Mystery thing on coral

[krenzcendo]

Hi guys, 

 

This is my very first post so apologies if I'm breaking any rules. I am fairly new to the hobby, I've had my tank running for 4 months and I've noticed this thing on my favorite coral. Looks like a worm thing but I don't know what it is. I tried pulling it off with tweezers but it didn't budge. However, after trying to scrape it off the red thing on the end disapeared for a moment (visible in picture 3) making me think its likely a living a thing. Picture 4 shows the coral from heads on and I circled where the tube thing is looping around. You'll see the coral doesn't seem too happy where the things is. 

 

What is this? How should I get rid of it if it is bad?

 

Thank you thank you!

[Rob22]

Feather duster worm. Harmless and a beneficial filter feeder. 

[krenzcendo]

For sure for sure? Maybe its cause its a baby but it doesnt look like the google pictures of feather dusters.

[Rob22]

There are likely hundreds to thousands of species of tube worms with feathered crowns. Some can make hard calcium tubes and some make only kind of like paper like that giant Hawaiian feather dusters that are common in the trade. These look like Filogranella elatensis to me with the hard calciforous tube and the red crown that fades to pale. They also grow where the light shades them and they can hide from predators and are often found under coral heads. You can remove it if you want to but the tube grows towards the opening so the back of the tube that you see in the last picture shouldn’t grow any more towards the head, unless it’s another one and there isn’t a crown on it. I can’t tell from the pic though. If you attempt to crush and remove the tube you will likely damage the coral head and could cause an infection. I personally wouldn’t risk it. To the coral it is a minor discomfort that it will likely get used to like a new mattress or a new pair of shoes that you need to break in to a human. 

[krenzcendo]

Thank you for the information. Very insightful. I'll leave it for now and monitor how the coral does. If it really looks like its causing damage I'll try to remove it again.