George Steinberger
Community Member
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2019
- Messages
- 94
- Reaction score
- 38
How many is too many spaghetti worms filling up my bottom of my tank
Spaghetti worm problem
- Thread starter George Steinberger
- Start date
- Tagged users None
jeffchapok
Valuable Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2018
- Messages
- 1,232
- Reaction score
- 1,694
They are harmless detritus eaters, so you really can't have too many, although they can be unsightly. How old is your tank? For the first year or so I had tons of them, but I just noticed recently that I don't see any now. My tank is just over 2 years old.
Like many other things that have come and gone, ie. GHA, pineapple sponges, diatoms, etc., they seem to be one of the stages a new tank goes through. On the other hand, vermetid snails are forever.
Like many other things that have come and gone, ie. GHA, pineapple sponges, diatoms, etc., they seem to be one of the stages a new tank goes through. On the other hand, vermetid snails are forever.
Last edited:
redfishbluefish
Stay Positive, Stay Productive
Staff member
Super Moderator
Reef Squad
Partner Member 2024
Excellence Award
Article Contributor
NJRC Member
Hospitality Award
In my tank they come and go and then come back again, and continue with this cycling every couple months. Either way, as said, they are a benefit to you CUC.
OP
OP
George Steinberger
Community Member
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2019
- Messages
- 94
- Reaction score
- 38
Cool thank you
RobertTheNurse
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 3, 2020
- Messages
- 855
- Reaction score
- 707
I'm glad someone else has this issue. I started noticing these stringy things...thought was some sort of parasite lol...then posted a photo on here of something I didn't recognize and turns out is a spaghetti worms. Looks like that alien thing on that movie Life. Waiting for it to come out of the tank and kill us in our sleep. Lol
Dkmoo
Valuable Member
No such thing. They keep your sandbed turned over and healthy and keep your params stable.
You should see mine, when lights turn off and I broadcast feed coral food, I have an avg 4 tentacles come up for every 1 square inch of sand real estate.
Thumbs down
DangerDave
Valuable Member
You might not like it but he’s correct…
No disrespect but......how come every post about Spaghetti worms ALWAYS has at least one person say "you can never have too many"? Or my favorite "they eat detritus" SMH. Who cares, the person obviously doesnt want them in theyre tank and is looking for help. So what if they eat detritus, they also kill zoas. Pulsing Zenia lowers nitrates, that doesnt mean they're not pest.
The correct answer is: Try a yellow coris wrasse first (reef safe). If that doesnt work then try a Bi-color Goatfish (get a small one. A large one will eat your shrimp)
Happy reefing! ; )
He's DEAD WRONG
DangerDave
Valuable Member
So what’s wrong about it? Should we freak out about clean up crew like spaghetti worms and bristle worms? Help me understand.
Dkmoo
Valuable Member
I have to agree with @DangerDave .
First, we always "they are beneficial detrivores" because they are. This is to help clear any misconceptions that they are pests if that was the reason that OP wanted to get rid of them.
Second, if OP already knew they were beneficial and still wanted to get rid of them because its population truly reached apocalyptical proportions, then we say "you can't have too many" because their populations are self-regulation. so if it really reached those levels, then there is a REASON and a NEED for them to be there to help support the nutrient cycle and maintain stability. In these situations, the cause for the worm explosion is most likely some combination of a)overfeeding, b) too much bioload, c) inadequate filtration, d) dirty sandbed, and/or e) not enough biodiversity in the sandbed. In these case, IMHO its actually short-sighted and irresponsible to tell the OP to "just get a the thing that kills it" because getting another fish to get rid of the worms does nothing to address the cause that got OP in this situation in the first place, and very likely will make the situation worse. What'll happen is that yes, the fish will eat and reduce the worms, but where do you think the nutrients that's locked up in the worm biomass is going? yes, some will be locked up in fish meat, but a lot of that is going to be pooped out. This will just dump the waste right back into OP's system, but now the OP will no longer have the army of worms to help process that waste, leading to an even dirtier sandbed, leaving it to be processed by the bacteria, this will then lead to toxic sand layers b/c the worms are no longer there to turn the sand over, and the OP is one accidental sand-stir away from nuking his whole tank.
This is also why we say "don't worry about it" bc as i said, their population is self regulating. If they got to that level of population, the factors mentioned above will likely have caused other problems in the tank that the OP will eventually become aware of via other symptoms. When the OP addresses those symptoms and address the underlying causes, the worm population will decrease by itself.
First, we always "they are beneficial detrivores" because they are. This is to help clear any misconceptions that they are pests if that was the reason that OP wanted to get rid of them.
Second, if OP already knew they were beneficial and still wanted to get rid of them because its population truly reached apocalyptical proportions, then we say "you can't have too many" because their populations are self-regulation. so if it really reached those levels, then there is a REASON and a NEED for them to be there to help support the nutrient cycle and maintain stability. In these situations, the cause for the worm explosion is most likely some combination of a)overfeeding, b) too much bioload, c) inadequate filtration, d) dirty sandbed, and/or e) not enough biodiversity in the sandbed. In these case, IMHO its actually short-sighted and irresponsible to tell the OP to "just get a the thing that kills it" because getting another fish to get rid of the worms does nothing to address the cause that got OP in this situation in the first place, and very likely will make the situation worse. What'll happen is that yes, the fish will eat and reduce the worms, but where do you think the nutrients that's locked up in the worm biomass is going? yes, some will be locked up in fish meat, but a lot of that is going to be pooped out. This will just dump the waste right back into OP's system, but now the OP will no longer have the army of worms to help process that waste, leading to an even dirtier sandbed, leaving it to be processed by the bacteria, this will then lead to toxic sand layers b/c the worms are no longer there to turn the sand over, and the OP is one accidental sand-stir away from nuking his whole tank.
This is also why we say "don't worry about it" bc as i said, their population is self regulating. If they got to that level of population, the factors mentioned above will likely have caused other problems in the tank that the OP will eventually become aware of via other symptoms. When the OP addresses those symptoms and address the underlying causes, the worm population will decrease by itself.
KingLucy1997
Active Member
I noticed a couple spaghetti worms hitch hike onto a Xenia frag in my tiny ~3g tank and they have multiplied like crazy probably because my Mexican turbo snail is huge and poops a lot. I have noticed stabilized water parameters since the worms were added, but my Pulsing Xenia is clearly dying. Is it possible the spaghetti worms are eating the Xenia?
LiveFreeAndReef
Valuable Member
Their tentacles do occasionally irritate zoas, but I've never lost a single polyp. Have you actually had a spaghetti worm kill a zoa?
KingLucy1997
Active Member
I don’t know what is killing my pulsers. Just trying to go through the process of elimination. I will test my nitrates, phosphates, pH, salinity, and ammonia, and temperature in the Xenia tank because I’m 99% sure there is a water quality issues Killing it.
I actually have increased the light intensity on the Xenia by rearranging the lights which leaves water parameters as onpe of the last fundamental reasons my Xenia are dying.
planning to add 6 micro carrabean brittle stars to the Xenia tank to increase the biodiversity of substrate decomposes. This should reduce spaghetti worm numbers which should minimize their harm to my Xenia, if any. Never hurts to have a biodiverse array of inverts.
I do see worm tentacles growing around and off of what is left of the Xenia. It’s hard to tell what is worm and what is Xenia, but it kind of looks like the worm colony is eating the Xenia in the picture attached. Sorry it’s really hard to see the worms tentacles but you can clearly see how bad of shape the Xenia is in.
KingLucy1997
Active Member
