Just wanted to share what I found when I went fallow..

sleizure · Dec 18, 2019

I went fallow a week ago due to Ich infestation. Took me about 7 hours to catch all my fish which involved pulling 95% of the rock out of a 180.
I am using this opportunity for a "reset" of the tank, and put a 140lb more rock in the tank, just because.

I found 5 of these worms in the process. These are number 3 and number 4 in size - the 5th largest wasn't worth the photo and #1 and #2 I had to get out of the tank immediately out of sheer fear. I am guessing #1 was over 37 inches. Sweet dreams!

Idaho Mojo · Dec 18, 2019

That's the stuff of nightmares! Gives me the heebie-jeebies! ;Wideyed

Chefwheredyougo · Dec 19, 2019

Geez...

Dave Cureton · Dec 19, 2019

How long was the tank running before being fallow? ;Yuck

ccombs · Dec 19, 2019

reef lover · Dec 19, 2019

Hmmm 37 inches!! Bristles dont generally get that big!! Got a pic of the head? Maybe a eunice?

sleizure · Dec 19, 2019

Dave Cureton said:
How long was the tank running before being fallow? ;Yuck

Seriously - 6 months. All my troubles started when I bought the contents of someones Biocube as they were leaving the country - The owner even got stung by one of the worms when transferring from the tank to totes. Sadly a week later my fish were showing signs - and I tried to "maintain" it for 4 months. I didn't want to risk it any further so made the judgement call to hit reset at an early stage of the tanks startup. But all of that nightmare is for another thread and forum. 67 days to go..

sleizure · Dec 19, 2019

reef lover said:
Hmmm 37 inches!! Bristles dont generally get that big!! Got a pic of the head? Maybe a eunice?

You might be right! I've never seen worms so thick and so detailed before and that video (jeez, hello again nightmares, its 3:53am here) shows similarities to what I found. I'm going to have to do some research on this!

Katrina71 · Dec 19, 2019

I was going to pluck out some asterinas...nope, not today.

Flippers4pups · Dec 19, 2019

Bobbitt/Eunice.

Daniel@R2R · Dec 19, 2019

That's crazy!! Those guys get so huge!

jlts21 · Dec 19, 2019

I don't know about you, but the first time I saw one I about peed myself. Tank was dark and I shined a light in to check something and saw one crawling on a rock just as it went into a crevice. Instant chills!

Signalhead · Dec 19, 2019

Oh heck no.....I will burning the house down, no

vetteguy53081 · Dec 19, 2019

When I switched to my newest tank, I pulled out a 14" Bristleworm. They get big, no doubt

Greg P · Dec 19, 2019

ccombs said:

LOL

Did you BBQ those worms ? Ha, EWWW

McPuff · Dec 20, 2019

Wrasses and hawkfish! I'm convinced they eat the small worms so you never end up with those monsters! I haven't seen a bristleworm in my tank for ages.

Do you have a plan to take all your fish through TTM while you're letting the display go fallow? If not, you'll just have the same problem after you put them back in. I would not trust copper, nor would I want to use chemicals on my fish. If you haven't read about TTM, do that. It's very simple, just takes some time and patience. 12 days total and you may have to do multiple rounds depending on how many fish and containers you have. But you've got almost 70 days so might as well. And it's really the only way to ensure you've completely eliminated the pest. Good luck!

sleizure · Dec 22, 2019

Right now the fish are in a QT with nothing being done on them due to the time it's going to take to let the DT sort itself out. I've considered doing the TTM method, I just need to get quite a few tanks/totes sorted out and additional heaters as I as well am not so much a fan of chemicals. I have 28 fish, so it may take a while, definitely a new years project. Sadly my lawnmower blenny carpet surfed the day after he went in, we are saddened.

Scubadoo4u · Dec 29, 2019

McPuff said:
Wrasses and hawkfish! I'm convinced they eat the small worms so you never end up with those monsters! I haven't seen a bristleworm in my tank for ages.

Do you have a plan to take all your fish through TTM while you're letting the display go fallow? If not, you'll just have the same problem after you put them back in. I would not trust copper, nor would I want to use chemicals on my fish. If you haven't read about TTM, do that. It's very simple, just takes some time and patience. 12 days total and you may have to do multiple rounds depending on how many fish and containers you have. But you've got almost 70 days so might as well. And it's really the only way to ensure you've completely eliminated the pest. Good luck!

Pardon me, what is TTM?

KJ · Dec 29, 2019

Fireworm.

Eurythoe complanata - Google Search

www.google.com

flsalty · Dec 29, 2019

Scubadoo4u said:
Pardon me, what is TTM?

Tank Transfer Method. It's a quarantine method using at least two tanks to basically outrun parasites like marine ich. I believe there is a sticky in the disease forum.