Zoanthids with sweeper tenacles

Hi ,

I recently put some orange zoanthids in my tank.
Noticed under LED moonlight had long multiple sweeper
tenacles (about 12" long) sweeping tank.Didn't know they
even had them. Should I worry about other corals getting stung.
In 20gal long tank so not alot of room.Just have soft corals
currently.Xenia,green star polyps and mushrooms.
Any one else notice this on their zoanthids?
Worried.

morejongg

 

Zoanthids don't have sweepers. You likely got a hitchhiker spaghetti worm with the zoanthids.

 

are you sure that the coral in question is of the zoanthus variety? with sweepers extending 12 inches into your tank, my guess would be that you have a euphyllia variety. do you have a picture?

 

No its a zoanthid.About 10 polyps on rock.Might be a hitchhiker but,
there were about 6 of the long tenacles coming out in different directions.
If are worms could they stretch that far and that many?
Do I need to worry about them? Remove them ?
Going in different directions after lights turned off.
Will try and get picture but,dont have macro lense.
Thanks again,

morejongg

 

Zoanthid has no sweepers. Maybe you got a moon hitchhiker on there you didn't know about? Could be a sphagetti worm of some sort also.

 

Take a look at the pic on this link. Spaghetti worms utilize tentacles in amazing ways

Yes, they can stretch 12 inches long and they are great detrivores.

A lot of people buy these on purpose from Indo-Pacific Sea Farms (although they call them mama mia worms).

 

Thanks guys,

I looked at picture inwall75 posted.And I think that
they are spaghetti worms.Now that tank is lit can see
what looks like some tubes on rock surface.Was worried
about my pulsing xenia.Karma to all of you.

Thanks again,
morejongg

 

If there are numerous tubes, I could be wrong. It could be vermetid snails. Here's a macro-video of one. Monterey Bay Aquarium: Snail (Vermetid Gastropod) Feeding Video

Here's how you tell. The next time you see them out, wave your hands through the tentacles. If they break off and float around the tank, it's a vermetid snail. If all of the tentacles retract and pull back into the tube, it's a spaghetti worm.

Doesn't matter either way though....neither is harmful to your tank. Actually, they are good for your tank.