What the heck is this???!!!!

[xdcbenoitxd]

So I have had this tank for about a year now and there have been no additions that I can think of (last was an urchin a few months ago). I left my tank in the hands of my hubby for a week and came home to these little larvae/free swimming parasites? There are lots of them and they are super speedy making it hard to get a close up. I don't have any breeding pairs of anything except maybe trochus snails in my tank. What the heck could these be? Excuse the ridiculous amount of photos and videos they are just hard to get so I figured some may be better than others.

 

[KrisReef]

Might be a fan worm? They make calcarius tubes, breed like rabbits and spread every where. They filter the water and are generally not considered a pest, presuming they are fan worms (tiny feather dusters?)

 

[Gtinnel]

If it was swimming in the water by twitching back and forth incredibly quickly then it sounds like an epitoke to me. Do you have bristleworms in your tank?

 

[Gtinnel]

Might be a fan worm? They make calcarius tubes, breed like rabbits and spread every where. They filter the water and are generally not considered a pest, presuming they are fan worms (tiny feather dusters?)

The description said free swimming so that should rule out fan worms.

 

[xdcbenoitxd]

If it was swimming in the water by twitching back and forth incredibly quickly then it sounds like an epitoke to me. Do you have bristleworms in your tank?

I do have bristle worm in my tank and unfortunately bobbit also. The previous owner did not dip. Luckily I am upgrading tanks and can get rid of most pests. (I am harvesting some good ones while I can)

 

[xdcbenoitxd]

If it was swimming in the water by twitching back and forth incredibly quickly then it sounds like an epitoke to me. Do you have bristleworms in your tank?

They are also twitchy and quick

 

[xdcbenoitxd]

The description said free swimming so that should rule out fan worms.

Also the two last attachments are videos showing them move

 

[Gtinnel]

Also the two last attachments are videos showing them move

I can’t see the videos only the pictures, but it seems to be a epitoke, which is just the back end of a polychaete worm that breaks free and swims around release it’s gametes for sexual reproduction. So it’s probably just a bristleworm reproducing.

 

[xdcbenoitxd]

I can’t see the videos only the pictures, but it seems to be a epitoke, which is just the back end of a polychaete worm that breaks free and swims around release it’s gametes for sexual reproduction. So it’s probably just a bristleworm reproducing.

ok thanks that makes me feel much better

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree, epitoke worm which is a member of the syllid family