What are these specimens in my tank?

[lgonz45]

Hello,
Does anyone know what these are?

The clear thing sticking out
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5755062563/" title="IMG_1130 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2729/5755062563_63364e8969.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1130"></a>
The spiral, purple specimen that seems to be shooting chemicals at my polyps
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5755606396/" title="IMG_1125 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2632/5755606396_ea2c5dae8e.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1125"></a>
Finally, these white fuzzy specimens on the rock
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5755605730/" title="IMG_1133 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3430/5755605730_12c12047d9.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1133"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5755606046/" title="IMG_1134 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2362/5755606046_eb1cd153e1.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1134"></a>

Thank you

[Milky3]

Not sure about the first image , but # 2 looks like a vermitid snail and# 3 looks like pineapple sponges. Hope this helps

[chuckdallas]

+1 on pic 3. Pineapple sponges. Harmless. Dying to know about the other two.

[DrewPalmer04]

Pic 2 and 3 ID'ed. Those are right. The 1st one looks like a sweeper tenticle.

[lgonz45]

Milky3, chuckdallas, and DrewPalmer04 thanks for your input!

I've already looked up info on pineapple sponges and vermetids and it seems that doing a better job at water changes should keep those populations under control.

Followup Q; if the first is a sweeping tentacle, then shouldn't it retract into a coral at some point? Yet, it's always fixed and motionless. It seems too rigid and thick for what sweeping tentacles look like online plus, it looks more like it's coming from the live rock than from a coral.

Thanks again everyone!

[sjwitt]

the two identified are normal residents of a healthy tank; filter feeders both and good to have. The first one is a puzzle ... I've never seen anything like it. if it's fixed and motionless, is it brittle? Could it be a worm casing, like a feather duster or something (note: never have seen one this long so it's a wild guess on my part)?

[merkywater]

Not sure about the first image , but # 2 looks like a vermitid snail and# 3 looks like pineapple sponges. Hope this helps

+1 not sure about the first

[lgonz45]

Hi all,

It's about 2 inches long and it does seem brittle. Looking for a reaction, I touched it with a plastic spoon and nothing happened. So, I pushed ever so slightly but all that happened was it folded over and, when let go, it righted itself immediately.

Taking more pictures of it today I realized there are two more similar specimens right next to this one, see if you can spot them in these new pictures. This just made it all so much more puzzling to me because these are shorter and one of them has a very different shape altogether.

1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5759236690/" title="IMG_1153 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2601/5759236690_17c7572c66.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1153"></a>
2)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5759237044/" title="IMG_1154 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2538/5759237044_1a167e38bd.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1154"></a>
3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5759237236/" title="IMG_1158 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2237/5759237236_96a3e05cc1.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1158"></a>
4)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5758693347/" title="IMG_1163 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3484/5758693347_6eab7478c7.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="IMG_1163"></a>
5)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5758693599/" title="IMG_1165 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5263/5758693599_a4ced80361.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1165"></a>


Lastly, I may have found a fire worm or two in my tank. Please help me identify them and please let me know whether it's something to worry about.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5759560048/" title="IMG_1172 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5226/5759560048_2aed6133b0.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1172"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5759016617/" title="IMG_1170 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/5759016617_460986f1db.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1170"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5759016409/" title="IMG_1169 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5187/5759016409_7fd598ec58.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1169"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5759559366/" title="IMG_1168 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3440/5759559366_9cea2639be.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1168"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63256150@N07/5759009371/" title="IMG_1171 by Lala~, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/5759009371_b7df891b09.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="IMG_1171"></a>

[Liquid Hobby]

Bristle worm. Good inhabitant.

[jbadd99]

Bristle worm. Good inhabitant.

+1

Some say they're bad, but I believe, and have read otherwise.

[TXSea]

Here's the low down, that's a bristleworm and do not touch it as they HURT due to their bristles on their sides. They ARE beneficial and they ARE bad. When they are small, they help keep the sand bed clean of detritus and food and sift the sand around. They become bad when they get large (sometimes up to 12" in length) as they will start to nibble on your corals. I recommend getting a bristleworm trap and set it in your tank for a few days to catch most but not all of them. You can also go with a natural predator for them, google them and you will find them, which will also "naturally" take care of them. I don't recommend getting rid of all of them as like I said, the little ones are really beneficial to you tank as being a good member of CUC (clean up crew). Godspeed!

[TXSea]

Also, they are nocturnal. If you wait until late at night and then shine a flashlight in your tank (when your tank lights have been off for a few hours of course), you will see maaany of them and probably will be in total shock at their numbers. If you are finding worms out during the day, that is a sign of high population and action needs to be taken to get their numbers down. They do reproduce quickly but you will never ever be able to rid your tank of them all as they live inside your live rock and underneath your sand bed.

[thebkramer]

Thanks to CapnHylinur... from the Capns Log http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1786183

Bristle Worms Are Good For Your Tanks
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/bristleworm-1-1.jpg

Recently, most hobbyists have come to the conclusion that small bristle worms pose no threat to other tank inhabitants and are in fact good scavengers and add to the biodiversity of the tank. You can even buy bristleworms from some sources.

Even large bristleworms are starting to be better understood. Although it appears that some large bristleworms can be aggressive predators, these seem to be in the minority. Many large bristleworms seem to fall into the harmless scavenger category.

Description:
Bristleworms range in size from small (about 1" long) up to very large at about 20" in length.
Most small ones are an orange color, sometime appearing two-tone in color. Larger bristleworms are frequently gray or brownish in color.
Bristleworms are composed of many segments and have bristles (setae) which extend from both sides of its body along its entire length
Bristle worms live in the sand or within the live rock.
They are nocturnal and not usually seen during the day.

What do bristle worms eat?
Bristle worms feed on plankton and other bits of organic matter, including algae or pieces of dead organisms.

How do bristle worms reproduce?
Most bristle worms are either male or female. They reproduce by releasing sperm and eggs into the water.
Some species reproduce asexually by budding.

Other facts about bristle worms:
The class name polychaeta means "many hairs," referring to the numerous bristles on these worms.

Many bristle worms break apart easily when handled, but are able to regenerate the lost or damaged parts.

Look for bristle worms at night with a flashlight to see if they are present in your tank. Feeding the tank in the evening will sometimes cause them to come out and feed.

Capturing them
Capturing large bristleworms, if you desire to do so, can be difficult. They are secretive and primarily nocturnal. Large ones should not be captured by hand due to their sharp pincher teeth and setae which can puncture the skin. One way to capture large ones is to place a rock with a hollow on the bottom side onto the sand in the evening. A piece of shrimp or similar can be placed into the hollow to act as bait. The next day the rock can be removed and the worms will come out with the rock, or they can be captured using a net or tweezers and disposed of.

The recommendation is to leave them alone unless you have reason to believe they are causing damage. Also be aware that when an animal, such as a clam dies, the bristle worms will frequently feed on the carcass as will any scavenger. Many people misunderstand that the worms are only scavenging and falsely assume that the worms killed the clam or other specimen.

Here is a link to a thread discussing bristle worms
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...s&pagenumber=2

Sources
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/polychaete.htm
http://www.seaslugforum.net/factshee...ase=polychaete
http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSh...ristleworm.htm

FIRE WORMS

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/firewormbigshot-1.jpg

In defense of Bristle worms

They should not take the rap for their evil relatives
FIREWORMS

The Fire worm has bristles on their bodies. These white bristles are their defense. This is how they protect themselves. If a human touches it, it will start to feel like you're burning or on fire. A fire worm's body is soft and has different parts. This helps it to move. A fire worm can be 1-10 cm. long. The worm can be red or brown or gray. It is very dangerous.
Fireworms, Eurythoe spp (A), the bristles have evolved into defensive organs. They are fragile, hollow tubes filled with poison. They are easily broken when the worm is touched and the pain they cause when they pierce the skin makes their common name very appropriate

Some, such as the fireworms, are active carnivores feeding on colonial animals eg: sponges and ascidians).

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Body elongated and flattened dorso-ventraly, wide prostomium, one pair of eyes. They have three antennae, one pair of palps on the head, and dorsal branchial filament tufts that provide them with a blood-red color; the head bears a flattened keel caruncule (structure projecting from the posterior end of the prostomium that carries chemosensory organs called nuchal organs). The parapodia are well developed with different kinds of chaetae and possess calcareous, glassy, hollow harpoon chaetae with neurotoxins that cause discomfort when they contact human skin, thus the reason for common name of "fire worm."

DISTRIBUTION

All tropical seas.

HABITAT

Inhabit cryptic intertidal and shallow subtidal areas, living in crevices, under and between rocks, or in dead coral substrata. Also found in sand and mud.

BEHAVIOR

Found intertidal areas under rocks, forming nests. Assumes a defensive posture, arching its body dorsally to display expansive fascicle of harpoon chaetae when disturbed. Active during the night and usually hidden during daytime.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

CAN EAT CORALS AND ANEMONES

Omnivorous and a scavenger. Ventral pharynx is eversible, unarmed, strongly muscular, and bears tranverse ridges. When feeding, it positions itself above the prey or food and uses mouth apparatus to rasp and squeeze food material into the mouth. After swallowing the food, the ridges carry it to the digestive tract. It can find prey by contact and also by chemosensory mechanisms.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Exhibits both asexual and sexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction occurs when individuals undergo fragmentation, dividing the body into one or more parts that regenerate to form heads, tails, or both, and grow into new individuals
Fire worm video
http://www.mpsaz.org/wilson/staff/ms...video/worm.htm

Link to pictures of different species
http://www.reefimages.com/Worms/Worms.htm

sources
http://www.answers.com/topic/eurythoe-complanata
http://marinediscovery.arizona.edu/a...Fireworms.html

[MattAndKim]

Trapping small bristleworms is ineffective and unnecessary. Your sea cucumber is a much greater threat to your tank.

[iwishtofish]

Bump for an ID on those strange "tubes!"

[SushiGirl]

I would have to guess sponge on the strange white growth. There's an LFS here that has a few tanks that have tons of branchy white sponges in them. Maybe someone else will know for sure, but that's my best guess.