What is on my live rock?

[ssmariner9]

I just got 25 lbs of LR from SWF.com today and I put in into my tank. I was looking at it later and noticed a little sort-of like flower comming out of a hole on the role. I know it's alive cause sometimes it retracts into the rock and dissapears. Is it bad? What is it?

 

[jb clown]

I am pritty sure it is a feather duster...They are not bad to your tank at all. I dont know a lot about them but you got luckey because they are really cool...
:joy:

 

[lion_crazz]

Maybe you can attach a pic of the thing in question so we can help you?
I am thinking that by the description, it is a feather duster. They are known to come in off of rock and they are basically just little worms that live in a tube and when they come out of the tube they look kinda "flower-like". They are not bad for your tank, as most fish stores sell them (some of which go for as high as 15.99)
Even if it is not this, most things that come into your live rock off of live rock are not bad...

 

[ssmariner9]

Sorry, I couldn't get a pic, but I did check a book and it appears in every respect to be a feather duster. I guess I just got lucky!?

 

[wocka]

yup. if u buy a big one and its doing healthy some produce little babie ones all over the rocks next to them, well mine did

 

[clown_nut]

the fiji rock i got from my LFS came with quite a few baby feather dusters

 

[jayrascoe]

I'm a newbie, but i read in this book about these creatures called "christmas trees". they come in doubles, and are found on really good live rock.
it looks like two spirally grown christmas trees, and from the pictures, they look really neat. They retract upon stress or touch.
He also mentioned that they're not very hardy in a new tank.
To find out if you have these, are there two, are they attached at the bottom, and when you look at them close, do they seem to have a spiral pattern from the stem?