Can i leave this worm in my tank?

[Annabellam]

That picture is not very clear but watching the video above, if that is a bobbit worm i'd say get rid of it as soon as possible.

 

[bios]

thats Eunice 100/100
if you want to remove place the rock were it is in a plastic container with 3cm of water and wait
it will come out

 

[loweryphil]

thats Eunice 100/100
if you want to remove place the rock were it is in a plastic container with 3cm of water and wait
it will come out

Will i have die off on my live rock though and thus starting another cycle?

 

[bios]

no if you try to maintain the rock wet

 

[Tori]

Will i have die off on my live rock though and thus starting another cycle?

Is getting another live rock to replace it out of the question?

 

[MicroPico]

Front view of head

Thank you for the much clearer pic and that is definitely a Bobbit worm (eunicid).

 

[MicroPico]

Will i have die off on my live rock though and thus starting another cycle?

You will always have a certain amount of die-off when rocks are exposed to air, which progresses as the rock dries and even more die-off when put in freshwater. All the microbes and things you don't see will come back in time but your first priority is removing the worm. If you are dead set on keeping the rock he's in, then I would put it in a bucket with enough tank water to cover the rock. Get another rock that you don't care about which has a hole in it that he can move into and put it on the opposite side of the bucket with a chunk of food wedged under it. Set up a lamp or two with a cheap red bulb (Walmart) and wait. You might wait for days or weeks for him to feel safe enough and hungry enough to leave his rock. Once set in their home, they rarely ever leave it completely. They keep their lower body wedged in their hole and explore outside the hole with only the front part of their body or they lie in wait for prey to come by. They are super fast and I honestly believe they are too quick to ever be caught in the open. No guarantee this will work but if he finds the other rock to be suitable, he will move. You might even empty his hole of water, set his rock upside down on a cup with the hole raised slighly out of the water in the bucket, to make him uncomfortable enough to want to leave. Watch until you see him at the other rock and quickly, with as little vibration as possible, grab your keeper rock out. Or once you put his rock in the bucket, you can keep poking and bothering him to try to get him to leave. Don't try pulling him out because he will split himself into two or more pieces in order to survive and regenerate. For this reason, I recommend either letting him chose another rock in a bucket himself or soaking his rock in freshwater for 24-48 hours to kill him. They are tenacious hangers on of life and until I see a dead worm from head to tail and unmoving for two days, I wouldn't trust that he is dead or left a piece of himself behind.