..... What monstrosity did I just pull out of this live rock??

[Schreiber]

I noticed one of my rocks had a batch of colonial hydroids that started spreading a bit more after I've started feeding Reef Roids. This isn't my video, but this is exactly what they looked like.

I decided since it was such a small rock, I'd just remove it, boil in RODI water for about 10 minutes, then put it in my sump to re-cycle, rather than trying to fight it in my tank.

Once it was all boiled, I tried scrubbing them off, but their corpses were pretty stuck, so I decided to just snap that bit of rock off the end.

I discovered that the rock was actually a hollow tube & was hiding this.... thing. I pulled it out as best I could, but judging by the skinny "tail", it looks like it broke off more left inside the rock.

Are colonial hydroids actually some sort of worm with multiple filter-feeding mouths & nobody told me?? Or was the placement of this.... thing... purely coincidental? If so, what is it??


I put together some pictures showing exactly where it was:

This is the piece I snapped off, with the hydroid stalks still attached.

Same piece, flipped over. You can see more of the... thing... still in there.

The rest of the rock. The tube in the center of the picture is where I pulled the... thing... from.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looks like peanut worm

 

[Schreiber]

Aww, I think you may be right. Poor little guy Never seen him around in my tank & I've had it for over 3 years!

 

[Katrina71]

Looks like peanut worm

Beat me to it!

 

[Fishbird]

Before you boil any live rock again please read up on palytoxin and how boiling rock with palys or zoas present can send anybody in the house to the hospital.

 

[Schreiber]

Before you boil any live rock again please read up on palytoxin and how boiling rock with palys or zoas present can send anybody in the house to the hospital.

Definitely aware, but repeating the message is always welcome!

 

[Silver14SS]

FWIW, those look like vermetids to me, not hydroids.

 

[Schreiber]

Even

FWIW, those look like vermetids to me, not hydroids.

Even considering the video? I didn't think the snails had the little filter feathers, using webs instead.

 

[DrDeGuzman]

Worm was at the wrong place at the wrong time hahah

 

[sfin52]

There is much safer way to deal with a tock than boiling. You may not see a paly or zoa.

 

[Ranjib]

Yes those clusters are vermatid snails not hydroids . They get nasty

 

[Schreiber]

There is much safer way to deal with a tock than boiling. You may not see a paly or zoa.

That's a fair point.

Yes those clusters are vermatid snails not hydroids . They get nasty

You're the second that's sounded pretty positive they're snails @Ranjib , so it's worth exploring. What makes you think that?

From what I've been able to find online, the vermetid snails/worms don't grow in tightly packed colonies like this. (My picture was after I'd already manually removed about 30% of the stalks, there weren't any bald spots initially.)

Plus, don't they grow in spirals, like this?

My biggest point against them being snails is that these stalks were squishy/springy, rather than hard, calcified tubes. They've been there for over 2 years now, so I don't think they were just baby vermetids that hadn't built solid tubes yet.

Last thing that led me to believe they aren't vermetid is the complete lack of "web" & the presence of the filter feeders. I *do* think I have a vermetid snail somewhere in my tank, as I'll see some stray webbing every once in awhile when feeding. But never from this area.

 

[Silver14SS]

Even


Even considering the video? I didn't think the snails had the little filter feathers, using webs instead.

Whoops, I'll defer to your ID since they're in front of you I wasn't aware they were soft tubes, I could make an excuse that I looked on my phone, didn't have my contacts in, but I think I'm just wrong

 

[Schreiber]

Whoops, I'll defer to your ID since they're in front of you I wasn't aware they were soft tubes, I could make an excuse that I looked on my phone, didn't have my contacts in, but I think I'm just wrong

I guess either way, it's a moot point considering they've been nuked. I'm just trying to get a good handle on exactly what they could have been- you're not the only one that's been pretty sure they were vermetids & I'm no expert by any means.

 

[Júlio Vanini Neto]

Crazy!

 

[EMeyer]

It sounds like this turned out OK in the end. But just in case any new reefers are reading this -- DONT EVER BOIL LIVE ROCK.

The palytoxin stories are real, and almost always involve boiling or otherwise heating live rock.

But forget about palytoxin. Boiling or otherwise heating rocks can cause them to EXPLODE. Violently. Its just a really dangerous idea. (This is coming from someone with a really high risk tolerance)

Hydrogen peroxide, bleach, or muriatic acid are all much safer ways to sterilize rock if one wants to sterilize rock. (Which is usually a debatable goal in itself, but if one wants to do it, at least lets do so safely)