Unidentifiable Algae. Clear Hair Algae. Spider Web

[Heymybigfish]

So i have this new... "algae" i think... its clear/clear-white... is very long, ranging from 1 or 2" to 8-10" long... is sticky, as it picks up sand when it waves around...


anyways, it looks, like blonde hair floating around in the tank...there is even a piece that stuck to my pincushion (or he put it there for camouflage)

LOL, idk if its bad or nothing.... anyone got a clue for me? thanks

 

[tektite]

Look up vermetid snails, it may be their webs.

 

[Heymybigfish]

hmmm, wow.


i do have quite a few of them... i'm guessing you're right based on what i see on the rocks and what the pictures look like. i thought those long tubes were old dead worms or whatever. yikes.

 

[kevinrhahn]

Did you ever find out what this was? I have it now too and every time I remove it, it seems to come right back. I do see any snails or worms so they are sneaky if they are in there.

 

[MSeg]

I have a few that are encrusted into the rock and covered in coralline, so that you can only see them if they're open and feeding. They'll throw out those mucus webs (especially when I blast the rocks with a baster) to catch whatever's in the water column, then slowly drag them back and eat.

 

[radiata]

I HATE vermetid snails --- lost count long ago of the cuts I've received on my hands that I've gotten from then in my tanks.

My favorite tools for eliminating them are (A) a 1/4" wood chisel that you can use to "pop" them off the rock and then remove from the tank, and (B) a small jewelers hammer that you can use to pound them into the rock. They know how to reproduce in closed systems --- whack them while you can!

I'm still looking for a reef-safe wrasse that likes to munch on them...