Critter on glass

[ohioreef]

I have noticed a bunch of "curly q" critters on my glass in both my main tank and also my refuge. I thought I read once that these are beneficial but for the life of me I can't remember what they are. Could someone help me out?
Thanks

 

[ka0z4allu]

Not sure what they are called but I have a bunch of them also. Maybe someone will jump in with the name?

 

[barry cuda]

Spirorbidae (sp?) snails? Post a pic?

 

[wowreefs]

amphipod?maybe

 

[ohioreef]

I looked at them closer and I think that they are little feather dusters!!

 

[thomas712]

spirorbidae

 

[ohioreef]

Thomas,
That is exactly what we have. Are they good or bad?

 

[salty cheese]

Harmless

 

[thomas712]

Yep harmless, infact it shows that you have some natural phyto going on. You can scrape them off the glass if you don't like them.

 

[grantman]

I had about a thousand of them on my back wall when my tank was a couple months old. Now I don't have any on my glass.

 

[ohioreef]

Thomas,
Could you pls explain what you mean by natural phyto?

 

[thomas712]

Some people add DT or other bottled phytoplankton to their tanks, right now it would seem that yours is producing enough to support these little filter feeders.
Phytoplankton = planktonic plant life