[WorkinMan]

I got some LR yesterday and while I was looking at it today I am really seeing a lot of life on it. I have found at least one small feather duster, little white bug looking things (probably pods), some half dead macroalgae(green and red), lots of coraline algae, but one kinda cool thing I saw is this worm looking thing. First a white tube came out of the rock, then about a half hour later I saw this white worm hanging out of it. Since spotting this one I have found 2 more. They have a dark head, but the body is whitish. I managed to get a pretty clear picture of the tube, but the worm is behind it so I could not get a good pic of it. I thought it was interesting and wanted to share. It's right in the middle of the pic.

[WorkinMan]

I got a picture of it out of the tube. I had to use the flash this time as my tank lights are off for the night, and I didn't want to risk it going back into its tube when I turned the lights on, so you have to look a little harder for it, but you can see it. it's in the center of the pic again. It has a dark head, and to about halfway down is a dark gray/brown color.

[WorkinMan]

I wonder if they might be more feather dusters that have discarded their crowns due to the stress that they have been under while in the curing tank at the LFS? Hmmmm. I guess time will tell.

[passinetti2007]

i had an eel hitch on my LR B4

[ninnybone]

lots of worms.

[ry77]

Buble algea, spagetti worm, pods, sea hare,feather dusters, a couple small pieces of coral.

[Coma]

Funny looking little guy, isn't he?

[ry77]

the creature on the rock?

[Coma]

Precisely.

[crazygator]

i've had baby brittle star eggs hatch and several flame scallops ( unfortunatly these did not survive as i was still learning the hobby)

[ry77]

he is odd looking.

[ry77]

i dont think he looks much like a feather duster as suggested.

[crazygator]

not a duster. probably just a tube worm or some sort of larvae. only time will tell, or if someone else has seen it but i sure haven't

[ry77]

I agree, looks more like a tube worm.

[WorkinMan]

I think that's all it is. I have been comparing it and the feather duster I found, and they look nothing alike. The duster's tube is ON the rock, this worm is coming OUT OF the rock. And when the duster is out, only the crown is out unlike with this worm. It was out again today, and had wrapped itself around it's tube. Don't know what it was doing. it was kind of interesting to watch. It's head(?) would pull into the body about a millimeter, and then back out again. It was very strange. I think one of the worms have died though. It has been hanging out of the rock unmoving for 2 days now. I hope I got some cool stuff with the rock. I see more and more pods every day. Some pin head size, some a little bigger, and different shapes too. Today I saw tiny white worms crawling around on the glass. I'm thinking of getting a magnifying glass so I can get a closer look. I have been thinking of ordering a pound or so of "Garf Grunge" to add some diversity to my sand bed too.

So it sounds like there is a lot in interesting possibilities for life then. It will be interesting to see what I end up with.

[Kevin W]

i have found 2 worms on my live rock they come out about 45min after the lights are off and stay out for a few hrs gromming the rock around the worms sometimes stretching to 3-4 in long they come out every night and if i shine the flashlight on the worm it rolls inside of its self and rolls back into the hole it came out of.. they have been in there for over 6 months and never moved from there original hole they came out of. I will take some pics of it and post them the worm in the pic above looks alittle like what i have in my tank

[WorkinMan]

That's what I saw this one doing last night. It was rolling into itself, but then right back out. It was weird, but interesting. I moved one of my powerheads last night, and today it is not there anymore. It must not have liked the higher flow. I hope I didn't kill the little guy. Hopefully he's just out searching for a more favorable hole to climb into.
When I got home tonight I turned the tank lights on for a little while to see if there was anything else that I could see. There was little white worms all over the front glass! I counted about 50 of them. On looking at some of the bigger ones (approx 3/16 of an inch long) I could see what might be a row of legs, or maybe bristles(?) down each side. Could these be baby bristle worms? I have read that they are good for keeping the sand moving and detrius clean-up, but I don't know if I want 50 of them in a 29G tank. Some of them were hanging on to the tank with their butt hanging out in the current. Once I start adding fish their numbers should decrease somewhat as the fish prey on them though. Who knew that one would get so much enjoyment out of watching a bunch of worms crawling around on the glass?

[Kevin W]

if there small bristle worms than get a 6 line wrass or a arrow crab they might keep the population down

[ry77]

A royal dottyback will eat bristle worms

[WorkinMan]

Well, I found him. It moved to a small rock that I have sitting in the sand bed out of the path of the power head. Yay! I didn't loose him!

[rlcline76]

How appropriate! Today my 3 yr old found a crab molt in his tank. It appears to be about the size of a nickel and is a hairy little beast. He must have molted and then disappeared back into the rock. I'm fine with his presence as long as he doesn't attack all of my fish. All of the fish (and hermit crabs) are staying away from the molt as if they are in for a whoopin'.

[Fishhead Junkie]

i am not so sure about an arrow crab. i got one for my 29 gallon bio-cube...he was interesting at first until i watched him grab my peppermint shrimp and devour him. got a call from my 5 year old son while i was at work and he was yelling "the crab is eating nemo!!!". he ate my clownfish like it was nothing. needless to say, i ended up returning him and exchanged him for a decorator crab. i have to say this crab is much more interesting. i came home to find it had plucked a couple pieces of soft coral and attached it to his head like a hat and attached a couple pieces ot his leg. its amazing how the stuff still stays alive on his body. we are having a 1st birthday party for my daughter ava today, looking forward to everyone coming over and seeing my new tank. should get some good reviews.

steve

[Kevin W]

i traded my arrow crab in for a decorator crab also I thought the arrow crab was eating my blue leg crabs he also ate any slow or dying fish i had in the tank.I was trying new things with the tank i had a few fish get sick and die he never bothered anything alive but every so often i would see him with a live bristle worm eating it up. The decorator crab is really cool does yours come out during the day at all mine only comes out at night

[WorkinMan]

As my cycle draws closer to the end (should only be a couple more days), I am finding more and more life on my LR. There's a lot of feather dusters that have come out. The first one that I found shortly after I got the LR is purple, but all the others I have found in the last few days are white and brown banded. Still cool though. Some are tiny. Not much bigger around than this capital O. The biggest is probably 1/4 inch in diameter and that's the purple one. Just recently something has been building small tubes from the sand up the sides of the LR. I have no idea what critter is doing that. I havn't seen it, only the tubes. It's a really good thing I'm finding all this cool stuff on the LR, otherwise I would be going completly nuts waiting for it to be ready for fish.