Sick Coco Worm

[yohann976]

I recently purchased a coco worm and it's not doing to well. Before I introduced it to the tank, I did a 2 hour drip acclimation. Even then it wasn't looking too well. When I went to put it in the water, it didn't even retract back into it's tube. After a few days, it starting acting really weird. The "feathers" started pulsing. Well, more like retracting to the base. Then the first head fell off and the next day the second head fell off. Right now, it's still in the tube. I can tell that it's still alive because it's still moving back and forth through the tube.

I have three other tube worms that are doing very well, so I can't understand why the coco worm dropped it's heads. It's been about a week now. How is it still alive and can it eat without the heads? Will they ever grow back?

 

[yohann976]

Just a quick update: Since the coco worm has been coming to the top of the tube much more often, I've had a chance to really look at it. It appears that there are two nubs with a few tiny feathers growing out from where the two heads used to be. I could be wrong, but I think that they are growing back . Was the transfer from the pet store to my tank that stressful, or do these worms often shed their heads?

 

[thincat]

Just a quick update: Since the coco worm has been coming to the top of the tube much more often, I've had a chance to really look at it. It appears that there are two nubs with a few tiny feathers growing out from where the two heads used to be. I could be wrong, but I think that they are growing back . Was the transfer from the pet store to my tank that stressful, or do these worms often shed their heads?

More then likely the transfer to the Pet shop. When stressed tubeworms shed their heads and will regrow a new one in time. It can do this two times in a row if really stressed.

 

[yohann976]

Those two nubs regrew into full heads in less than a month! I was amazed at how fast they grew back. The transfer from the pet shop along with the fact that I was using tap water at the time probably really stressed the coco worm a lot. No more tap water for my tank now.

 

[melosu58]

No more tap water for my tank now.

I wish I could hear alot of folks say that. You`ll see better results.