Pulsing xenias disapeared overnight

[Garf]

So i bought a small frag of xenias from the LFS guy, 15 bucks. Acclimated it well, added it high up on my rock nearest light so it could pulse. It took real well, opened up, pulsed as I floated it in the bag while i dripped water.

 

Next day the small pieces of rubble were all that are left. Bummer. A few hours later, I see a couple of polyps (the piece probably had 10) sticking out of a deeper crevice/hole in my rock, pulsing away, tho slower cause it was not in direct light.

 

One of the larger amphipods was crawling around there also, and my worm was in the hole (more on him later), kinda just passing through. I was concerned that the pulsing xenia was kinda like one of those people stuck to the ceiling in Aliens, with my worm staring as the Alien, storing the xenias for a meal later. I had a large stock pot of water ready to dip the LR in, was waiting to positively ID which rock the Alien was in before I dipped it to try and chase it out or kill it when I found the two polyps in the crevice.

 

So the worm, he is a cool worm, not at all a regular bristleworm, he has four antenea off his front, red in color, with a white band about 1cm down, followed by a dark red band. I have seen him eat zoas before, but I attributed this to them being pretty much near death. He has not bothered my two nice, healthy zoas, nor my hairy shrooms, nor purple striped shrooms, or green star polyps. I had a picture some place, but I cannot find it.

 

He MAY have taken a peck at the new xenias, out of the corner of my eye, I think I saw him extend out of a hole near them. (He never comes fully out of his hole, and travels between rocks in my tank, moving awfully fast). Examining the xenias, I saw no visible damage, and they continued to pulse.

 

Well, later that evening, the two polyps disapeared. Havent seen them the last three days.

 

Would they move if they were not happy? Anyone ever have them hide for a few days? Should I remove the worm?

 

Tank is a 6g nano, born 3/6/2005, with 54w PC (2x 50/50 and 1 antic, added the 2 new 18w over the holidays). Two hermits, crabs, shrooms, GSP, zoas and a Montipora plate (I hope it does ok under 54w PC).

[chieferich]

xenia can move and sometimes do it fast! believe me, you'll find it again. that stuff doesn't go out like a chump. you'll have to fight to get rid of it!

 

the worm. ditch him. if some worm ate my zoas I'd whoop his a%^!

 

my fiance says I'm cruel. when i find a big bristleworm, I torture him like it's abu dhabi prison. they are evil to me.

[kahunakatz]

There is an expression that may get me into trouble, "when in doubt throw it out". I do not trust that worm. If a brand new Xenia just crashed that would be unusual, but I could accept it. But to loose polyps in addition tells me that there is coralivore in your tank, and I think it's the worm.

 

When Xenia moves it does so to reproduce and leaves a trail of it's self to reproduce. It does not move around like an anemone. In a six gallon nano there is nowhere for these corals to hide, even if they did. You need to get that predator out.

 

Much Thanks,

Barry Katz

customerservice@kahunacorals.com

[CCoastReefer]

Agreed...kill the worm dude

[c est ma]

I don't know, sounds like a pretty cool worm. Maybe cooler than Xenia. If you find the worm more interesting, and are willing to experiment to find out what kinds of corals it will/will not coexist with, why not choose the worm? To each his own.

 

Perhaps you could discover some way of feeding the worm regularly to take the edge off its appetite.

 

Would love to see a pic of said worm.

 

Contrarily,

Diane

[Garf]

I don't know, sounds like a pretty cool worm. Maybe cooler than Xenia. If you find the worm more interesting, and are willing to experiment to find out what kinds of corals it will/will not coexist with, why not choose the worm? To each his own.

 

Perhaps you could discover some way of feeding the worm regularly to take the edge off its appetite.

 

Would love to see a pic of said worm.

 

Contrarily,

Diane

 

Kinda going that route Diane, he is cool. I hope to have a picture soon. To the other posters, I really didnt loose any polyps, I lost the entire stalk that had like 8 polyps on it. Rubble it was attached to was clean, no remains at all. I may have damaged it jamming the rubble into a hole in the rock also. (I still dont trust epoxy or super glue in a tank full of critters!)

 

And the zoas he did eat (several months back) where basically dead, I tossed the rock shortly after. Following the ditch it advice, I would have to remove all my large amphipods, asterina starfish, and other critters that were all over the area. He could just be eating detrious, as my other zoas are untouched, as well as my shrooms.

 

Conversly, I noticed my zoas were sprouting some new polyps. Two nights in a row following, I found it (its on an old piece of sps coral, rather lightweight) upside down, pulled near the LR. Is it possible he could be eating the new growth? The new growth looked fine after a couple days, I did not notice any damage (didnt look that hard either).

[c est ma]

Conversly, I noticed my zoas were sprouting some new polyps. Two nights in a row following, I found it (its on an old piece of sps coral, rather lightweight) upside down, pulled near the LR. Is it possible he could be eating the new growth? The new growth looked fine after a couple days, I did not notice any damage (didnt look that hard either).

 

Your own observations are your best evidence. I have some small ric frags that I haven't attached firmly yet and I frequently find these upside down. My hermit and brittle stars will manipulate what they can move in order to go over all sides of the object in question, but IMO, from close observation, they are merely scavenging algae, detritus, etc., and not harming the rics. (The rics are not so happy upside down, but they do expand again nicely when righted.)

 

--Diane

[Garf]

Update:

 

Well, I spent a bit searching online, and I found a site that described my worm to a 'T'.

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_marine..._reef_tank2.asp

 

(grr... link doesnt work, forums added a %20 for some odd reason, remove and it works)

 

Copied:

 

The other type of bristle worm is larger and far more dangerous and generally lives in the live rock itself. The two largest of these types of worms are members of either the Nereis or Eunice species which can reach lengths of from 6 to 16 inches.

 

Night is generally the only time these animals come out of their hideouts, and this is only to feed. Consequently it is very difficult to try and catch them for removal, as it is necessary to wait until they are hungry enough to venture out of their holes. At this time it is possible to try and remove them through various means. One way to accomplish this is by pulling them out using hooked tweezers; however, they frequently break apart during this procedure and the portion that remain in the rock will grow back into a full size specimen. Also these animals sense even the slightest vibration, so if you bump the tank in any way they will quickly pull back into the rock. It is really quite amazing how fast they can completely pull back into the rock and out of harm's way.

 

 

Ok, now armed with Nereis and Eunice, I found Eunice norvegica, pic:

 

 

Make him redder, and thats him. He also had a couple colored bands on him, one white, the other dark red. The thing that positivly IDs him is the antennea on him, in that exact pattern.

 

Ok, so maybe the name leads me to believe this worm is Norweigan. But there is also a Eunice floridana (florida? sounds good to me), and carebius (sp?), more likely my worm came from there.

 

Caught the bastard biting the edge of my Montipora plate, so he is out of here. But how? The above description that lead me to the ID is dead on, any movement in the room he senses, and bolts back in the LR. No way I can tweeze, I tried to snap a picture today, and I swear he moved faster than the light from my flash. Kidding.

 

What about dipping the rock in fresh water? if so, for how long? Will this kick off a mini cycle on my tank? has anyone done this? it is a large peice of LR, about 1/3 or more of the LR in my 6g tank. Any tips, ideas are greatly appreciated.

[c est ma]

I suppose a Harlequin Tuskfish is out of the question, huh?

 

I'll let someone with experience comment on the FW dip idea. I do know that LiveAquaria (and probably other places as well) sells something they call a bristle worm trap--you might look into that. Or search this and other forums for how to trap bw's.

 

Good luck!

 

--Diane

[chieferich]

probably one of the worst worms out there to get.

[pet_doc]

definitely. lose the worm.

[Garf]

definitely. lose the worm.

 

Lol, how? Going to try a dip, and if that doesnt work, then a home made trap (plastic container with X cut in top). I had a bristle worm trap (green plastic one), the hole in it was too small and he never went in.

[shag26272]

Ive heard of people using seltzer water for mantis, maybe it will work for the worm

[Garf]

Update:

 

Rock dipped in DI freshwater for 10-15mins. Used turkey baster to squirt water throughout the porus rock. Not much come off the rock, I was suprised. One small bristle, a couple amphipods (saved one!) and a lot of detrius. I have not seen the worm for 4 days now. Of course, he is probably hiding in rock still going 'wtf was that?'

 

chieferich, you were right, the xenia is not down for the count. Guess what peeked out of a crevice in the rock yesterday? Yep, I got at least one polyp hanging around. It isnt doing much, but it retracts and pulses very slow and faintly. That and a few small bivalves survived in the roack, so I do not have high expectations of the worm being gone.

 

On a side note, I got my tank rearranged, pushed rock back against bulkhead, made sure I had clearance at sides for cleaning. Got rid of the LR pile in the middle, and made more of a tiered setup against the bulkhead.

[Garf]

Update:

 

A couple days ago, the d&$% worm showed up. He is much more shy, and rarely comes out. Tried a homemade trap with brine shrimp in it, I think he ate a lot of the bait, but never completely entered the trap. Thinking on adding a new meduim sized LR with a bunch of cavities in it, waiting until he enters that LR (week long stakeout!) and then breaking up the rock for rubble and to verify the thing is gone.

 

Any other ideas?

[c est ma]

Oh, goody! Man vs. worm. Anyone care to place bets?

 

Seriously, that sounds like a good strategy to me. Do keep us posted!

 

--Diane

[jenhao]

Update:

 

Any other ideas?

 

Garf,

 

Hmm, the worm seems to have tolerated fresh water well enough. How about going in the other direction and dipping the piece of live rock in which the worm lives in a hypersalinity dip. Basically dip the rock in salt water that's about 1.035ppm. The extra salt might irritate him enough to vacate the rock and bam, you can nab him.

 

Mark

[Snoop]

boil the rock

[knosch09]

I had pulsing xenia in my old tank, and got a new one. now i have a open brain and the lfs guy said they wouldnt be able to go together. i have a 20L and wouldnt put them near one another? is he just a moron like most lfs owners or is he right? thanks

[Garf]

Oh, goody! Man vs. worm. Anyone care to place bets?

 

Seriously, that sounds like a good strategy to me. Do keep us posted!

 

--Diane

 

 

If anyone bet on the worm, well, they didnt count on what 70 dollars of new corals would make a man do. Saw him take a bite out of my new finger leather, and that was it. Headlamp, claw hammer, screw driver, needlenose pliers and started the hunt. Split my nice purple rock into three pieces and a lot more rubble.

 

 

 

Still got him in a plastic tray, probaly want to flush him soon. Too bad, he is cool looking. Anyone interested in high res pics let me know.

[c est ma]

Wow, that is some worm! You should do a pico worm tank!

 

Why did it never occur to me to use a headlamp while working around the tank? So many times I've had a magnifying lens in one hand, a tool in the other, and a mag lite in my teeth...

 

Congrats! Guess I can't collect as no one bet on the worm...

 

--Diane