Is this monster a fireworm?
- Thread starter Sink_or_Swim
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OP
OP
Sink_or_Swim
Valuable Member
EXACTLY
OP
OP
Sink_or_Swim
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I'm thinking maybe I'm not using the right bait then, because my trap caught nothing, not even a shrimp, snail, fish, etc. lol... I first tried chunks of squid, that didn't work. So last night I tried some Rod's frozen, but no luck. Algae wafers next???
flyingscampi
Active Member
If I drop meaty pellets in, bristleworms rise out the sand like a scene from Dune. Maybe your fireworm will do the same?
OP
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Sink_or_Swim
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Thanks for the tip, I'll try that! Do you try it after lights out or just anytime?
flyingscampi
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Hadla
Well-Known Member
But that’s the best time!
TnFishwater98
Drink more fishwater there! And I still want more!
Put so yummy smelly dead shrimp/ fish it will come feed. Crazy looking species of fire worm!
TnFishwater98
Drink more fishwater there! And I still want more!
True but fireworms will be more present during the day than bristleworms… Especially if there is something to eat…. You can put food in a netting or filter pouch. Worm should get tangled in it and it would be easier to pull out/catch. If you don’t want to make a bottle trap.
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Sink_or_Swim
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Yes, this guy is out in broad daylight all the time. He actually irritated my anemone so much yesterday that while I was at work, the nem walked up the rock and parked itself on top directly in the middle of a colony of pulsing xenia.
So now I have a nem stinging the crap out of the xenia, and it's made me even more determined to get this worm! I've also realized there are a bunch of smaller ones... that are probably also fireworms (they have the same little red tufts between the bristles). Part of me just wants to startle them all and yank that rock out that they hide in and toss it - but they live in the sand as well correct? I'll try the net trap later today, maybe that will work better than the bottle.
OP
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Sink_or_Swim
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Yeah... I didn't want to accept it, but I'm sure you're right. My 8 year old named this guy "Wormy" when it was really small, and named my fire shrimp "Fiery". Guess he ALMOST got it right, lol! Now he wants to know why I'm on such a mission to remove it. "Because I'm the mom and I said so!"
I will agree with the fireworm Id. As for removal, mine were always far enough out that just grabbing carefully with tweezers and into a bottle worked. I would try to put any trap as close to the rock as possible for best success
OP
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Sink_or_Swim
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I have some long rubber-ended tweezers that I wish I would've just grabbed him with one of the many times he was just chillin' almost all the way out of the rock... hindsight... ugh. I just worried I'd end up tearing him in half if he tried to pull back into the holes in the rock, because he's all snaked around in there. It's like the moment I decided he needs to be removed, he decided to stop coming out of hiding.
How accessible is the rock? If fairly accessible, could try a coral dip? Or is there any coral or anything? Could do a short high salinity dip
WirelessMike
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Time for option two.
OP
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Sink_or_Swim
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Good point - it is one of 2 base rocks of a cave structure that my tang sleeps in, so I hate to disturb it... but I could easily. Also I'd probably never get it back all the way down on the glass - I could however just replace it with a new rock... that's an idea... there isn't any coral on that rock yet. My rainbow BTA WAS attached to it, but yesterday I think it was finally fed up with the worm crawling around it and it moved itself to the top of the arch. (Right in the middle of a xenia colony, of course). I could dip the rock - I have CoralRx. I'd think I need to use a stronger dose to stun this guy. But hopefully it would get the smaller ones too.
OP
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Sink_or_Swim
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I should have known better. Unfortunately, it hitchiked into my dry rock started, pristine tank, in a rock covered in mushrooms - which were my first ever corals. I knew the reefer I got it from had regular bristleworms in her tank, but didn't see any on the outside of the rock, so thought it was ok. Little did I know they hide INSIDE freaking rocks when they're tiny. And, I now need to alert her that she has fireworms. I know it came in on that rock, because I literally watched it crawl out of it when it was a very small worm. And it legit looked like a regular bristleworm at that size. Boy was that a mistake to assume... though you research online and read that fireworms are rare. Well I've got plenty! Creep me the heck out. I can see the huge one just chillin' right now half under the rock, half hiding in a crevice. Going to either throw on some gloves and remove the rock and hope the worms come with it, or try the pantyhose trick I read about to trap it.
TnFishwater98
Drink more fishwater there! And I still want more!
It’s not a guarantee they are all fireworms. Bristle worms sometimes have a reddish tint, especially when young. But if they all have the puffy red bristles obviously might be the same species.
