Why do these tube worms only produce mucous?

pikachusalad · 03/07/2008, 11:46 PM

Well...noob (me), because they're not worms, they're vermetid snails. After spending an hour looking up every type of worm I could find...I found nothing. Finally I searched on mucous...heh.

Lately, I've had significant population growth of small-ish purple-brown ones (see figure 3 in this article).

So, tonight I started crushing them in their shells with a fork.

The highlight of my week was looking over my work, and finding that nearly every crushed snail was being eaten by something! Starfish was poking around at a few, crabs were working on some, and most had 2 or 3 big ol' amphipods digging in.

Man I love my clean up crew. I go on a killing spree, and they clean up the evidence...without even being asked.

Phillstone · 03/08/2008, 12:02 AM

What did they hurt?

pikachusalad · 03/08/2008, 12:08 AM

Well when there were 3...not much. When there were 10, not much. But seemingly "all of a sudden", there were 100. 1000 is right around the corner.

They put out mucous webs that irritate some corals...supposedly. Their shells are razor sharp. And when their populations explode they can clog pumps.

Phillstone · 03/08/2008, 12:25 AM

Ok never seen that many in a tank, over the past 10 yrs i have seen them overtake in mine never gave it much mind.
Come to think of it haven't seen any for a long time ( 4-6 yrs)

one kewl thing about this hobby is ya never know what you'll get

03/07/2008, 11:46 PM	#1
pikachusalad Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Saint Paul, MN Posts: 402	Why do these tube worms only produce mucous? Well...noob (me), because they're not worms, they're vermetid snails. After spending an hour looking up every type of worm I could find...I found nothing. Finally I searched on mucous...heh. Lately, I've had significant population growth of small-ish purple-brown ones (see figure 3 in this article). So, tonight I started crushing them in their shells with a fork. The highlight of my week was looking over my work, and finding that nearly every crushed snail was being eaten by something! Starfish was poking around at a few, crabs were working on some, and most had 2 or 3 big ol' amphipods digging in. Man I love my clean up crew. I go on a killing spree, and they clean up the evidence...without even being asked. __________________ -- Mike Current Tank Info: 60G reef

03/08/2008, 12:08 AM	#3
pikachusalad Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Saint Paul, MN Posts: 402	Well when there were 3...not much. When there were 10, not much. But seemingly "all of a sudden", there were 100. 1000 is right around the corner. They put out mucous webs that irritate some corals...supposedly. Their shells are razor sharp. And when their populations explode they can clog pumps. __________________ -- Mike Current Tank Info: 60G reef

03/08/2008, 12:02 AM	#2
Phillstone Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Waukesha, WI USA Posts: 241	What did they hurt?

03/08/2008, 12:25 AM	#4
Phillstone Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Waukesha, WI USA Posts: 241	Ok never seen that many in a tank, over the past 10 yrs i have seen them overtake in mine never gave it much mind. Come to think of it haven't seen any for a long time ( 4-6 yrs) one kewl thing about this hobby is ya never know what you'll get