"Strings" hanging off my LR blowing in the current

[illuminum]

So I've sen this in other tanks but I don't know what it is. They looks like limp and very fine strings with one end attached to a rock. It resembles a spider's strand of silk blowing in a breeze. It's white as well. What is this stuff and does it pose any sort of problem to the tank?

It's a young system, only 5 or 6 weeks old.

 

[ElectronRider]

Are they attached to a tiny little stalk? They may be a type of snail that "casts a net" to snag food. I call em snot snails LOL. I have a bunch in the tank that are the size if a pencil lead, and I have one behemoth that is as big around as a man's thumb! He casts a whole snot net versus a string tho

 

[illuminum]

yeah, thats it. Are they bad? Can they harm coral, inverts or fish?

 

[stelow]

There safe.

 

[ElectronRider]

About the only thing I have sen them do is get kinda gross lookin. I mean, the one that I have is the biggest I've seen anywhere, I bet he's got a 6 inch long tube, thats as big around as a nickel. He sticks his head out and "casts" the web of snot out, and it goes for about 6 inches in every direction. He lets it sit for a while, then you see him slowly chewing it back in, eating whatever he happened to snag in it. He loves it when the pistol shrimp is in excavating mode, cause all the extra stuff the shrimp throws up into the waterstream. I leave my big guy in a corner, away from any of my corals, just in case. Also, when I feed the gobies, the shrimp will get caught in his web. then its a race for him to get to the shrimp before the gobies see that theres a fre snack in his web for em. If anyone wants a baby one of these, let me know, i routinely kill em off when I see em in my tank, cept for the big guy.

 

[Paintbug]

they are vermitid snails. they wont harm anything. some people will remove them. others wont. i remove the ones near corals, and in the front of the tank. they can irratate corals when the stalk come in contact with them. kinda like if you have a tag left on your shirt when you go out. but they are good filter feeders just kinda ugly. they will spread quickly as well.