I have 2 questions on pests...

[MatteZ]

Question 1
Do Vermetid snails start off in a white tube and then as they get larger the tube turns brown?

Question 2
The other night I noticed one Aptasia in my tank. Now I have not added any firsh or corals in a good bit of time. I injected it with lemon juice and have not seen it since. I was just curious to know how it could of gotten there... I feed frozen Mysis, squid, and krill.

 

[NikkiT]

Hi Matt, apstatia take time to grow, it is possible that it came in when it was quite small and you did not see it. It could come in when you add coral, on your live rock, or you could have a "parent" elsewhere, hidden in the rock that spawned the one you see now.

 

[MatteZ]

Thanks Nikki for answering my second question.

I am still curious as to the white looking vermited snails are.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Matt, do they have little feathers sticking out of them or do they just have a stringy spider web stuff coming out of the tube? You can stir up the sand near them to get some detritis in the water to see either way.

If you have feather looking things coming out, they're probably spirorbid worms, if they have a long web coming out to collect floating debris, then it's probably a vermitid snail.

Either one is relatively harmless and just filter feeders. Vermitids can bother nearby corals with their webs though, so keep an eye on them as they get bigger.

The vermitids tend to have a spiral at the base and then usually grow straight up, the spirorbids usually grow up in a more spiral pattern. Do you have a pic of the one you're questioning?

 

[MatteZ]

I'll try and get a picture when I get home. They have the stringy web but the are small and white not the brown color. They are coiled at the bottom and then have the tube coming up. They also only grow in the shaded areas.

 

[MatteZ]

[/URL][/IMG]

Matt, do they have little feathers sticking out of them or do they just have a stringy spider web stuff coming out of the tube? You can stir up the sand near them to get some detritis in the water to see either way.

If you have feather looking things coming out, they're probably spirorbid worms, if they have a long web coming out to collect floating debris, then it's probably a vermitid snail.

Either one is relatively harmless and just filter feeders. Vermitids can bother nearby corals with their webs though, so keep an eye on them as they get bigger.

The vermitids tend to have a spiral at the base and then usually grow straight up, the spirorbids usually grow up in a more spiral pattern. Do you have a pic of the one you're questioning?

All of the white tubes

 

[Hawkeye]

vermitid...they are white because they are in the shadow like that. They gain the dark color when they are in the light. At first i was going to guess spirobid but those are vermitid. pita those things if you ask me. One or two quickly become a lot if you feed heavily.

aiptasia are just glass anemones...like any anemone they can move. So it may have been hidden on a piece of LR and was behind the "tank" from your view. Then overnight it moved to a place where now you can see it.

i've used lemon juice, a concentrated dose of kalk, and if that didn't work, cover it with some lr rubble. When it moves on top of the rubble, remove rubble with anemone on it.

 

[MatteZ]

Thanks Phil

vermitid...they are white because they are in the shadow like that. They gain the dark color when they are in the light. At first i was going to guess spirobid but those are vermitid. pita those things if you ask me. One or two quickly become a lot if you feed heavily.

aiptasia are just glass anemones...like any anemone they can move. So it may have been hidden on a piece of LR and was behind the "tank" from your view. Then overnight it moved to a place where now you can see it.

i've used lemon juice, a concentrated dose of kalk, and if that didn't work, cover it with some lr rubble. When it moves on top of the rubble, remove rubble with anemone on it.