Coco worm not coming out

[mrbacony]

I purchased a Coco worm yesterday. He has been in the tank now for about 24 hours. How long does it normally take before they will come out? When I look down his tube, it appears he is shrinking further towards the back.

 

[vtecintegra]

Mine were out within 30 minutes after over night shipping.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Coco worms and feather dusters can be temperamental at first and take a little while to acclimate to their new conditions. One thing to check is what sort of flow they are in. My first feather duster didn't come out until I put into a more low-flow area. In addition, they are not tolerant to poor water quality so you need to make sure all of your parameters are in the proper ranges (alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, nitrates and phosphates).

I kept both a coco worm and feather duster for quite a while but eventually my cleaner shrimp picked them both to death. That's another thing to keep in mind is once it opens, make sure none of your other tank inhabitants are picking at it.

 

[mrbacony]

Thanks for that. I am a stickler for my water quality. All my parameters stay steady. Also, I started it out in a low flow area. I will try and be patient. Thanks for the advice

 

[muzikalmatt]

Sounds like a good plan. I had periods where my coco worm would stay closed for a few days and then opened back up looking happy as ever. They're really beautiful creatures and I'm considering getting another one now that my cleaner shrimp is no longer in the tank.

 

[o2manyfish]

My wife loves Coco worms, so whenever I see a unique one I grab it for her. We have had fairly good long term success with them keeping them in high phosphates. But we have success with all our corals with high phosphates in the system ( 1.4 to 1.6).

Sometimes they do go in for a few days and pop back out. I have mine with about a dozen cleaner shrimp, a pair of fire shrimp and a copper banded shrimp. We have one that is buried in the sand at the bottom or a 36" deep tank and one at the top of the tank glued into the rock work. The one at the top of the tank with better flow and better light (although light should be irrelevant) is twice the size of the one at the bottom.

In the years of having these two each of them has jettisoned their heads at least once and grown them back. The one at the top grew back larger and the one at the bottom of the tank grew back smaller.

Dave B

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I dont know how you are "looking down its tube", I have a hard time imagining that

I would suggest to try to stay away from the tank, they are super sensative and know when something is close by. Its not comfortable in its surroundings yet, once it figures out that nothing is trying to eat it, it will be out all day and all night.

 

[Lyss]

I dont know how you are "looking down its tube", I have a hard time imagining that

I would suggest to try to stay away from the tank, they are super sensative and know when something is close by. Its not comfortable in its surroundings yet, once it figures out that nothing is trying to eat it, it will be out all day and all night.

I feel like it's probably this. I know when I first got my two feather dusters, while they were coming out and feeding, they were also very sensitive to light and the presence of people near the tank. It took them quite some time to get comfortable enough to not be bothered and pull in quick by me just walking up to the tank.

 

[mrbacony]

Very glad to read all of these. Sure didn’t want to think I had just wasted $50.

He was out and about at the LFS so I know he was alive when I got him. Sounds like patience is key.

 

[mrbacony]

Good news! He is finally starting to appear out of the tube (slightly). Thanks again all.

 

[afrokobe]

Are you dosing phyto? Phyto is pretty critical to their survival from what I've read. I went away for a few days during thanksgiving break and didnt dose phyto. When I came back, I started dosing again, but I didnt see the worm come out for several days. Recently its been coming out of the tube more. I have no idea if this is related, just my experiences.

 

[Lyss]

Are you dosing phyto? Phyto is pretty critical to their survival from what I've read. I went away for a few days during thanksgiving break and didnt dose phyto. When I came back, I started dosing again, but I didnt see the worm come out for several days. Recently its been coming out of the tube more. I have no idea if this is related, just my experiences.

This is a good call, too. They come out to feed, so if there's nothing to feed on they may hide and slowly starve. Def need to be dosing live phyto.

 

[mrbacony]

I have not started dosing it yet. The guy at the LFS said it would feed on algae scraped off the glass. I almost bought pyto while there, but didn’t. They only had the regular phyto by Reef Nutrition. Not the live phyto. Does it have to be the live phyto?

 

[Lyss]

I have not started dosing it yet. The guy at the LFS said it would feed on algae scraped off the glass. I almost bought pyto while there, but didn’t. They only had the regular phyto by Reef Nutrition. Not the live phyto. Does it have to be the live phyto?

Yes, live. I feed my tank live phytoplankton daily and PNS Probio weekly, and my feather dusters are out feeding 24/7.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I have not started dosing it yet. The guy at the LFS said it would feed on algae scraped off the glass. I almost bought pyto while there, but didn’t. They only had the regular phyto by Reef Nutrition. Not the live phyto. Does it have to be the live phyto?

phyto feast works, frozen cyclops works, can-o-cyclops, live pods, you can use a turkey baster and blast detritus from your rocks, they eat that too. Basically any kind of organic matter that is floating in the water

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

and I'll add just for interest (cause I found it interesting), they dont only eat organic matter, they use it to build the tube too. Its not made out of calcium, its organic stuff.

 

[Lyss]

"marine snow" would be the word. I would still dose live phyto -- these worms are much more sensitive than a regular feather duster, and my regular feather dusters only began to thrive when I started the live dosing I mentioned above.

"The Hard Tube Coco Worm secretes a calcareous tube" https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/540/?pcatid=540

It may use organic material like a regular feather duster but it certainly needs proper calcium and alkalinity.

 

[Kenneth Wingerter]

Yes, live. I feed my tank live phytoplankton daily and PNS Probio weekly, and my feather dusters are out feeding 24/7.

Same!

 

[Reef Nutrition]

I have not started dosing it yet. The guy at the LFS said it would feed on algae scraped off the glass. I almost bought pyto while there, but didn’t. They only had the regular phyto by Reef Nutrition. Not the live phyto. Does it have to be the live phyto?

The phytoplankton diet for this animal, like many others, doesn't need to be alive. As long as the cells are intact, like they are in our Phyto-Feast, any animal that consumes it will gain nutrition. These are opportunistic filter-feeders, so, as long as the particle size is in the right range like it is with phytoplankton, it doesn't matter if it's alive or not. They won't reject it.

 

[mrbacony]

I think I was premature in my celebration of him coming out of the tube. He has been in his tube about 95% of the time. But I just started dosing phyto, so maybe he will come back out.