tiny white spiral things...?

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Dixiechicken82

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May 7, 2005
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Georgia
I'm not sure which forum is best to post this in...

We came back from vacation to find teeny-tiny white spiral things all over the glass walls! I got excited thinking they might be snails (I'd feed them to my puffer once they got bigger), but someone suggested that they are probably a type of tube worm. I'd like to find more info on them, but I haven't had much luck. Is there a ceratin website I should go to? I have so many questions about these little creatures! Can anyone help me out?[/B]
 
Check out the hitch hikers thread--they most likely are a stony tube worm that's pretty common to most setups that have live rock.
 
Dixiechicken82 said:
I'm not sure which forum is best to post this in...

We came back from vacation to find teeny-tiny white spiral things all over the glass walls! I got excited thinking they might be snails (I'd feed them to my puffer once they got bigger), but someone suggested that they are probably a type of tube worm. I'd like to find more info on them, but I haven't had much luck. Is there a ceratin website I should go to? I have so many questions about these little creatures! Can anyone help me out?[/B]
Click to expand...

Could be hydra. I had some in my tank and I believe that one of them even stung my betta on the nose when he tried to eat them.

They are amazing little creatures, but considered a pretty persistent pest. I understand that they can thrive in poor water conditions (read: high nitrates) and even feed on small fry when the hydra get big enough or the fry get too close:

http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Hydra.htm
 
yes it is a marine tank. It's been up for about 7months or so. Here is the closest picture I could find to what mine look like (there was no description with this pic). Does this help?

pic.jpg
 
Definitely stony tube worms. If you look closely, you should be able to see tiny fan-like crowns coming out of them, similar to larger feather dusters. Harmless little filter feeders. In my tanks, they tend to appear in waves--tons for a while, then only a few, then tons again. Other than wiping the tubes off the viewing sides of the tank, I don't worry about them. They cover lots of stuff--snails, rocks, power heads, etc.
 
it is very amazing the types of things that grow in a marine tank, so much more intersting than a fresh water tank. I used to get really scared when i noticed new things in the tank but I have come to appreciate it alot. It is however a great idea to post pictures becuase if it is something bad then it is good to know about it.
 
I think it is very important to include pictures, but at this time I don't have the money to go buy a digital camera. =0( But it is definitely on my Wish List! lol
 
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