Another worm ID, this one hard to film.

[JoJosReef]

Spotted this one after lights out on 1% blues. It darts back into the rock at the slightest movement or change in light. But, it appears to have pointy things at it's head which has me concerned. Any help with ID appreciated! Sorry for the poor quality--been trying to capture it with better lighting but so far nada.

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[SFREEF3R]

Pretty hard to see much. Do you have a red light? In my experience most worms are far less sensitive to red light and when the light is applied slowly they are not as susceptible to retracting into their holes. You also might want to try with flash to get a good picture.

 

[JoJosReef]

More video on these worms. I have a bunch of them in my 10g tank and a few of them in my 13.5g.

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They are very thin but long. The antennae make me think they are Eunice worms, but they just pick on the live rock and don't seem to burrow in the sand (like I would expect from a bobbit). Going to work on a bottle trap to see if that works.

 

[JGT]

Appears to be Eunice worms. Not all are horrendous like the Bobbit. Most are detritus feeders and remain small.

 

[DannoOMG]

Appears to be Eunice worms. Not all are horrendous like the Bobbit. Most are detritus feeders and remain small.

Question about Bobbit worms. Do they need a deep sand bed to thrive in a reef tank or no?

 

[JoJosReef]

Appears to be Eunice worms. Not all are horrendous like the Bobbit. Most are detritus feeders and remain small.

My count today is at least 6 of these in my 10g, and I've seen 2-3 in my 13.5g. All from the same batch of gulf rocks.

Would be great to be able to ID them for sure. But, I haven't found much from google searching.

I don't want to take all of the rocks out and ruin the biodiversity i've set up--I like the spaghetti worms, spionids, fans and everything else. I have an order of a tailspot blenny and a firefish on hold at Dr. Reef's until I get this worm situation figured out--I don't want any fish or inverts injured/going missing!

 

[JoJosReef]

Question about Bobbit worms. Do they need a deep sand bed to thrive in a reef tank or no?

Follow-on question: are any "bobbit" worms (the carnivorous killer kind) rock-dwelling, or must they be sand-dwelling? Or can they start out as rock-dwellers and move to sand once they get bigger...?

 

[ying yang]

Follow-on question: are any "bobbit" worms (the carnivorous killer kind) rock-dwelling, or must they be sand-dwelling? Or can they start out as rock-dwellers and move to sand once they get bigger...?

I've never had any buy from reading about them when others have had them and people share links there is many many kinds of eunuch worms,some can eat corals and catch fish and some just eat detritus and uneaten food and some live in sand some make tunnels in tje rockwork so be hard to get a positive id but I seen them tentacles at the end and sure does look like some kind of eunice worm.
And sure was fast darting back in his hole lol.
I've read fir the large ones using bottle traps is useless as it always has some of its body in tunnels in sand or rock so never goes all the way in the bottle trap so cant catch it but if yours are all the size in video and comes fully out which looked like it did then a bottle trap with some mesh/ woman's tights or anything to get it tangled may work.
Good luck with whatever you decide ^_^

Have they caused any damage or you had tank fatalities because of them or they just all pick from the rocks ?

 

[ying yang]

BOBBIT WORM HELP!!!

So I couldn't snap a pic of this worm last night it was my first time seeing it and it appears to be only around 2 inches long. At first I thought is just a bristle worm but then I saw the face and well it's got that eunice face. In all honesty I think it's beautiful its a vibrant red...

www.reef2reef.com

Some useful interesting in this thread I just found especially post 14

 

[JoJosReef]

I've never had any buy from reading about them when others have had them and people share links there is many many kinds of eunuch worms,some can eat corals and catch fish and some just eat detritus and uneaten food and some live in sand some make tunnels in tje rockwork so be hard to get a positive id but I seen them tentacles at the end and sure does look like some kind of eunice worm.
And sure was fast darting back in his hole lol.
I've read fir the large ones using bottle traps is useless as it always has some of its body in tunnels in sand or rock so never goes all the way in the bottle trap so cant catch it but if yours are all the size in video and comes fully out which looked like it did then a bottle trap with some mesh/ woman's tights or anything to get it tangled may work.
Good luck with whatever you decide ^_^

Have they caused any damage or you had tank fatalities because of them or they just all pick from the rocks ?

Not been bothersome as far as I can tell. They are small. Head is only the size of a ballpoint pen head. I've only seen them pick at the live rock, and they seem to ignore the snails, but an Astraea is gigantic comparatively, so not sure it would try to attack something so large. Possible it could attack the dwarf ceriths, but I'd be hard pressed to (1) find the dead dwarf cerith, and (2) pin the blame on the worm since I've counted 3 miniature dwarf cerith-sized hermit crab hitchhikers so far.

I guess the worry is that they can/will grow larger and then what?

 

[ying yang]

Next is what you decide,to either leave them and maybe watch them grow bigger and be good scavengers or could turn nasty.

Or go for full eradication which probably involves removing some rocks to catch them all or be patient and use traps to see if that works so next move is yours keep and watch them or remove or even put in sump if you have one

 

[JoJosReef]

Next is what you decide,to either leave them and maybe watch them grow bigger and be good scavengers or could turn nasty.

Or go for full eradication which probably involves removing some rocks to catch them all or be patient and use traps to see if that works so next move is yours keep and watch them or remove or even put in sump if you have one

Think I will field test a thin tube trap to see if they come out--so far I have seen them come out far but never fully out of their holes. If it doesn't work, I will let them be and keep an eye on them. If things turn nasty, I guess it will be time for a rescape.

 

[ying yang]

Think I will field test a thin tube trap to see if they come out--so far I have seen them come out far but never fully out of their holes. If it doesn't work, I will let them be and keep an eye on them. If things turn nasty, I guess it will be time for a rescape.

Good luck ^_^
They sure are creepy buggers,even bristle worms creep me out ha ha