Fluffeh Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 ive noticed these for awhile now, thought i got rid of them when i tossed out a rock but i guess they migrated to other rocks/sand.... im not sure how to deal with them now because when i stick tweazers into the tank and get near them they retract into the rock. i dont mind them but they harass my zoa's!! anyone know how i can get rid of these or at least control them? there are so many and they seem to be more and more every day. as soon as i go near them they just go right back into the rock. someone said that peppermint shrimp eat them, is this true? anyone know or have any other suggestions? Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Send them to me if you get them out. Link to comment
Fluffeh Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 i cant imagine getting them out, they are thin like hair and they move so quick into the rock. also during feeeding im seeing what looks like 'spider webs' branching between rocks, if i follow the 'web' i will find a little tube, are these from the spaghetti/hair worms also? how do i get rid of these things Link to comment
Alkamist Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 how much do you feed? i know i had a lot of bristle worms from feeding too much, then i kicked back on the over feeding and a lot of them are gone now. idk if i would work the same with these worms though. Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 If they are small, they should be fine detrivores. I would not worry to much Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 I always thought of spaghetti worms as being good. Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 I am actually looking for some detrivores to add to my tank. I did not use "real" live sand. I have live rock, but I am not seeing much action atr night. I wish I would have worms all over. Might eat my snail poop then Link to comment
Juce23 Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 i cant imagine getting them out, they are thin like hair and they move so quick into the rock. also during feeeding im seeing what looks like 'spider webs' branching between rocks, if i follow the 'web' i will find a little tube, are these from the spaghetti/hair worms also? how do i get rid of these things vermatid snail?Not sure,justthought I read about them on here. Link to comment
Fluffeh Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 well if i can catch one it's all yours.. i actually saw one crawling across my sand bed... so weird to watch. i would keep them but they reach out and touch my zoa's and the zoa's look injured after! i might get a couple peppermint shrimp, someone suggested that they ate those. as for feeding, they have ALWAYS been in there - i cut back feeding to the point that i was almost starving my tank and it seemed like more appeared in the rock work. the one rock i got rid of had at least 20-30 strands reaching out of it. anyone know what this 'spiderweb' stuff that i see shooting across my tank sometimes? Link to comment
Genj Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 try the 50/50 h202/saltwater solution and dunk the rocks in there for a 2-5 min. I bet they respond the same way the bristle worms did on my LR. See the other thread about dipping in h202 that is in this forum. Link to comment
carbon-mantis Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 "Spiderwebs" are probably vermetid snails. They cast off little mucous "nets" to catch drifting edibles. Only way I know to get rid of them would be to follow the "net" back to it's owner. Sealing the snail's tube off with superglue or frag putty should kill him. Only recommended if the vermetids are actually irritating things, mind you. Link to comment
Fluffeh Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 hm, i noticed that the little hair worms are coming out of the sand now they really are messing with my zoa's bad, i dont know what to do... i was going to put a couple peppermint shrimp but im afriad i'll never be able to catch them once i get them in there. Link to comment
potato Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 I wonder if getting a larger CUC would help compete for food with the spag worms? It's odd that they are getting worse and you are feeding less. I wonder if hermits eat them? I don't really trust peppermint shrimp with soft coral (if you have any).. That being said I do have one. LOL They are hard to catch but the larger problem would be getting the correct one. If you get one try to make sure it is Lysmata Wurdemanni. I found this very useful in identifying peppermints.. at least a bit better than I could before I bought one! http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=287483 But I wouldn't really trust them to necessarily eat your spag worms. I had one that seemed to eat them and one that didnt. My worm population has started to go back up with the removal of one. But I'm OK with that Link to comment
Fluffeh Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 I still can't get rid of these hair worms :[ still can't even put my zoa frags on my rocks because the worms come out and make the zoa's mad and they never open. Link to comment
joesmoe517 Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Nobody believes you that they are spaghetti worms, frustrating. I had them too, and my only solution was to get new sand. I did this because mine were building little tubes around themselves made of sand and they mainly lived in the sand. That worked for about 2 years, but now they are coming back slowly. I had the same exact problem-- they would mess around with my zoas and cause them to close up and eventually die off. Let me know if the peppermint shrimp thing works. Luckily i am about to move again and i think i am going to replace my sand again. Link to comment
Fluffeh Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 mine are mainly in the rocks. i saw one in the sand before but it must've died or something. ive tried squirting with hot water, tweezers (its near impossible to grab these hairlike things!), and superglue gel to cover up their holes (but they just come out somewhere else!).. i really don't want to get another shrimp in my tank but i dont know what else to do. they are coming out of my rock everywhere! Link to comment
joesmoe517 Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 i guess you could try the h2o2 thing, but i was under the impression that it didnt kill inverts, just algae. Link to comment
Fluffeh Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 the last thing i wanna do is take the rocks out, i would literally have to take out every rock in my tank. Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I have them and they go over my mushrooms and zoas and dont see any problems.What are your corals doing that you see as a problem? Link to comment
Formula462 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 This is dumb. Spaghetti worms are 100% beneficial. I have some that live in a rock with my zoas and there is absolutely no problems. You are making a big fuss over nothing. They are awesome cleaners. Link to comment
Fluffeh Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 it looks like they get stung by the hair, i know the hair doesn't sting so i guess they just get really mad and close up for like a day Link to comment
Fluffeh Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 This is dumb. Spaghetti worms are 100% beneficial. I have some that live in a rock with my zoas and there is absolutely no problems. You are making a big fuss over nothing. They are awesome cleaners. do i need to post a video of how mad they get when the hair touches them? it seems like some people are saying im lying that my zoa's close up when they get touched.... which is dumb.. one rock has about 9-10 hairs coming out of it Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Just because a polyp closes doesnt mean its bad.If you have a bunch of uneaten food in there those worms will get it out.The coral may want the stringy things in there like it might like to have a snail get the algae real close to it so it can spread easier. Link to comment
Seamonkey84 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Agreeded with them being benificial, i try to collect them from the tanks at work (Petco) and another lfs when ever I see them. My zoanthids seemed to get use to their presence. At first they closed up when the worm moved next to the colony, but now they dont seem to be bothered by the tentacles. Link to comment
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