Are these parasites?

[gistsc]

If so, are they bad?

 

[Henry Bowman]

Boy, they dont "look" good. But I dont know. I'm tagging along to find out ..... Been reefkeeping for a while and have never seen anything like them. You may want to post in the Advanced Forum. There are alot of real knowledgable folks over there.

 

[gistsc]

Sounds like a good idea, I will.

 

[drummereef]

Ewww. What are they attached to?

 

[LeslieH]

No, they're not bad. These are the tubes of serpulid polychaetes, mini feather dusters. If the small ends coiled then they might be vermetid snail tubes but without the coil they're serpulids. Feather dusters are filter feeders.

 

[gistsc]

They are on an old shell. These are out of my old set up that I have torn down. I am keeping the old rock and clean up crew in a big rubbermaid container. I plan to use the rock in my fuge, when I get it built. I see these little worm like things all over the underside of the rocks and some shells that where in the tank.