That is odd, because just today on one of the local saltwater FaceBook pages and two different people found bobbit worms. One was 6 inches and came in a rock that some coral was on and the other is some rock from Petco.
Weird worm
- Thread starter Stephane Cote
- Start date
Stephane Cote
Active Member
OMGosh! Your luck with bad worms is SCARY
Never know what's really in our tanks....tiny worms might grow a few years inside LR before we have any idea that they are there :invisible
lol not just worms, my luck in general lol. found 2 rogue crabs, 2 nasty worms.... and thats AFTER i left my LR sit in the tank for a bit.
but yeah i hope i got them all :\
David Shaw
Well-Known Member
Well done for getting them out!
I always dip any new rock with Coral RX and / or a freshwater dip before i put them anywhere near my tank. Worms etc fly out of the rocks when i do that. My motto is not to have anything in the tank unless i choose to put it there. I have had rogue crabs, mantis shrimp and worms in the past and its so much easier to get them out of rocks etc before you put them into the tank than have to suffer trying to get them out once they are in. Tear downs of the tank to get them out are not pleasant! (I have spent way to many nights up at 4am putting my aquascape back together after a teardown)
I always dip any new rock with Coral RX and / or a freshwater dip before i put them anywhere near my tank. Worms etc fly out of the rocks when i do that. My motto is not to have anything in the tank unless i choose to put it there. I have had rogue crabs, mantis shrimp and worms in the past and its so much easier to get them out of rocks etc before you put them into the tank than have to suffer trying to get them out once they are in. Tear downs of the tank to get them out are not pleasant! (I have spent way to many nights up at 4am putting my aquascape back together after a teardown)
pgrtgunner
Member
pgrtgunner
Member
Last night I was checking for more worms. I didn't find any worms, but I did find my Bartlett Anthias had spawned. Does anyone know how long the gustation period is??
Thanx
Thanx
My friend that bought a coral on a rock with a 6 inch bobbit worm in it, dipped the coral before adding it to his tank and it did not phase the worm. Luckily he was able to get it out of the rock when he saw it.
David Shaw
Well-Known Member
That's scary! I think if i ever went for a new setup or needed to replace rocks i would go with those really good fake ones.
Stephane Cote
Active Member
ohhhh very smart! i guess in my case the vinegar nuked them inside the rock because when i did a cold water dip nothing came out. Ill use that trick! thx for the share
Stephane, I had a friend purchase a coral with a 6 inch Bobbit in it yesterday, the dip did nothing to it. Luckily, he found it and manually removed it.
Stephane Cote
Active Member
Thanks for the heads up. I guess there is no real way ti ensure 100% that there is no pests in the rocks.
Update: both rocks where i found both worms are now in my QT tank and showing No signs of life. I hope i killed them off with vinegar.
Although this taught me what to look for... signs if you will. They construct tunnels using slim and sand. I've raised the concern rocks and had those sticking out everywhere. Also, noticed some on the top of the rocks and in the rocks itself. .seems like a perfect cover up because it just looks 'like sand on a rock' until u touch it ... it stays intact. they also like to construct stuff around holes to cover up. i found pieces of shells, sand and other small debris stuck together near openings..
hope this helps spotting them if you have them urself
steph
Stephane Cote
Active Member
Welp, i didn't get it. It's still in the aquarium. Honestly i don't know what to do to capture this thing. It's crawling under the rocks and some sand (using it's constructed tunnels. I have NO clue how to get it out....
I took out the big rock (another one) that i think it's at.. i put coke all over the rock... and nothing. i have those rocks in QT as well. (I'm running out of rocks in the aquarium.
in anycase, the pic below is from under the rocks, as you can see it set itself up a network of tunnels covered in sand.
For your entertainment, i have captured it on film. With a red light.
[video]http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v324/cookierawks/IMG_1393_zpsmhqv1q44.mp4[/video]
I took out the big rock (another one) that i think it's at.. i put coke all over the rock... and nothing. i have those rocks in QT as well. (I'm running out of rocks in the aquarium.
in anycase, the pic below is from under the rocks, as you can see it set itself up a network of tunnels covered in sand.
For your entertainment, i have captured it on film. With a red light.
[video]http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v324/cookierawks/IMG_1393_zpsmhqv1q44.mp4[/video]
Mike Johnson
Well-Known Member
Don't know how I missed this cool thread. I saw the video. It's definitely a Eucinid Worm or Bobbit Worm, same thing. A good way to get rid of it is to take the rock that it is in and suspend it over a bucket of water. It has to be real close to the water. Give it 15 - 30 minutes without scaring it and it will jump ship into the bucket of water. This method also works well with crabs and Mantis.
Stephane Cote
Active Member
http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v324/cookierawks/IMG_1393_zpsmhqv1q44.mp4
Trying again.. here is a direct link. cause it works on my mac. :\ (in Safari and Chrome)
Stephane Cote
Active Member
Thanks! ill continue to scan my DT every other night like i have (it's probably scared and will take a few days t 'rebuild' if it's still there. right now, i have 4 pieces of rock in 3 buckets with RO water.. not heated, salted or flowing. I was hoping it would jump on it's own there. I think the problem is that it's probably so long (inches) and in the sand that what ever rock it pokes out of is not it's burrow. and i REALLY don't want to stir up my entire sand bed.....
Mike Johnson
Well-Known Member
You can see some copepods running around on the rock, too.
Stephane Cote
Active Member
yeah before my rock shuffle last night i had a pretty healthy amount of them. i hope i dint kill off to many :\
aquaman183
Member
I read somewhere about putting a hollow rock type thing in the tank with a little hole in the bottom. Then you put something meaty in the structure like a shrimp or something, and put the hole down towards the substrate so nothing else can get in there and take the bait. Let it sit over night and check it in the morning to see if you caught anything..
Not sure what you could use as the "structure", but it sounds like a logical idea to me, lol.
Not sure what you could use as the "structure", but it sounds like a logical idea to me, lol.
Stephane Cote
Active Member
I can't see that working. These creatures do explore but there is a part of them that doesn't leave it's home. so most likely u will just looks the food (as it would retreat to its burrow). There is a guy that makes traps but its very complicated. it basically holds on to the worm to prevent it from zipping back and then u have to very very very gently pull it out. if the worm breaks, you lose.
what I'm basically doing is taking out the rocks where i THINK it is, and curing it. i kill everything on the rocks (i hope) and see when its gone. so far, it's been avoiding me. when i think its in 1 rock, its actually in another. so I'm sure it networked itself in different pieces of rock. the challenge is find out the one its burrowed in (if any as it could be in the sand) and taking it completely out. I could use dry rock to replace the LR I'm removing.. which seems like my 'only' solution. the problem is that i have a very nice growth of corals on 3-5 pieces of rock and i wouldn't want to lose those. but then again, if push comes to shove, i will do just that.