[shan_xoxox]

Hello,

I was looking really close at one of my live rocks last night and noticed a bunch of itty bitty things that look exactly like feather dusters. They are so small I don't think my camera would even pick them up. Is it possible they are "baby" feather dusters? Or are they just some other live thing growing on my rock. I would say there are about 20 total I found so far. Any ideas? It is a 45 gal with a scooter, banded shrimp, cleaner shrimp and a ton of hermits.

[ljv]

Feather duster worms come in many shapes and sizes. You always see the large ones for sale but a healthy piece of live rock will sprout a number of smaller ones. They may not be babies. They may just be small. You might even see some with red crowns. Eventually, they will spread onto your other rocks if the tank is healthy and nothing eats them. In my previous setup, I grew a whole crop of them down in my sump also. Pretty cool.

[shan_xoxox]

Well cool! I would think my shrimp and crabs would eat those but guess not. Hopefully they grow a bit because they aren't visible with just a glance! Thanks.

[thatguy559]

Xtalreef

[shan_xoxox]

Yeah I do have some aiptasia in my tank as well. They are white and actually getting a little too large. My boyfriend says they look cool and doesn't want me to pull them. But these little guys are different. (at least I think so) They look identical to feather dusters, just miniature. I could be wrong though. Maybe tonight I'll snap a shot and try to get a better idea out there. Thanks!

[Hosser]

Shannon there is a specific name for them but I cant remember it right now. They are like a feather duster but what seperates them I believe from reading is that you never see the "tube" or they use the cravices in the LR to act as the tube. Something like that . I will try and find the article on them. They act and look just like little tiny feather dusters though. When my fish swim near them or brush them they retract really fast and come back out in no time they are cool to watch.

[fishingartie]

what causes the worm to come completely out of the tube? Bought two new ones today and when I got home they were both out of the tube and have not returned in to tube, are they dead>

[RyanG]

What are your water parameters?

[fishingartie]

I never even got them out of the transport bag for fish store. first one was out when I arrived home, second came out when I attempted to lift same.........