Eunicid Worm Removal

[IKD]

So I had some live rock come in today, and I dipped the pieces in a high salinity (45ppm) bucket to flush out any undesirable hitchhikers. I found 3 small eunicid worms and I'm worried there may be more that didn't come out. I've read people using club soda to flush out these worms. My question can I dip the entire rock in club soda or will that kill everything else in the rock (bacteria, corraline, algae, etc.) also? I don't want to make this dead rock, so looking for ways to remove the eunicid's before they get to my display tank.

Any thoughts?

 

[KJ]

So I had some live rock come in today, and I dipped the pieces in a high salinity (45ppm) bucket to flush out any undesirable hitchhikers. I found 3 small eunicid worms and I'm worried there may be more that didn't come out. I've read people using club soda to flush out these worms. My question can I dip the entire rock in club soda or will that kill everything else in the rock (bacteria, corraline, algae, etc.) also? I don't want to make this dead rock, so looking for ways to remove the eunicid's before they get to my display tank.

Any thoughts?

Any pic of this worms?

 

[IKD]

I wish I did, but this picture is almost exactly the same as what I found

 

[KJ]

I wish I did, but this picture is almost exactly the same as what I found

eunicid worm pictures - - Image Search Results

images.search.yahoo.com

 

[TriggerFinger]

You can quarantine the rock and set up bottle traps with bait to see if anything else appears.

 

[IKD]

eunicid worm pictures - - Image Search Results

images.search.yahoo.com

Yep, that’s what I found. I contacted the vendor and they hadn’t seen them before in their rock. I will probably re-dip again in a few days

does anyone know if dipping the entire rock in club soda will kill all life on it and make it dead rock?

 

[KJ]

Yep, that’s what I found. I contacted the vendor and they hadn’t seen them before in their rock. I will probably re-dip again in a few days

does anyone know if dipping the entire rock in club soda will kill all life on it and make it dead rock?

Don`t kill it , it won`t hurt or harm to your aquarium , people just freak out when they hear this name.
Google Palolo worm.

 

[IKD]

Don`t kill it , it won`t hurt or harm to your aquarium , people just freak out when they hear this name.
Google Palolo worm.

This rock came from Florida, so don’t think it’s this type of worm.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Florida Keys Palolo worm hatch: Florida Keys Fishing Report for May 26, 2010

www.conchtv.com

 

[IKD]

Don`t kill it , it won`t hurt or harm to your aquarium , people just freak out when they hear this name.
Google Palolo worm.

Most material I’ve read report having corals eaten. You saying this is a ‘Reef safe’ eunicid?

I will try another dip this weekend and get some pictures of what I can find.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Trap as pictured or aquarium tongs

 

[Injoynit]

I got one of these on a shipment of rock also. Was only on one rock, but when I read up on them they can kill fish. Also, when they are small not a huge problem, but they don't stay small.
Don't know about the club soda, but I just tossed the rock (didn't want to take a chance I missed it or any others on the rock). Luckily was a smaller rock.
Good Luck.

 

[IKD]

Trap as pictured or aquarium tongs

Thanks. I have the rock all in a bin to cycle so safe from my display. I was hoping some folks had experience with club soda dips and could tell me if those would kill everything or just force critters out of hiding.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks. I have the rock all in a bin to cycle so safe from my display. I was hoping some folks had experience with club soda dips and could tell me if those would kill everything or just force critters out of hiding.

Club?? Id go peroxide which is common in the industry

 

[Scottmac]

How long would they survive out of water? If you placed the rock in a bucket with only a small amount of water beneath, wouldn't the critters in the rock descend into the bottom of the bucket? Esp if you also had a bright light directed onto the top of the rock, so the bottom of the bucket has water and darkness to descend into... guess it would depend on how porous the rock is as it would retain some water.

 

[IKD]

Club?? Id go peroxide which is common in the industry

Yes for club soda. Found a few links recommending that for eunicid worms. Here is one and a snippet

eunicid worm removal - Reef Central Online Community

eunicid worm removal SPS Keepers

www.reefcentral.com

Now do what you have to do to get the rock out. Me I had to cut coral that had fused the rock in place. Pull the rock out, please use gloves, us a syringe and inject Club Soda into it's lair. LeslieH works at The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. She is an expert in worms you can find her here on Reef Central. She told me to use club soda and boy does it work. After a few injections into the hole it crawled out of there fairly quickly. Thank you Leslie.

Also found a video using it to evict the worm

 

[IKD]

How long would they survive out of water? If you placed the rock in a bucket with only a small amount of water beneath, wouldn't the critters in the rock descend into the bottom of the bucket? Esp if you also had a bright light directed onto the top of the rock, so the bottom of the bucket has water and darkness to descend into... guess it would depend on how porous the rock is as it would retain some water.

I could try that, but I thinking letting the rock dry/air would definitely kill everything else exposed. Maybe I’ll try the club soda on one if the pieces and observe before doing the others.

 

[OlafsReef]

I could try that, but I thinking letting the rock dry/air would definitely kill everything else exposed. Maybe I’ll try the club soda on one if the pieces and observe before doing the others.

I realize this is an old thread, but it appears you are still active on reef2reef. I am dealing with a black Eunicid worm (maybe 2) in some live rock I am curing, what did you end up doing?

So little info on catching these nasty buggers.

 

[IKD]

I realize this is an old thread, but it appears you are still active on reef2reef. I am dealing with a black Eunicid worm (maybe 2) in some live rock I am curing, what did you end up doing?

So little info on catching these nasty buggers.

Hey there, the club soda did work for me in removal. In the end, I don’t think it was the kind that grows huge like you see in the horror videos, but still glad I was able to remove it. If you can remove the rock it’s hiding in, you’re 90% of the way home.