What would have left this?

[Anjaba]

Any ideas on what leaves this type of waste? It always appears overnight, and is about an inch long and as thick as a spaghetti noodle. It's always in the same place as well, under this cliff in the middle of my rockwork. I really hate it because it just piles up as it breaks down.

 

 

I've looked at my tank at night and all i've noticed are these long tentacles that stretch out from holes in the rockwork and tear off debris from the rocks. Those are brown and translucent.

[schaferfred]

Worm poop

[revance]

Hmmm... I also have those in my tank (just set it up). It is definitely bigger than any worm I have seen in my tank (so I don't know how it could be feces) and they don't really look like feces... they look more like cocoons. Are you sure they are worm feces??? Anyone???

[MrKrispy]

they are from a worm, not sure if it is poop or a husk.

 

I forget the name, I answered it a few months back. Spionid or terrebelid (sp).

[revance]

Sorry if I sound stupid (I don't know much about worms) but what exactly is the function of a husk in the lifecycle of a worm? These are definitely larger than the worms I have seen in my sand. You could easily fit one of my worms inside them.

 

I am not too worried about them, I am just curious as to what they are. I have noticed many more worms in my sand.

[schaferfred]

There are worms in your rock that you either never see or only see when the lights are off. I wondered the same thing some time ago and was told by several other members that it was "worm poop"....lol, sounds funny

[jmt]

Just blast them with a turkey baster and they will break up.

[revance]

So these aren't from the worms I see in my substrate? Well now I am curious and going to spend the next week staring at the tank trying to find more worms :-)

 

My wife is about to kill me because that is all I have done since I got my live rock. I didn't get too many hitchhikers... worms, one small feather duster, and a hermit crab that I haven't seen since the first day... probably in the rock somewhere. I got Marshall Island rock from premium aquatics (went there and picked it out) and am VERY happy with it... very cool looking. I will post pics once I can get some.

[MrKrispy]

no the worm poops are not from the worms in the substrate, those a different. They aren't from a spaghetti worm either, before someone pipes in. Now that I think about it Spionid or terrebelid is incorrect, I think they are from peanut worms. They can get big and they stay in the rocks. They are hard to find but they will sneak out a bit during the day. The easiest way I can describe them is like a elephant trunk coming out of the rock sniffing around. I will try to check my Sprung book tonight.

 

Here is a simple link describing them:

http://www.mesa.edu.au/friends/seashores/worms.html

[Anjaba]

I definitely have those peanut worms. They stretch out and their mouth turns inside out, clasps the food and then contracts back to normal size. I've only seen them at night though, and they never come out of their hole. I have found several different sized ones in only a few minutes of looking. I found an article on them -

 

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/sipuncula/sipuncula.html

 

The picture from the article is not the specific type of worm I have (there are many varieties.) I have the ones that burrow in the rock, and look like this when not stretched out.

 

[Hwarang]

Just because you haven't seen the worm, doesn't mean it isn't in there ... I was watching my tank last night at 3am and saw the biggest bristleworm ever ...

[alexmsw]

I have the same things in my tank. I had no idea what it was, thought it might be snail poop since it's the only thing that I saw hitched on my live rock. Great gonna have to sit there and watch it all night now!!