Freakin' ugly worms in my new leathers

[Stealth70mde]

Hello RC community.

First post, first problem...

I am new to the Reef aquaria hobby though I have been in the fresh water one for more than 15 years having from gold fishes (when kid) to Cichlids for more than 10 years.

When my last 7 years old Cichlid died 5 months ago from Cichlid bloat I decided to convert to Salt water.

I am very happy so far, fascinated by the amount of life that just seems to appear in my reef. I often have pleasant surprises but recently I bought 2 leather corals and 1 that have small polyps.

The small polyp one came with a Live Rock that has many tunnels going through it. I have found two little furry crabs one day after I got it (I hope those little “furries” are harmless)...

I also saw something funny one night as it was some kind of only showing 3 antennas at the entrance of one of the small tunnels. A couple of nights after, I saw it again but this time a head was out eating on the polyps... :eek2:

I went here before I registered and found out it is most probably a worm (like the 7 footer story in one of the posts here)...

Now I have to remove it but I don't know exactly how to proceed as I do not want to kill the coral by pulling it out of the water in search of the worm plus the fact that this worm is scaring me a little bit now. I saw it again yesterday night and it is at least 6 inches long but I am sure I did not see the whole body.

Many wonders live in the seas but these gross worms are really disgusting and scary...

Many Thanks.

[fakename]

LEathers are pretty tough.....if the worm has to go I would pull the leather and the rock it is on and freshwater dip the entire rock......you could leave the leather above the freshwater. I would bet the worm will come out once the freshwater is into the rock....

[Stealth70mde]

Hello fakeman,

the worm is not in the leathers, it is in the other one (not sure how to qualify it, maybe you can help).

I think it would be difficult to do what you suggested with this one because all the polyps are around the whole rock.

See the picture attached, it will give you a better idea of what the coral is sitting on. Also see the wholes I am talking about where the worm(s) is hiding.

Thanks.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/113417IMG_30551.jpg

[cutsupremetrib]

ummmmmmm those are not leathers they sorta look like zoos but all closed up

[Blown 346]

The one thing you can do is dip the coral in coral medication called coral dip I believe. Or you can lower the salinity to 1.015 and dip the coral in that, the worm should come out. Having the coral out of water for a few minutes wont kill it.

As for the furry or hairy crab, I would try and get that guy out before he causes problems. Crabs that are hithhikers are 98% bad. They will kill whatever they can catch, including snails, fish, inverts like shrimp, and can even eat corals.

[Stealth70mde]

Thanks for the advice,

I will wait before getting the crabs out but will definitely do the the 1.015 bath and see what comes out.

As for the ID of the coral, thanks, it was not not identified at the store but liked the life that was on it. It was closed at the store also. It might be in poor shape but it is slowly starting to open sometimes.

[Confooseld]

fresh water won't kill zoos just stick straight in RO/DI of the right temp/ph

[mjkn2]

Sounds to me like it could be a bristle worm. Do they look like they have hair like tentacles coming off of it all over? I have them all over and they don't eat the corals. (However there is debate whether they are good or bad. I have not had a problem with them.) They eat waste and leftover food on the bottom of the tank. Search for "Bristle worm" and you should be able to find some pictures to ID if it is a bristle worm and lots of info about what people have to say about them.

[Blown 346]

mjk2 is right on the money with the bristle worms, the only time they can become a problem is when they get big or are out during the day when the lights are on. Other wise they are good cleaners.
Also be careful not to touch them with your bare hands as they have very sharp hairs that can cause rashes, itchyness, redness, burning.

[mjkn2]

Yeah. I touched one on accident once that was a semi large. It stung pretty good and then I noticed that it had left the fine hairs like fiber glass in my finger.

[fakename]

First of all I agree that those look like zoos that are not doing well rather than a leather. Zoos, do just fine with a fresh water dip, and in my opinion should always be dipped before being added to a tank.
I think most likely you have a worm that is eating dead debris from between polyps or is eating dead or dying polyps. That being said, given that the polyps are closed and look irritated I would take out the whole rock and dip it in temperature matched RO/DI freshwater anyways. Something is irritating those polyps, and while it could just be the move to a new tank, the fact they were closed at the store suggests otherwise......so better to kill off any nasties with a dip....
Good luck!
Aaron

[Stealth70mde]

Thanks guys for the helpful info.

It is always a little nerve wracking to do something first like dipping a coral in fresh water... :eek:

I was not able to get the worm out of the coral with the dip... It may have gone under in the sand bed when I pulled out the coral or is very well hidden.

I pulled out some interesting stuff though, about 5 tiny slugs (light-yellow and white) plus 4 tiny brownish shrimps.

Doing some research on my side also, it seems that my worm is somekind of bristle worm.
See picture took from another site (my worm's head looks exactly like that).

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WormPIX/PolychaeteWormPIX/worm-head-close-up-1[1].JPG

I hope that these zoos will recover soon.

[fakename]

Thise tiny slugs were probably aeolid nudibranchs, whose diet consists of zoanthids. They are the likely the reason your zoos are closed. Give them a couple of days and hopefully they'll be open and beautiful (now that the pests are gone...).

[DrBDC]

If some did get off the zo rock, you may need to repeat the freshwater dip daily for awhile to make sure you get them all. You can also try some Lugols solution in the dip to help if there are any ailing polyps.

[Stealth70mde]

Hello DrBDC,

Lugol's solution is iodine right? If yes, what would be the proper dosage (ratio water/iodine) and for how long should I dip the zoo.

BTW, a couple of polyps were opened this morning! Very happy about this!

Thanks.

[DrBDC]

Yes, well it's a mix of differnt morphs. I just throw a half dozen drops in a plastic coffee can (Folgers I think) but there is an exact number if you search with the word "dip".

[inwall75]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6509958#post6509958 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stealth70mde
Doing some research on my side also, it seems that my worm is somekind of bristle worm.
See picture took from another site (my worm's head looks exactly like that).

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WormPIX/PolychaeteWormPIX/worm-head-close-up-1[1].JPG

I hope that these zoos will recover soon.

If the head looks like that with 5 antennae, then it is a eunicid worm and it WILL eat soft corals.

[mjkn2]

I am not familiar with the eunicid worm but the picture does not look like a bristle worm to me. That is something different than I am familiar with.

[inwall75]

Eunicid worms are formidably complex animals. They are described as having an eversible pharynx, meaning they have an extensible tube that projects outward from the mouth. This tube is armed with two to five pairs of large forceps or pincher-type lateral jaws and one pair of additional jaws that are ventrally situated. This group contains the largest polychaete worms. There are some reliable reports of eunicid worms being an inch in diameter and fifty feet long, although the largest confirmed specimens are smaller. Specimens in excess of six feet long are common in nature, and occasionally such giants are found in marine aquaria. They are also long-lived. I have had one for several years now; transferring it from tank to tank during remodels and revisions of my system.


The eunicid worms found in aquaria all have five antennae, with a large pronounced antennae arising from the center of the "forehead." Large eunicid worms from two distinct groups are found in aquaria. Both enter the tanks hidden in live rock. The most distinctive of these are worms in the genus Palola. These are rock-inhabiting worms that reach lengths of three to six feet. They are generally dark green to blue to black and are largely nocturnal. They will extend from rocks to feed and appear to be mostly scavengers or detritivores. However, little is known about their diets in nature, and if any are found in aquaria, they may well be able to eat small fish or shrimp. On the other hand, there is no hard data that they do so. Palola is a genus whose synchronous spawning is legendary. Prior to such spawning events, the rear portions of the animals are filled with eggs and sperm and, when the time is right, they spawn. The spawning cues appear to be lunar and tidally influenced, but whatever the trigger, most of the worms in large geographical areas spawn within a few minutes. The rear portion of the worm separates from the front portion and swims to the surface where it writhes around and ruptures. With millions of worms spawning at once, the sea literally becomes covered in a wriggling mass of large worm fragments. It is thought that mass spawnings of this nature occur because although predators will be attracted to such spawns to eat the worms and their gametes, there will be so many animals spawning that the predators get sated, and many of the eggs escape to become fertilized, and undergo development into juveniles. Palola worms are probably harmless in most reef tanks, but if one does spawn, it may produce enough gametes to seriously foul the tank. They are often found dead or dying in uncured live rock.

Worms in the genus Eunice, sometimes called "bobbit" worms are, if anything, more impressive than their Palola cousins. Eunice is a large genus, with well over 150 species, and it is hard to generalize about them. As with the Palola, they have five antennae, including one in the center of the forehead and they all have jaws, in some cases wicked, scimitar shaped hooks with accessory spines and hooks. These are not jaws for chewing the prey or food item, but rather are jaws designed to ensure the food that, once seized, never gets away. Some of these worms get very large; the largest I have seen reported from reef tanks was in excess of 6 feet long, and individuals of Eunice aphroditois may be much larger. Eunice individuals tend to live in mucus-lined borrows in rock or sediments and may have several entrances to their tubes. Two distinct kinds of worms seem to be represented in this genus. One kind, which is benign in reef tanks, seems to be mostly scavenging its food. It lives in a burrow in the sediment, or more rarely, in a burrow in the rocks. When feeding, one of these worms will slowly extend from its burrow. They typically have four to six eyes and are quite capable of detecting motion outside the aquarium, and across the room. It will slowly search the surrounding area for food and if bothered by a fish, or its own shadow, will retract into its burrow with a velocity that has to be seen to be believed. Contraction back into a burrow has been clocked in excess of 20 feet per second, and if only a couple of feet of the worm are visible while it is foraging, that worm can disappear, quite literally, in the blink of an eye.

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http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php

BTW.....Steve Weast just found another huge one in his tank. This one was 5 feet long.