ID help....

[atlweb]

I picked up a tyree sunset the other day... beautiful coral. It is raised on this frag plug that has this small black bump on it. A webby substance keeps coming out of this black hole that is raised a little bit in the middle of the coral, and I have no idea what it is. The frag is only about an inch, and this hole is super small so I can't get a great picture of it. But here it goes....

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Any ideas? Concerns?

 

[rolo65]

its a tube worm.....nothing you can really do with a frag that size....once it grows pout you may be able to get rid of it without killing the coral...but with now theres really nothing to worry about

 

[atlweb]

Is there anything to worry about with tube worms? I can't really find much information about them in the aquarium. I swear every day something new in this hobby arises. Keeps you on your toes.

 

[rolo65]

nothing really other than the annoying web they put out to catch food......they dont do damage to the coral.....more or less just unsightly to most ppl.....i like them just because they are naturally occurring

 

[atlweb]

Sounds good. I will leave 'em alone.

Now I have to decide if the two little crabs I found on my digata montipora are harmful haha. Any knowledge on crabs?

 

[rolo65]

depends on what they look like....red eyes or bright green eyes and hairy....they are bad.....white or pink and smooth shelled.....might even have a black stripe across the face...those are of...try to get a pic and that may help id them

 

[atlweb]

Thank you so much for your help...

They are hairy and have bright green/bluish eyes.... I suppose it is time for removal. I will probably just take the coral out, and remove them with tweezers if I can.

 

[rolo65]

no problem....i would try a toothpick....easier to damage the coral with metal apparatus...toothpick can still damage it though....just takes a tiny bit more force

 

[sts04c]

Put a drop of superglue on the opening, then it will not extend it's web anymore.

 

[rolo65]

sts04c;625212 wrote: Put a drop of superglue on the opening, then it will not extend it's web anymore.

as long as its the gel and hes very careful....judging by the pick thats on a small frag plug....so it would be difficult to keep the glue from running onto the coral itself

 

[atlweb]

Got the crabs off... one of them was quite difficult. I hope the coral recovers okay.


For right now I am going to leave the tube worm alone... the web isn't bad and if it isn't hurting anything... I have no problem with it.