can we talk about worms??

[TOURKID]

Ive had a little piece of LR that ive had since I started my tank.

It was unique from the start.

It had clear goo all through it.

A worm that lives in it often makes tubes out of sand all over this lil rock. sometimes the tubes connect to other rocks.

Never caused any harm, but cool to look at. the clear goo dries up to a cracked brown texture sometimes.

Well, for 3 days this worm has decided to connect to my ricordia rock. It was irritating my ric, so i picked the tube off the rock.

day 1 thru 3 I picked off this tube every morning.

4th day.. today... tube is back... 1/4 of my ricordia is missing.

It ate my ricordia?? (!) Never displayed evilness before!!

I have never seen this worm. Only tubes.
Theres never been a fether duster at the other end.

Well i started a thread elsewhere and a guy spooked me saying he tore down his whole tank because of a worm like this....

I removed the rock I *KNOW* its in. just a few minutes ago.
I turned it over and looked at it and its just seeping with this clear goo, and a few sand tubes.

I dont want to kill this 'worm' that ive been happy having for ten months without knowing what it could be. its never harmed a coral before. why now?

are there evil tube worms??? Hoping for a worm lovers help before I throw the rock in a pot of boiling water :(

heres a pic of the ric with the tube. Ill take a few pics of the clear goo rock in case anyones interested :D

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h159/TOURKID/DSCF1572.jpg

[charlesr1958]

It is probably a Eunicid worm, but I suppose as long as it is eating polyps, it has to be removed no matter its species. The clear "goo" you are seeing is most likely the worm's mucus. For photos and more info on such worms, please see the worm section within my hitch hikers page.

Chucks Hitch Hikers (http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/hitchhikers.html)

Chuck

[kmk2307]

Try to observe the tank late at night and see if you see it. How big would you say the worm that lives in these tubes must be? Pictures of the tubes would be helpful in ID.

Kevin

[TOURKID]

the tubes were about 3-4 inches all together. I removed the rock i thought it was in, and kept looking last night. never saw a worm. im hoping i got it out.

I dipped the rock in fresh water but nothing came out but pods

[TOURKID]

found an old pic

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h159/TOURKID/DSCF0612.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h159/TOURKID/DSCF0612-1.jpg

[charlesr1958]

A photo of its tube is not going to be of any use since there are multitudes of worm species that create such tubes. But like I said before, if you know its eating your corals, then remove it. doesnt matter what species it is, if its bad, its bad. Take the rock that it is in, out of the tank. Put it in a small container with just enough water (tank water) to cover the rock, then put it in a dark place with no aeration for a few hours, usualy the lack of oxygen will drive the worm out of the rock. If that fails, then pouring some seltzer water or even vinegar into the holes of the rock may drive it out. If that doesnt work, I would just let the rock dry out for a few days and use that rock then as a base rock again. Before doing any of that though, you would of course want to remove any coral or other life that is on the rock and remount them elsewhere.

Chuck