lol

Tank is almost 8 months old. Biocube 32.
Toadstool mushroom
Cristata torch
Fox coral
Duncan
Rhodactis mushroom
Feather duster
2 Black ice clowns
1 Royal Gramma
1 tiger conch
3 trochus snails + explosion of babies

Thank you!!

 

[WheatToast]

Labyrinthula?
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sudden-single-spidery-algae-monster.892381/

Nevermind the bryozoan thing. I correct my mistake and have found a positive ID. The growths are a protist called Labyrinthula that act as commsensals, mutualists, and pathogen. Now it only gets crazier from here. These guys can use algae (mainly chaeto; which they act as a mutualist), sea grasses (pathogen), and sea stars(pathogen) as host. In fact the devastating "Seastar Wasting Disease" is caused by these things. Now in reef tanks they shouldn't possess much of a problem thankfully (unless you plan to keep seagrass or coldwater sea stars). The reason that they move around is how they reproduce. They kinda just break off some cells and send them off into the water column where they eventually settle onto something . The filaments are how they move around short distances.

 

[Shibaken3]

looks like u got a crack in you tank

 

[R33FDr3amer]

Labyrinthula?
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sudden-single-spidery-algae-monster.892381/

I read down through the whole post and it looks like they thought that was what it was but in the end it's some type of worm. They still haven't identified what type of worm tho. I don't like worms....now i'm really scared lol Here is the youtube video that another poster posted and it is EXACTLY what i see in my tank...the weird movement/wormy behavior lol



@Shibaken3 it does doesn't it! Which is why at first i had heart attack! I thought there was a crack at first but nope....just a weird alien lifeform

 

[killer2001]

Ummm.... Stranger Things... Is that you???

 

[R33FDr3amer]

Just to update, these look like very small worms that intertwine with one another. I split it apart using a turkey baster and they reached out for eachother until they were intertwined again.

Do you think I should leave it be or try to remove it somehow?

I do think it is some type of the labyrintula family but I really can't find a whole lot of info on this and what I do find is very "scientific lingo" lol

 

[nycfreshreef]

Just to update, these look like very small worms that intertwine with one another. I split it apart using a turkey baster and they reached out for eachother until they were intertwined again.

Do you think I should leave it be or try to remove it somehow?

I do think it is some type of the labyrintula family but I really can't find a whole lot of info on this and what I do find is very "scientific lingo" lol

Did you guys ever find out what they were ? I can confirm they are definitely not labyrinthula because I have them in my tank and have been watching them grow from the very beginning. They started off as separate, super tiny worms that were visible under strong magnification they also moved the same way when they were little as they do now (sort of like a squiggle but the head moves front and back) the first time I saw them by examining my sand bed when they were super tiny I have been trying to
Figure out what they were , a few months has gone by and now they are this large intertwining mass , that moved about and looks like beaches/roots to the naked eye. Still have not found out what they are, I have also seen them eat cerith eggs …. Really hope we find out what they are on day , they are super creepy , and I def don’t want them in my tank (unless they prove to be beneficial)

Another thing to point out is they have this really long , what appears to be a tail which is quite weird , the main part of the animal is at the front , and that’s what is moving around , it has a long thin strand which extends from its back side but doesn’t move ( sort of like leaving a trail , but this piece is actually connected to the main body) may be wire the mistake Labyrinthula id as I see how it can appear as the endoplasmic net which the lab protist move through.

 

[R33FDr3amer]

Did you guys ever find out what they were ? I can confirm they are definitely not labyrinthula because I have them in my tank and have been watching them grow from the very beginning. They started off as separate, super tiny worms that were visible under strong magnification they also moved the same way when they were little as they do now (sort of like a squiggle but the head moves front and back) the first time I saw them by examining my sand bed when they were super tiny I have been trying to
Figure out what they were , a few months has gone by and now they are this large intertwining mass , that moved about and looks like beaches/roots to the naked eye. Still have not found out what they are, I have also seen them eat cerith eggs …. Really hope we find out what they are on day , they are super creepy , and I def don’t want them in my tank (unless they prove to be beneficial)

Another thing to point out is they have this really long , what appears to be a tail which is quite weird , the main part of the animal is at the front , and that’s what is moving around , it has a long thin strand which extends from its back side but doesn’t move ( sort of like leaving a trail , but this piece is actually connected to the main body) may be wire the mistake Labyrinthula id as I see how it can appear as the endoplasmic net which the lab protist move through.

I never found a for sure answer. Only suggestion was labyrinthula. I got up after a few days and they had just VANISHED. I have not seen them back since.....obviously they are there somewhere but hiding out, i would assume, in the sand