ID please

[timocean]

Dear all, several of my corals are losing tissue. Since chemistry is fine I was keeping an eye open for parasites. And tonight after lights went off, many worm like creatures were floating in the tank and also sitting on the damaged coral spots.Could you help me ID?
The worms are roughly between 3 and 9 mm long, and are spiraling when swimming. There are really a lot floating around. Photo, Animated GIF and Video are attached.

Thanks!


As the video does not seem to play, here is also an animated GIF:

 

[Saltyreef]

They look like small bristleworms.

Post parameters and photos of spots of tissue loss on corals.

 

[Rp8]

+1 small bristles.

 

[timocean]

They look like small bristleworms.

Post parameters and photos of spots of tissue loss on corals.

Thanks, but I cannot spot any hairs as with bristel worms. And they also make strange swimming movement (see video linked below).

Switched on the lights to get a better video (hope my fish forgive me). After seeing that, I am not so sure anymore, that the worms are the culprit. Could maybe be detrius worms, or what do you think? If so then who is the one munching on my coral??

Here are youtube links now to the videos:
Floating worms: Munching one:
Main parameters are as follows: KH 7.7; Ca 470; Mg 1387; NO4: 0.01 (I know its too low, and am dosing); Nitrat 2; Nitrit 0; salt 35; temp 27C.

Thanks!

 

[timocean]

No one an idea which creature it is on the last YouTube video?? Any hint very much appreciated.

 

[ilyad]

Not sure what the worm looking ones are, but in the video with the coral , the moving critter sure looks a lot like an amphipod. If that is in fact an amphipod, then those are not causing the coral harm.

 

[timocean]

Thanks for the hint! I also think it looks like an amphipod. However, I could now repeatedly watching it eat the coral. Came across other pods (red bugs and black bugs) which are known to do the same, but are much smaller. Anyone heard of coral eating amphipods this size (around 5mm)?

 

[ilyad]

Thanks for the hint! I also think it looks like an amphipod. However, I could now repeatedly watching it eat the coral. Came across other pods (red bugs and black bugs) which are known to do the same, but are much smaller. Anyone heard of coral eating amphipods this size (around 5mm)?

Amphipods are scavengers/cleaners. Its possible that once the coral started to stress and recede, the pod is just eating the decaying flesh, or possibly algae that is accumulating on the skeleton.

 

[Tavero]

the pod is just eating the decaying flesh, or possibly algae that is accumulating on the skeleton.

Sorry but thats nonsense and misinformation. First of all there are thousands of different species of amphipods, some are predators. How do you know his species is reef safe. Second even scavengers will start to eat different things than detrius/scraps If they are starving.
From my personal experience: everytime i had amphipods in my tank, they were munching on healthy zoanthids.
I only got rid of them by suffocating them first and then adding palaemon elegans shrimps that eat all the scraps and starve them to extinction.

 

[ilyad]

Sorry but thats nonsense and misinformation. First of all there are thousands of different species of amphipods, some are predators. How do you know his species is reef safe. Second even scavengers will start to eat different things than detrius/scraps If they are starving.
From my personal experience: everytime i had amphipods in my tank, they were munching on healthy zoanthids.
I only got rid of them by suffocating them first and then adding palaemon elegans shrimps that eat all the scraps and starve them to extinction.

I guess I have to rephrase... I've never seen any amphipods eating SPS corals. I have had amphipods attack my own zoa in my tank too. But that happened when I had a MASSIVE population and fed the tank very little... got a wrasse and problem was solved.

I guess if there are no soft coral in the tank, and not enough food otherwise, they'll get desperate enough to eat SPS.

 

[timocean]

I guess I have to rephrase... I've never seen any amphipods eating SPS corals. I have had amphipods attack my own zoa in my tank too. But that happened when I had a MASSIVE population and fed the tank very little... got a wrasse and problem was solved.

I guess if there are no soft coral in the tank, and not enough food otherwise, they'll get desperate enough to eat SPS.

Happy to read your opinions on this one! My further research already revealed, that this is a topic with diverging opinions. As far as I understand, it is not debated that there are some amphipods (so called red bugs and black bugs), that eat SPS. However, they are much smaller than the ones I observed.

@Tavero: How did you suffocate them? Thanks!

 

[IKD]

Thanks, but I cannot spot any hairs as with bristel worms. And they also make strange swimming movement (see video linked below).

Switched on the lights to get a better video (hope my fish forgive me). After seeing that, I am not so sure anymore, that the worms are the culprit. Could maybe be detrius worms, or what do you think? If so then who is the one munching on my coral??

Here are youtube links now to the videos:
Floating worms: Munching one:
Main parameters are as follows: KH 7.7; Ca 470; Mg 1387; NO4: 0.01 (I know its too low, and am dosing); Nitrat 2; Nitrit 0; salt 35; temp 27C.

Thanks!

How stable are your alk levels? Any swings lately?

Do you have a phosphate reading?

 

[timocean]

How stable are your alk levels? Any swings lately?

My alk levels where allways around 7,6, but went up a bit lately:
18/08: 7.6
27/08: 7.7
31/08: 8.5
03/09: 8.9
Does this count as a swing?

Do you have a phosphate reading?

ICP from 31/08 says 0.03. Have done test before and after with Hanna checker (and recently also Salifert), which where between 0.00 and 0.04. Am dosing 6-9ml Fauna Marin Elementals P almost daily. This should result in an increase of 0,015mg/L, but is barely visible in the test readings (Hanna & Salifert).

 

[Jared Bryant]

Epitoke? Larval stage.

 

[timocean]

Epitoke? Larval stage.

That seems to be a good guess! I found the following video, and the smaller worms in there look like what I have: Too bad, though that I went to great length to avoid bristle worms so far…:-[[

 

[vetteguy53081]

These are epiitoke worms - big giveaway is the swimming behavior and mark on tail
Cut back on feeding amount and siphon more often. Some wrasses such as coris and melanurus will eat these as will arrow crabs

 

[Jared Bryant]

That seems to be a good guess! I found the following video, and the smaller worms in there look like what I have: Too bad, though that I went to great length to avoid bristle worms so far…:-[[

The weird swimming behavior was my first clue.

 

[timocean]

Thanks a lot for IDing!! I will then look into getting a wrasse.

Do you also have an idea, what the amphipod munching on the coral in the other video could be (and how to control?):

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Thanks a lot for IDing!! I will then look into getting a wrasse.

Do you also have an idea, what the amphipod munching on the coral in the other video could be (and how to control?):

These guys look like amphipods, I purchased some a couple of weeks ago and currently trying to breed to give my mandarin more variety, (you may argue different species) from what I have researched so far, the clear skin/ shell are the beneficial scavenger.
I also had these guys appear when cycling my aquarium empty for 8 months

More likely to be 'cleaning' your corals then eating them

 

[Tavero]

@Tavero: How did you suffocate them? Thanks!

I need to mention, this was neither a planned action, nor do i recommend it for anyone else.

A few years ago i had a flatworm infestation that i wanted to get rid of. So i used flatworm exit and shut off the pumps so i could better observe the dying flatworms. Then I went to sleep forgetting to turn on the pumps again. Next day over 90% of the amphipods were dead, while pretty much nothing else died. My snails were still alive so were the hermits (I didn't had any shrimps or fish yet though) Hell even most of the flatworm were still there (they now gained a resistance against flatworm exit and i just ignore then because they are tiny anyway). I think something in flatworm exit was using up oxygen and the shut off pumps didn't replenished it because thats not the first time i forgot to turn on the pumps again.

Since then the population of amphipods never recovered. Their habitat was stolen by bristleworms and the juveniles are being hunted by my palaemon elegans shrimps.
I absolutely hate amphipods so this event turned out to be in my favor.