Help Me ID this

[Bama8200]

My tank is only a couple of weeks old. I have a good bit of live rock and the other night i noticed something moving. It was some sort of worm.

I have been keeping an eye on him and there are several of them, They only come out at night and I have to use a red light to watch them. The worms are very small and weave through the pores in the live rock. They can stretch a very long way and you can almost see through them. I kept watching them and they are eating the algea you can even see it going down their bodies. however if you shine a light on them that is not red they will shoot back into their holes within seconds.


I was unable to get a photo due to it being dark .

any ideas?

 

[skippy2]

It could be a peanut worm but without a picture it is really hard to id. Google peanut worm though.

 

[Amphiprion]

If they are eating algae, they may be some sort of dorvilleid worm. Other than that, it could simply be a sipunculan or peanut worm that is actually consuming detritus films, not algae.

 

[darkzoul]

what color is it? can you tell? it could be a bristle worm. I had about 2-3 of them that came on my live rock but got them out! not good could also be fife worms also not good i had a couple of them too one ate 2 of my fish alive only reason i know is because one was healthy and when i got up one morning to feed them and didn't see him, i moved the rock and saw his tail sticking out i moved him and he was half eaten! if it's dark red, orangeish red or black get a fish the eat worms ir try and get them out just don't grab them they can sting you. it won't hurt you but will sting a little bit for a while.

 

[corinna]

Spaghetti worm?, I have these and Reefcape id'd them for me, they are translucent white, with 4 or 5 'arms' Not a problem apparently.

 

[haven283]

I also have a new setup, with new LR, and so far I have noticed, aside from little critters,
an aiptasia,
and some long thin translucent white wormy guy. I'm wondering if i could get a pic of him but as soon as i turned on the room lights to see in my tank, the little guy retracted and I couldn't get a shot

 

[Arakkis]

if you want to kill the worms a quick FW bath for the rocks would clear that up

 

[Grins]

I'd not jump to killing it. Many worms are beneficial in a reef tank. Some even decorative.