[Delphinus]

These guys migrated over from the sump of my old cube tank, just basically by having other things transferred over they started popping up all over the place. Mostly in my sump, but they are starting to show up in the DT as well now. My butterfly isn't part of this collective anymore, he moved to a different tank, and he was the one who kept the ones out of the DT.

The problem I have with them is that they are a complication when it comes to wanting to vacuum out the sump. Detritus buildup happens anyhow, yes, that's why I want to occasionally clean out the sump. That stuff will cause problems to a tank as it matures if you don't keep it in check. I mean, I'm a guy who sits there with the filter sock and meticulously picks out each and every copepod that I can, and toss them back in the tank, before I toss the sock in the wash, because "these organisms are beneficial! And I rock for saving each and every one of them. Peace, love and flowers!". So inevitably what happens is I don't want to harm my "oh-so-beneficial filter feeding feather dusters" and poof, what happens is my sump becomes a huge lattice work of their tubes. The ones I have, have pretty little crowns and get to about 1" around with red highlights, but their tubes are like mud. If you touch them they disintegrate instantly into muddy water that then has to be skimmed out. And they grow, and grow, and grow (I have tubes in there that are easily 6" long) and they spread faster than aiptasia. If I clean them up and remove them, they are back to the same degree within a couple weeks. It's brutal.

It was a neat novelty at first but I really do think it's become a plaque. I feel guilty that I want to scrape them all out and flush them, but, I think it's going to have to come to that.

I'll post a picture later of my sump later on, you can have a good laugh at my expense and feel better about your own tank afterwards.