red thing sticking out of my sand . . .

tonight i got my sand in the tank, rock work done and it half filled. about 5 mins ago i noticed something red - kinda looked like a small tongue - sticking up around an inch from the sand. it reacted when i got close and retracted back into the sand. anyone have an idea as to what this could be? should i scoop it out?

sorry i dont have any pics.

~Will.

 

brissel worm perhaps.

 

well, unless bristle worms have a shell, i doubt it. i dug it up and it was a pretty decent sized snail . . . my name is illwill and i'm a total newb.

man that thing looked creepy digging itself out of the sand.

~Will.

 

Well, let's see a pic of the snail......!

 

Did you use liverock..?? If so it may have been on the rock..

Maybe a sandshifting snail..??
Where did you get your sand.? Maybe it came with the sand.. If from another tank..
Welcome to 3reef.. Theres alot of good info, and people here..
Your tank is going to cycle, read all you can..

You joined this month and already have 86 posts..?? hee hee, Way to go.. !!!!!
Thats the best way to learn..
Good Luck, Larry

 

You must have a nassarius snail. They live in the sand and come up when they smell food. They have a long snoot like an elephant's trunk, that stays exposed above the sandline. I think this siphon is used for sensing food.

 

pagojoe - i'll try to get a pic of it, gotta lug out the fiancee's monster digi cam tho.

shipbear - everything in my tank as of now came from an established 150 gallon reef. i got his sand, live rock, some hitchhikers, and a sacrificial damsel of my own. TBH i'm surprised i only have 86 posts with all the questions i had regarding my first salty setup, people here are amazing at helping out!

ReefSparky - that siphon like thinger mush have been what i saw . . . looked like a mutated radio active gummi bear or something. are they normally bright red (the snails, not mutated radio active gummi bears)?

~Will.

 

Nah, the snorkels on Nassarius are NOT normally red, which is why I was interested to see what kind of snail it was. Quite a few different snails will hang out under the surface with their siphons extended, but red is a fairly unusual color. The siphons of some cone snails are red or pink.

Cheers,



Don

 

It could be an olive snail. Witch are good sand sifters.

 

this is the best pic i could get, every time i get near it he shrinks back into his shell. i'm still leaning towards mutated radioactive gummy bear, but i'm no expert.



~Will.