Need Major Help ASAP. New critter found and fish dying

[supertank]

Well, I came home from work this morning to find my Royal Gramma and my Powder Brown Tang both dead, and so far I can't find my Lawnmower Blenny.

The other fish are all acting strange and hiding as well, and I noticed my Clown looks really sick. He has a white haze all over his body.
After fishing out the two dead fish, I was looking around for a probable cause, and I found something in my rock work. It is in a spot that I can't photograph right now until it exposes itself some more. Maybe after lights out. Anyway, it is a light brown color, has a head that resembles
a centipede and was puffing some kind of white smokey stuff into the water this morning. The head is aprox. 1/4 inch wide, and looks ugly as all get out.
All my water params are still in check, and all my corals seem to be doing fine, but all my fish, except for the two Chromis, are acting strange and sickly.
Please , please help me out with an ID and a Friend or Foe if you have any ideas. I will try to get a pic posted later today if I can.

 

[cherylann]

If your clown has a whitish coating, I would suspect disease. Can you remove the rock that this creature is hiding in, if so do it and dip in fresh water a minute or two see if that makes it let go. It sounds like a worm of some sort, few worms, very few would be able to cause the problems you are discribbing. Worms are usually benifical. Definitly do a H20 change and put your clown in QT.

 

[cherylann]

Go the form under pests section and look at pictures of mantis shrimp and bristle worms, or google them. Make you H20 change slowly as your tank is already stressed. Your lawnmower blenny is probably hiding. Pic and discribition of your tank everything including filtration would indeed help.

 

[flower]

Centipede looking bristle worms are coral eaters so yes get the rock it is in and soak it over salty water...that way critters will fall out and you can keep the ones you want and toss the ones you don't, freshwater soaks will kill the good with the bad, and Bobbitt worms like to move around..you may not have it in that rock for long, and kill the rock for nothing....they don't however kill fish. Look in disease section or ask Beth...

 

[spanko]

Bristle worms are a good addition to any reef tank. They are detrivores that will help to keep your tank, rock, and sandbed clean. I am not sure why you are bringing up bobbitt worms here.
Supertank, have a look here at some of the links that come up to see if you can accurately identify what it is you have. Also if you can get a picture of it we can be of better help here.

 

[supertank]

That Bobbit worm looks like it might be what I have. Still no luck with a photo, but I will try later after lights out. Hopefully he is not as big as some of the ones I have googled.
I have Xenia, Shrooms, Zoas, and a few Toadstools, and so far, I can't see that anything has been eating on them, though none of the corals mentioned are very close to where I spotted the worm this morning. Only Monti, and Galaxy near by.
I started to run carbon this morning after I saw the white smokey puffs coming from this critter, and have tested my water twice today. Everything is in check.
I suppose all problems come in waves. It's been smooth sailing up until now, but now I have sick dead fish and a demon worm living in my rocks. Oh well, I suppose I was due.
Thanks again for the help, and I'll post more when I figure out what to do about this worm.

 

[cherylann]

You can not kill a LR with a minute or two of fresh water dip and the unwanted creature is alot more irridated by fresh water dips. As in fresh water dips for fish and other creatures. Hard choose, different opinions, so do your own homework. Most live rock is shipped in news paper, do you really think a fresh water dip is going to kill it, come on.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by cherylann
http:///forum/post/3165727
You can not kill a LR with a minute or two of fresh water dip and the unwanted creature is alot more irridated by fresh water dips. As in fresh water dips for fish and other creatures. Hard choose, different opinions, so do your own homework. Most live rock is shipped in news paper, do you really think a fresh water dip is going to kill it, come on.

To start with...a worm will dig in deeper into a rock if disturbed, so a freshwater dip will do nothing. Soaking a rock in freshwater will kill all life on the rock. This includes the good bacteria that live in and on it.
Second...extra salty water will cause the critters to go into a short shock, they release and fall off the rock..if you leave it alone long enough they will crawl back into the rock. So an extra salty dip might work.
Third..newspaper is not freshwater. The news paper is to keep the rock as moist deep inside as possible.
Forth...You need to do some homework so you will know what you are talking about.

 

[cherylann]

Been doing salt water longer than you have alive. Manager of a public aquarium in Orange County Ca. If you do not agree with my opinion, the mature way would be to offer an opinion as I did, not tell some one to do their home work. You will find this to be a more effective way of communication instead if insisting your opinion is the only game in town. This is a form and all options should be met with open minds, not sarcasam.