The other night I noticed the bubble trap in my sump was red?! Closer examination revealed it was completely lined with little tube worms with red gills extended. Doesn't show up well, but here's the best photo I could get.
I love those little guys. Not near as robust as the run of the mill white ones, at least in my tank, but much more pleasing to the eye!
Considering these guys survived a tank move where the sump was dry for several hours, I'd say they're pretty dang tough! They're all over my live rock too. Love these little guys.
Nice. It's got to be the Alaska air.
At least it was 80 degrees out that day. I'm pretty sure they would have been dead if I'd moved it on a subzero day. I even rinsed it out with 40 degree fresh water (that's temp out of my hose). So I'm really surprized they survived.
I think they survived because they can retract into their calcified tubes. Odds are they hold water within as well - they are neat little hitchhikers that sometimes appear in tight clusters in our reef tanks, but more often than not they show up in the sump & filtration, like you pointed out above.
They started showing up in the display after my Banded Coral Shrimp died. I suspect he was munching on them, But I'm glad to see them. It's the little micro life that make a reef tank so facinating to me.