Need some suggestions on how to remove a large bristle worm

natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Well like the title implies I have a very large bristle worm that needs to go, I have one that tried to eat one of my new zoa frags it pulled the whole frag and plug it was mounted to under the sand. It already pulled a large 12" tall colt coral under the sand and ate it, I gave it some slack on that one because the colt look like it was dying after my tank got down to 50 degrees but the zoas were plenty healthy and doing well. I have also seen it grab my green brittle star that is about 18" across and drag its arms under the sand. This worm is about the same diameter as a pencil, and about 10-12" long as near as I can tell could be longer but that is all I have seen exposed at one time.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Thanks, I was thinking about using the tweezers method already but the worm is very skittish and there isn't much room around his home so maybe I will try the trap first. Not sure if it will be effective or not since I have never seen the worm fully leave its burrow, but its worth a shot.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
One way I read somewhere was to put a piece of shrimp in a clean kneehigh, tie a knot and put it in the tank. the worms legs get caught on the kneehigh.
T
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
i'd like to see a picture of this worm when you can!
it's probably not an ordinary bristleworm if it's pulling a starfish around like that.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
I plan on documenting it, with any luck I will try some video too!!
I'm more amazed at it pulling a 12" tall colt coral under the sand and it was mounted on a aragonite frag plug that is about the size of a shot glass, its pretty big and heavy. The worm pulled it about 4" across the sand and then pulled the plug and coral down into the sand all that was sticking out was about a 1/2" of the plug. It did this about three times the first couple of times I didn't know what was happing to it.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
The worm has been elusive lately and hasn't shown itself since I started hunting it.
So far the bottle trap has been very effective at capturing nassarius snails and hermits I usually have a couple of each every night.
 
pbienkiewi

pbienkiewi

Member
I had sucsess with the tweezer method. I would place a piece of shrimp near him and lure him out. As he would come out to feed on it I would slowly pull the shrimp. I would pull the shrimp slowly enough not to scare him. Once he was a aways out I would let the shrimp go and grab the little bugger with the tweezers.
Or you can take all the rocks out and go digging with the tweezers. I did this when I moved my tanks.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
The problem with the tweezers method for extracting Eunicid Worms (just a guess) is that they are fully capable of growing a new head if you don't get the entire worm.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
It finally showed itself yesterday, but no luck catching it yet. I haven't tried for the last few days since I hadn't seen the worm and I have been short on time, but the new sighting has got me motivated again.
I agree it is probably a Eunicid Worms but there area couple other possible families also. This pic is the closest example but not exactly the same of what I am trying to catch, had another pic that showed the extended mandible but I can't find it now.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Originally Posted by alix2.0
http:///forum/post/2883683
uh... freaking EW.
I thought it was kind of pretty..... right up until I saw it eat for the first time and I'm not a squeamish person. Now I think about that worm every time I stick my hand in my tank and I don't do much digging in the sand bed with my bare hands
.
Update!!!
Well I haven't caught the worm in my trap yet but I was finally able to get a couple pictures and some crappy video. Don't mind my algae outbreak, I am wondering if this worm is the cause of the algae. I have been fighting diatoms and cyano in this corner of my tank for a couple of months, its the only place it grows and there is a koralias K4 directly above the area so flow I don't think is an issue. My thought is this worm seriously disturbs the sandbed and is disrupting the nitrogen cycle in my DSB in this corner but I'm not sure we'll see if it stops after I catch the worm.
Thought they would be done by the time I wrote this post so give me a few more minutes and I'll get the pics and video uploaded
 
ick

ick

New Member
Originally Posted by natclanwy
http:///forum/post/2883928
I thought it was kind of pretty..... right up until I saw it eat for the first time and I'm not a squeamish person. Now I think about that worm every time I stick my hand in my tank and I don't do much digging in the sand bed with my bare hands
.
Update!!!
Well I haven't caught the worm in my trap yet but I was finally able to get a couple pictures and some crappy video. Don't mind my algae outbreak, I am wondering if this worm is the cause of the algae. I have been fighting diatoms and cyano in this corner of my tank for a couple of months, its the only place it grows and there is a koralias K4 directly above the area so flow I don't think is an issue. My thought is this worm seriously disturbs the sandbed and is disrupting the nitrogen cycle in my DSB in this corner but I'm not sure we'll see if it stops after I catch the worm.
Thought they would be done by the time I wrote this post so give me a few more minutes and I'll get the pics and video uploaded


anticipation!!
 
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