HELP!!! Acan frag disappears over night

[cottagereefer]

I bought a frag from the local store. brought it home and this is what was left of it the second morning. My water parameters are all in the right range, and even if they were a bit off it could not disappear in a day like it has. The only thing in the tank (that i know of) are three fish, two Nemo's and a Royal Gamma.
The frag was put in the tank on Sunday afternoon and looked like this on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday morning the skeleton on other side was also purple and Acan was gone.
I did notice the white line that runs from the frag across the frag plug and onto the live rock. It looks like some kind of trail but have not been able to figure it out on any blogs.

Any ideas?

[MondoBongo]

what was the white line made from? little bits of rock and sand?

you might have a worm in there eating things.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2344619

[Mael]

agree could be a bad worm, do you have any shrimp as part of your CUC? One of my peppermints picked on my first acan the first cpl days it was in the tank, hasnt touched it since then but had me worried for a cpl days, in the end I think it was more trying to steal food from it then kill it.

[cottagereefer]

Mondo, it looks like its made up of sand but it must be held together with something.
Mael, no shrimp.

[Mael]

hm, definitely sounds like a pest, even if it isnt a shrimp. My red acan reduced to 25% its original size and has since come all the way back and shot out a baby on the side. May need to try and do some observation after lights out with a flashlight or something, see if you can find the culprit.

[510christie]

I had an identical problem with a hammer coral mounted on rockwork. Noticed one of the heads was drooping one day and when I investigated found a sandy tube extending from the rock to the coral over a distance of 1/4". A small patch of flesh had been stripped off. Knocked the tube off and glued the hole in the rock it extended from shut. Next day there was a new tube beside where the old one was and more flesh missing. Pulled the rock out and broke it open and found it riddled with holes but couldn't find the culprit so I nuked the rock in the microwave....no more problems. You definitely have some kind of predatory worm in there.

[cottagereefer]

Thanks Christie, I will take a close look at that rock. I think I can remove it quite easily.
Did the tank have to be recycled afterwards?

[Mael]

you nuked it in the microwave? Never, ever, ever do that....ever.

You dont know what else is on and in the rock and there are several things that can release deadly toxins when treated that way. Yes this is mostly with zoas and paly's but never put rock in any heat source. If you want to kill everything on it and start over with dead rock then just dip it in peroxide or bleach and let it dry out and then let it soak and cycle in RO or tank water to remove any residual chemicals. Please dont propogate this as a valid method for removing unwanted hitchhikers, I dont want to be mean but this could involve peoples health here.

[cottagereefer]

Thanks Mael, I was not about to put the rock in the microwave. I can't believe someone actually did that and their microwave didn't start on fire. Even if it didn't catch on fire can you imagine the smell it would create!?

[Mael]

yah, and to think smell and a blown microwave are actually the least of your worries in that scenario. There are a few safe ways to sterilize a whole rock if that is what ends up needing to happen, which I would think is a last resort. May need to check in with some of the experts around here, but if you found a slime trail Im thinking it is a worm or nudibranch of some sort getting them.

Have you had a chance to look at them after lights out?

[cottagereefer]

I have tried to look at night with a red light no but no luck after the last Acan was eaten. Checking other threads I have been told it was a worm and that I would not catch it in a trap and that it may or may not come out in a fresh/carbonated water dip so the best thing is to find where he is hiding and take that rock out of the tank and physically remove him. I was hoping for one of the experts here to add their two cents to my plight but nothing so far except how to start a kitchen fire while possibly poisoning yourself ;-P
I'm going to put some bait out tonight and see if I see anything and find out where he lives.

[Mael]

If you dont catch it with the bait then do a Bayer dip. Tons of local reefers are using it with excellent results. It is basically the blue Bayer pesticide bottle, diluted in tank water and then dip the corals, since it is for pests it doesnt hurt corals(except maybe thin skined acros) and it kills worms, nudibranches and most other pests. Im sure there are a few threads on it already here at RC telling how much to use and so forth.

Only thing to keep in mind with Bayer, I have heard it can take up to three dips to kill any eggs left behind, it should kill the bug the first time, but eggs are a little more trouble.

edit: This is the specific bottle they say to use...
http://www.moyesreef.com/uploads/Bayer-Insect-Killer%2011-39-28.jpg

[510christie]

Relax everyone....small piece of rock with no attached life and only "warmed" in the microwave. Maybe 1/100 of the total rock in the tank so no cycle or any other adverse effects. Wife didn't even notice any smell! Wouldn't recommend this for larger pieces.

[Bill Nye]

99 percent sure the white line is a spaghetti worm...

Im sure people with bare bottom tanks will agree that in absence of sand they will form a sort of calcium cocoon around themselves. Perhaps they do this in sand as well but its far more noticeable without any. Im guessing the frag came from a system without sand and it was just growing on the frag plug.