I've been dealing with some sort of worm that is eating my zoos and mushrooms. This has been going on for the past couple of weeks. I've tried using a bristle worm trap from the lfs (the one that Coralife makes), but I have not caught him in at least a dozen attempts (all overnight). He moves like lightening and I'm not sure which rock he is in. I can see him dart out at night and take a chuck out of my zoos, but he goes inbetween the rocks so fast I have no idea where he is living. Please...if anyone out there has gone thru this and can give me some help, I'd really appreciate it!
Help!! worm eating corals
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MarineFlake
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I hate to post this, but wth..It is aquariumADVICE dot com right? I too had some worms that had worn out their welcome in my 75G. A lot of folks will tell you its not the worms, they are helpful, etc, blah blah blah..However I witnessed with my own 2 eyes (with the aid of a flashlight) the lil bugger doing the dirty deed (More than once). No it was not some hawaiian strain or the mythical 'fire' worm. Just a good ole fashioned bristle worm doing the nasty and slowly killing one of my well loved open brain corals. Anyway, All that to say in my case, I bought a 6 line wrasse. I haven't seen a worm in I don't know when. You can try traps or removing LR but your only hope in a populated tank is a natural preditor *if* traps fail*. I would keep trying the trap but bear in mind where there is one...
A lot of folks cringe at the idea of buying an animal to facilitate a need like this. (As opposed to any other reason?) But the 6 line in my case took care of all my worm issues, at least that I can see, and is a great fish to boot. (They are jumpers, beware) While I don't know what size your tank is, if you have exhausted your other options its about a $20 fish or less. It must be acclimated proper as all new additions but they are pretty hardy. Most of the wrasse line are.
Thats my advice and I'm sticking to it ; )
Peace.
A lot of folks cringe at the idea of buying an animal to facilitate a need like this. (As opposed to any other reason?) But the 6 line in my case took care of all my worm issues, at least that I can see, and is a great fish to boot. (They are jumpers, beware) While I don't know what size your tank is, if you have exhausted your other options its about a $20 fish or less. It must be acclimated proper as all new additions but they are pretty hardy. Most of the wrasse line are.
Thats my advice and I'm sticking to it ; )
Peace.
coolchinchilla
Aquarium Advice FINatic
PC said:
I don't think it's any problem to get a "worker" fish to control the worms. We do that all the time for other purposes. For example, on the FW side we have plecos & catfish to keep the substrate clean. On the SW side people buy "clean up crews" for the expressed purpose to keep the place clean. People get tangs to keep the macro algae under contol.
My 2 cents.
Couple tips on the wrasse. Try and find them smaller if you can as I believe they are less aggresive. He will quarrel with any other fish you add after him, so keep that in mind as well. Also, be aware that your pod population will be nonexistent as he is THE pod terminator. Any dragonets will starve if he's present.
roka64
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Most of these will eat bristle worms or fire worms:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/search/default.cfm
From reading this forum, I tend to think this is more related to algae problems and such, where the problem in the tank should be addressed instead of "throwing" critters in the tank to try and "help". I don't have any problems adding a new fish/invert to help in the natural process.
I think I read that there are more than 3000-6000 types of bristle worms, so there is a chance you got the nasty ones......
allyjoe, if you update your "my info" with your tank size/critters/equip, that could help us.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/search/default.cfm
From reading this forum, I tend to think this is more related to algae problems and such, where the problem in the tank should be addressed instead of "throwing" critters in the tank to try and "help". I don't have any problems adding a new fish/invert to help in the natural process.
I think I read that there are more than 3000-6000 types of bristle worms, so there is a chance you got the nasty ones......
allyjoe, if you update your "my info" with your tank size/critters/equip, that could help us.
Most of us dont mind using different fish or inverts to take care of a problem as long as we dont treat it as a bandaid. In this situation I believe you might need to go to a 6 line because the only solutiuon is a trap or predator. But in the case of getting a fish or invert to take care of an algea problem, that is a bandaid solution. Algea is being fueled by something and a predator will not take care of the problem just prolong it. I hope you understand what I am saying. I am not condemning the use of these animals just saying dont use them as a bandaid. Good Luck Allyjoe
Thanks all for the replies. I'm going to need your help on this. I can assure you that I have one of the "nasty" worms in my tank. I have seen him dart out, take a bite out of my zoos (@@#%**!!) and dart back behind the rock. This all happens in about two seconds (I'm not kidding - blink your eye and you miss it). As far as using fish to control this, I already have two wrasses. Not because I was trying to control worms - just because I like them. Poor pod population isn't a problem since I don't not have fish which require that for food. I've had a Yellow Coris Wrasse for over a year. Then about three months ago, I saw a four line - that's right a four line - wrasse at my lfs (a very good and respectable store). Somewhat rare and I really thought it looked cool. You can see what I have by going to this site:
http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=01-4130
Both wrasses are doing great and neither one of them is a problem as far as being aggressive. In fact, both seem pretty mild. Unfortunately, neither seems to be able to do anything with this worm. One problem may be that the worm generally comes out at night. By then the Yellow Coris is buried in the sand and four line is hiding for the night. No matter, the wrasses are not getting to this thing. Perhaps a Six Line Wrasse would do a better job, but if two wrasses can't track this thing down, I'm not sure adding a third will make a difference.
So, I still have my trap in there (empty!). Fish are doing great and corals that are not being snacked on are doing well too. Unfortunately, I'm in the process of losing a 25 polyp zoo colony to this stinkin thing. I just got to get this worm out. Unless I can see which rock he is actually going into, and then I can quickly get it out, I'm losing hope. If you can give me some hope, help, etc, I'd really appreciate it.
melosu58, I understand your comments and everyone elses on using animals to control some things like algae. I've been thru those battles too and used the info on this site to fix the problem by correcting the source.
roka64, I'll update my info, but just a quick overview:
120 gallons Started April 2005
Approximately 250 pounds of live rock
Fish:
One Hippo (Regal) Tang
Two Wrasses mentioned above
One Clown
One Flame Angle
One Royal Gramma
Assorted soft and hard Corals
http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=01-4130
Both wrasses are doing great and neither one of them is a problem as far as being aggressive. In fact, both seem pretty mild. Unfortunately, neither seems to be able to do anything with this worm. One problem may be that the worm generally comes out at night. By then the Yellow Coris is buried in the sand and four line is hiding for the night. No matter, the wrasses are not getting to this thing. Perhaps a Six Line Wrasse would do a better job, but if two wrasses can't track this thing down, I'm not sure adding a third will make a difference.
So, I still have my trap in there (empty!). Fish are doing great and corals that are not being snacked on are doing well too. Unfortunately, I'm in the process of losing a 25 polyp zoo colony to this stinkin thing. I just got to get this worm out. Unless I can see which rock he is actually going into, and then I can quickly get it out, I'm losing hope. If you can give me some hope, help, etc, I'd really appreciate it.
melosu58, I understand your comments and everyone elses on using animals to control some things like algae. I've been thru those battles too and used the info on this site to fix the problem by correcting the source.
roka64, I'll update my info, but just a quick overview:
120 gallons Started April 2005
Approximately 250 pounds of live rock
Fish:
One Hippo (Regal) Tang
Two Wrasses mentioned above
One Clown
One Flame Angle
One Royal Gramma
Assorted soft and hard Corals
roka64
Aquarium Advice Addict
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They had one at my LFS about 2 months ago....looks like they have great personality and look really neat.
Can you remove the rock he is hiding in? You might have to watch after lights out to find the exact rock...
I'm trying to determine which rock the worm is in, but it has been hard because he comes out between rocks and I can't see which one he is in. Plus, one of the rocks that he could be in is very big, so once I get the rock out, I'm not sure what to do (I don't want to throw one my my bigger rocks away). I am beginning to think that my only solution to this is finding the rock he is in and getting it out. Once I get the rock out, what do I do? Is there a way I can kill this thing without hurting my rock or any coral that might be on it?
BTW, you are correct about the four line wrasse. Great fish that swims all over the aquarium and in and out of all the rock. Again, I wish he would find this worm!
BTW, you are correct about the four line wrasse. Great fish that swims all over the aquarium and in and out of all the rock. Again, I wish he would find this worm!
roka64
Aquarium Advice Addict
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If you can find him in the rock, could you squirt him with boiling water or maybe even a FW dip. I'm not sure if that is such a great idea, maybe some one that has had this problem can help out a little better.....
Yes, I thought of a FW dip, but I'm concerned that would damage other life in and on the rock. Perhaps injecting only the hole he is in with freshwater would work?? Agree... if someone has gone thru this, any tips would be appreciated.
Hara, When this worm first started eating some zoos and mushrooms, I did move all of those corals away from that particular location. It took about two weeks, but he found a different zoo colony. This particular colony has spread since I first introduced it, and is "permanently" attached to the rock. I can't get it off. Besides, so far this thing has outsmarted my traps and coral movement. He'll just find another snack in a couple of weeks.
Hara, When this worm first started eating some zoos and mushrooms, I did move all of those corals away from that particular location. It took about two weeks, but he found a different zoo colony. This particular colony has spread since I first introduced it, and is "permanently" attached to the rock. I can't get it off. Besides, so far this thing has outsmarted my traps and coral movement. He'll just find another snack in a couple of weeks.
move the coral farther away from the rocks that the worm hangs out in. This will help in two ways, first, the worm may not care to travel too far from the rock to forage, second, if it does, you have a better chance of catching it before it makes it back to the rock.
seaham358
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hara you missed this part... he can no longer move the corals...allyjoe said:
your in a tough spot. Not sure of any chemicals you can use to nuke the bugger!! I feel your pain I lost all my zoos to some unknown vermit or disease.
Keep baiting the trap near where you think he lives. Pick a night and stay up late with a red light to view the tank and find out where its living and then yank the lr.. You may have to start yanking rock and dipping in FW and just kill everything in and on the rock in hopes of killing that SOB. I know it will be hard to do but if you want to save your zoos you may have no other choice. With that much LR don't worry about bacteria and pods..
I just had to frag up my hugh Galaxia becasue of brown jelly infection.. It hurt to do it but I had too..
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