Tank emergency? Worm? Ectoplasm? Should I call ghostbusters?

[Ralph Ritoch]

Have you considered just dipping the coral in some coral dip, or leaving it out of water a few minutes to see if it comes out on it's own?

I can try that tommorow. The worm, if it is a worm, is very stressed right now. It was attacked by an apex predator with a dental pick, lol!

 

[WV Reefer]

I can try that tommorow. The worm, if it is a worm, is very stressed right now. It was attacked by an apex predator with a dental pick, lol!

;Hilarious

 

[jurgenph]

The goni can go a few minutes out of the tank.

Pour some rodi or coral dip into the hole and see if anything jumps out

Or blast it with a turkey baster

I'm curious now, what's holed up in there.

J.

 

[shred5]

Looks like it is a possible anemone..

 

[Jon Fishman]

Looks like it is a possible anemone..

That only comes out at night?

 

[jurgenph]

That only comes out at night?

The elusive vampire anemone.


J.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

The goni can go a few minutes out of the tank.

Pour some rodi or coral dip into the hole and see if anything jumps out

Or blast it with a turkey baster

I'm curious now, what's holed up in there.

J.

Good point, no need to dip the whole coral, just fill the cave with fresh water!

 

[W1ngz]

... It was attacked by an apex predator with a dental pick, lol!

This happens to me every 6 months.

 

[shred5]

That only comes out at night?

Ball anemones do and live in holes in rocks.. They are common hitchhiker and are non photosynthetic..

 

[Jon Fishman]

Ball anemones do and live in holes in rocks.. They are common hitchhiker.

Are they good? Never heard of those.... although if it’s killing the “host” I guess it’s bad!

 

[shred5]

Are they good? Never heard of those.... although if it’s killing the “host” I guess it’s bad!

Usually not considered to bad but do have a potent sting that could cause recession on some corals... I used to get them in on live rock all the time and just left them.

Does the goni cover the whole during the day?

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

Usually not considered to bad but do have a potent sting that could cause recession on some corals... I used to get them in on live rock all the time and just left them.

Does the goni cover the whole during the day?

Yes the hole is covered during the day. I'm pretty well set on the plan of waiting until it comes out tommorrow night and then filling the hole with fresh water.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

Ball anemones do and live in holes in rocks.. They are common hitchhiker and are non photosynthetic..

This thing had no tentacles.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

I think this is it. The giant flatworm. Kaburakia excelsa

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

So I ran water fresh water through the hole but apparently there are tunnels connecting the hole to tubes under the coral so it didn't pool, it just flowed through the hole until it overflowed due to the high flow rate. I never saw this worm but it did lead to another creature crawling out. Hopefully the flatworm is dead. There were two other small and suspicious holes which injected with fresh water also. The coral survived this attempted decontamination, but hopefully the bad-guys didn't.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

Lights out for 2 hours and no signs of the flatworm! Mission accomplished! Thank you all for your help. I'm sure this coral will be forever scarred by this hole but at least it will stop growing and threatening the flowerpot.

 

[Ralph Ritoch]

So mission not accomplished Last night I found the unwanted guest poking its body out again. I tried dipping the entire coral in fresh water. All this accomplished was evicting, and possibly killing, a brittle star that I didn't know was living in it. So today I brought out the "big guns" I bought some marine epoxy and filled the hole! I also filled the holes left behind by previously dead polyps as my wife has trypophobia. Not a good phobia to have if your keeping corals. I'm sure it will take a few days to determine if this was successful but it should be, I don't believe this worm can push through the epoxy.

 

[ScottR]

Have you considered just dipping the coral in some coral dip, or leaving it out of water a few minutes to see if it comes out on it's own?

This is the best advice here. Really quick fix.