Can't get a handle on Spirobid worms

RaymondL · May 14, 2023

I'm at a losing battle with a wildfire spread of Spriobid worms - all over my glass. I know I got it likely from LFS - I bought snails and corals before from there, and recently I went back and saw that their tanks are massively covered with them. Lesson learn for me is to have a look at the LFS tanks closely and determine if I want to buy from there.

Anyhow, I'm not feeding any reefroids, or any other liquid type of food for the corals, or any frozen food for the fish - I'm told that the number 1 cause of these explosions of Spirobids is a result of having high nutrients in the water. I can say with confidence that most definitely not overfeeding - probably more underfeeding of my 2 clowns, which as well I only feed pellets and only drop a few at a time knowing that they will for sure eat it instead of dropping to the bottom.

So I think I debunk the belief that these worms are a result of high nutrient/overfeeding - their numbers multiplying is contracting the fact.

I don't know if scraping them off the glass will just have them land and spread elsewhere.

BeanAnimal · May 14, 2023

They are harmless filter feeders and beneficial to your ecosystem. They will come and go In different populations over the years. Scrape them from the display glass if you wish.

Tired · May 14, 2023

They do tend to surge sometimes. The fact that they /can/ do this regardless of overfeeding doesn't mean it's a myth that overfeeding can contribute, though. Something that has a number 1 cause also tends to have a number 2 cause, and 3, and 4, and combinations thereof, and so on.

Make sure you're feeding your clowns enough, manually scrape away the spirobids, and wait for them to chill out. They'll stop eventually. Don't underfeed your fish in an attempt to get rid of something harmless. Really, don't underfeed your fish in an attempt to get rid of anything. Except healthy fish.

AKL1950 · May 14, 2023

I think you will find that they will eventually kill themselves. By that, I mean that they will eventually starve to death. As with most creatures in nature, they will over populate when there is an abundance of the particular food they can consume. Once they over populate and start over consuming that food source, it will diminish, and so will they with it. These guys are filter feeders, so microscopic partials in the water is their food source. Particles we can’t see. Give it time and they will eat themselves out of existence. They won’t all disappear, but their numbers should diminish as they rebalance the amount of food they survive on.

It may not be that you are feeding too much, but that your filtration system in not removing/cleaning the water with high efficiency. Take a look at that end of the equation and see if you removing more food sources than you are putting in.

Reefer Matt · May 14, 2023

It's only a battle if you make it one, imo. There will be many critters that come and go in a reef tank. Picking your battles is important, because your tank may never be the sterile perfect display you might have in your mind. It is a box of life, and with that, life happens. I suggest cleaning the glass as needed, and letting them go through their phase.

RaymondL · May 14, 2023

Thanks everyone. I guess it's a losing battle and I'll just scrape the glass as needed. I just hope that they don't start to anchor themselves on the rock. It's weird why they gravitate to the glass to establish themselves.