Eunice worm problems

[chunky]

Hi all. I've been fighting a eunice worm in my tank for some time now. So far it's been a pretty one sided fight. The little *#@! has evaded every attempt to catch him and he has eaten quite a few of my zoas (and seriously angered my open brain). I've tried numerous traps and have staked him out for hours in the dark with a red flashlight (I guess that he can see a bit in the dark because he can somehow still see me coming). Anyhow I've had enough. I plan on breaking down my aquascape this weekend and taking the rock out. I plan on trying the seltzer water trick and if that doesn't work I think I'll try boiling the rock.

So I have two questions. First is how long do you think I should boil the rock for? Second, I'm afraid that there could be more of these buggers hiding out in the other rocks. Would it be too drastic to boil the entire bottom level of rocks? It would be roughly half of my live rock so I'm afraid that would take out too much of the bacteria in the tank. So what do you guys think? Also any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lcstorc]

I would be very nervous about boiling the rock. That will considerably reduce your biological filtration. Also, how do you know it is in the bottom rocks?
Sorry, I don't have any real help, just some questions.

 

[BigJay]

I would personally try to isolate the rock its on. I 've read they can grow to 10' long so removal is going to be tough no matter what.

 

[cbrownfish]

If you can isolate it in the rock and remove it, you can do a hypersaline treatment and get it to come out. Mix up a batch of water with a high salinity and give the rock a bath. Most inverts and other critters will come out of the rock. Blast it with a turkey baster as well.

 

[chunky]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

lcstorc - He seems to be isolated to one rock in the bottom middle of the tank. He has at least 3 specific holes that he comes out of (usually from under the rock). I have only seen him on the bottom. He definitely has made a home there. As far as losing filtration, that is what I'm worried about but I figured one rock wouldn't make too big a difference. The bacteria will come back. I'm just trying to avoid breaking the rock apart which is the only way I've heard of someone actually catching one of these buggers.

cbrownfish - Thanks for the hypersaline idea. I think I'll give that a try before boiling. What sg should I go for? 1.035?

 

[cbrownfish]

Hypersalinity of around 1.034 or 45 ppt should do the trick. Slowly increase that if it doesn't work. Be sure to flip the rock over and use a turkey baster to push the water inside the rock.

As a last resort, I would just leave the rock outside in the sun......the worm will most likely come out well before the rock dries out.

PS: We want to see pics of this critter when you capture it!

 

[chunky]

Thanks again cbrownfish. I'll definitely post some pictures when I get this guy out. With all the headaches he's caused I'm thinking of getting him stuffed and mounted on the wall!

 

[BigJay]

As a last resort, I would just leave the rock outside in the sun......the worm will most likely come out well before the rock dries out.

!

you can even put it in tank water in a bucket outside in the sun. Most likley everything will die but you might save the coraline , any macros and the bacteria.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Cool, Just tagging along.. I wanna see it...