• Help identify - unknown worm

  • Joseph8592

I recently discovered some on myself - should I be afraid of them and if they are dangerous, how to deal with them. They look like cotton balls with eyelashes... there are quite a lot of them, otherwise I wouldn't have asked the question.

Natasha7622

I don't understand anything in that photo... what balloon, and where are the eyelashes?

Kenneth7210

These are probably sponges, let them be, don't touch them, they are good. I will post a photo, is this what you wanted to show?

Linda

I have the same ones. Is it okay that they reproduce a lot? It seems like even good things should be in moderation.

Linda

Yes, it's not possible to take better photos for now. But they are exactly like the ones in Alexey's photo. There have been a lot of them appearing during the New Year holidays, so I got interested. I suspect that they do filter the water after all. Thank you for your response.

Gene1948

By the way, I had a sponge that grew and looked fluffy like a pineapple. Suddenly, one morning all the fluff fell off, and it was bare. I thought a worm had eaten it, but it turned out that the fluff was "seeds." They spread all over the aquarium and looked like bristles. Then, gradually, they started to slowly turn into sponges. But over time, they disappeared. I saw how the Asterinas feed on sponges. They climb on top, and by the next day, there's no trace left.

Stephen

A kind of "sea dandelion." There are enough Asterina, so we will observe the population. Once, a stork brought them, by the way, from Alexey. Now there are only about ten in the visible part, and that's less than in half a year. They reproduce - it's very easy, they just tear themselves apart. But the sponges spread faster. I found a description - these are calcareous sponges. Thanks again.