White and Green Tube worm

[daniel5455]

I have a lot of these white and green tube worms all over my tank, powerheads, overflow and live rock. What can i buy or do to get rid of these? Are they bad?

 

[bkbailes07]

they are very good for your tank. they dont harm anything and actually help filter the water.

 

[bertoni]

About the only way to get rid of them would be to remove them by hand, or buy an animal that will consume them. They aren't harmful, though, as stated.

 

[daniel5455]

Do you know what the name of these tube worms? They are white and have green furry tips and they are shaped like a cane.

 

[daniel5455]

Neomeris vanbosseae is the name of what i have. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=976569&highlight=green+tube+worm has a picture of it. What eats this stuff?

 

[bertoni]

Neomeris is an alga. I don't know of a good predator. From the thread, I thought you had a tube worm.

If the tank has a tube worm issue, you might consider trying a peppermint shrimp. There's some chance one might eat your problem away. I've watched mine eat tube worms. There are lots of fish that eat tube worms, but many aren't reef-safe or are marginal, like the copperband butterfly. The copperband is also difficult to keep alive.

Can you post a clearer shot of the organism in question?

 

[daniel5455]

I know for a fact now that i have Neomeris vanbosseae which yes is an alga. I found a lot of sites that have pictures of this stuff but none say how to get rid of it. I will try to post a pic if i can find my camera.

 

[bertoni]

I don't know of anything reef-safe that would consume Neomeris. You could try removing some by hand, and working on nutrient reduction.

 

[daniel5455]

i cant remove by hand its every where. What do you mean by Nutrient reduction. I havent added anything or did a water change in over a year.

 

[bertoni]

The algae require food to grow. Some water changes might help. You're not adding any food? If that's the case, then removing the algae should export a lot of nutrients. If there aren't any corals in the tank, letting the calcium drop would also prevent their growth.

 

[daniel5455]

I add food maybe once every few months. i have 1 medium sized clown, 1 six line wrathe, 2 bubble tip anenomes and about 6 corals.