Worm infestation. What could it be?

Saltysocks · Dec 19, 2020

Hey everyone. Recently was inspecting my sandbed after noticing some of my zoas closed up and found these.. started pulling them out. And im talking atleast 15 of them. Any idea on what these are? How to rid them? Please and thanks

Clownfish_Boy · Dec 19, 2020

They are probably Annelid Detritus worms, I used to have them in a FOWLR setup way back in the day, they kept my Mandarin fed. But the worms I had were more pale than those. Don't know if they are harmful to corals or how to get rid of them, but they make great food for a Mandarin. If you stuck a Dragonet such as a Mandarin in the tank it would sure feast on them !

Saltysocks · Dec 21, 2020

Clownfish_Boy said:
They are probably Annelid Detritus worms, I used to have them in a FOWLR setup way back in the day, they kept my Mandarin fed. But the worms I had were more pale than those. Don't know if they are harmful to corals or how to get rid of them, but they make great food for a Mandarin. If you stuck a Dragonet such as a Mandarin in the tank it would sure feast on them !

That would definitely make me feel better! Right now I have paired clowns in the tank. It's a 20 gal tons of pods too just not sure how nice the clowns would wanna play generally they're angels even when my par meter bullies them away from the anemone lol. But good to know!!

Clownfish_Boy · Dec 21, 2020

Saltysocks said:
That would definitely make me feel better! Right now I have paired clowns in the tank. It's a 20 gal tons of pods too just not sure how nice the clowns would wanna play generally they're angels even when my par meter bullies them away from the anemone lol. But good to know!!

I would love to obtain a culture of those worms to establish a population in my tank, so I would not have to be solely dependent on pods to keep a Mandarin fed. I have been tearing my hair out trying to find some detritus worms. If you have enough worms to make up a culture, i would gladly pay you for them and cover your shipping !