Can Anyone Tell Me What This Is Please?

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kniesh

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It is attached to a piece of rock,  (It's the string looking thing) and has been since I put the rock into the tank. It doersnt move but does seem to feed. I doubt its dangerous but would like to know now as it is growing and there are even more pieces of string it seems.  There also seems to be a clump of something at the base now, it's in the last 2 photos.
 






 
Probably a spaghetti worm. Harmless...actually...beneficial...as it scavenges.
If you could see the whole thing it would look like this...
marine-worms05-spaghetti-worm_18262_600x450.jpg

The body stays in the rock and the feeding tentacles search for food. These can stretch very far. I've read as far as 5 times the length of the worm's body. So it's likely a small worm even though it looks large.
 
Looks like a type of algae perhaps.

Had something that looked very similar on my plants when I first set up my tank.
I removed these strands by hand and never came back again thankfully.

Perhaps if you remove as much of this stringy stuff which could be algae and then see what happens after a week or two.

Otherwise can't think what else it could be :/

Edit- tcamos just posted as was about to post this. Wow! That's probably more like what your issue could be. Very interesting actually!
 
Often with reef tanks we buy rock that comes right out of the ocean and so it's full of all sorts of life that we call hitchhikers. Most often they are beneficial scavengers but occasionally someone will get a crab or mantis shrimp that will kill fish or eat corals so it's always good to check. I've had some coral eating snails and nudibranchs and a worm that ate my xenia coral but have lucked out that these have been the worst I've encountered and were easily removed.
 
One of my favorite is the peanut worm. I have one that has been in the same hole in the same rock for 9 years. It sticks out its snout and sort of vacuums up the rock and sand in the area around its den. They are black and white striped so look sort of fun. Inside the rock, much like the spaghetti worm, they are quite ugly but outside not so much. All the infauna of a reef tank is probably more fun for me than the fish and corals to be honest.
 
Thanks for the replies. It definitely does catch food particles so I would think more likely to be the worm than the Algae. The only suspicious thing I've seen is it wrapped around a Mexican Turbo Snail, and a big one at that. It done no damage an the snail just carried on but it got me a bit worried.
 
No fear there. If the snail dies the worm will be happy to feast on it but it won't kill the snail nor trap it. Likely what you see is it cleaning algae off the shell.
 
I have many of these in my reef tank, far too many for my liking! think they breed quicker if there is enough food to sustain them so perhaps I'm over feeding! they don't harm anything but if you have a lot like I do they can ruin the appearance of the tank and steal food as they often wrap around pellets and food that hits the sand bed, I see them on the glass at times and even floating around the tank with the current! I think they have a foul taste as my sixline won't touch them but really want rid of them if anyone has any ideas?!
 
Worms are very beneficial so introducing a creature that kills them is something I don't recommend. Also the two main predators that spring to mind are also not perfectly safe for the other inhabitants as well. The Coral Banded Shrimp and the Arrow Crab are voracious worm eaters.
 
I really feel like the best thing to do is just exactly what you already suggest and that is to feed more judiciously. It may not be that you are over feeding (though it may be you are) but that the food isn't being consumed. I turn off all my pumps and let the water settle then I feed. That way the flake I use floats gently down giving everyone in the tank plenty of time to get some so less reaches the rocks and bottom of the tank. If food is controlled the population will eventually level out. It is possible to kill the worm as well by plugging the hole but that's just mean. ;)
 
They aren't just in the rocks they are popping up all over the sand bed aswell 
ohmy.png
oh well I guess I'll just have to live with them!
 

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