Zoa disappearing and then THIS.

[BaliReefBox]

A few week ago I had a healthy colony of predator zoas...about 4 days ago I woe to only having 3 eyes. this morning there was only one eye left. I decided to pull the small rock and put the last eye onto a frag and store it up high. Underneath the rock was a sand tube. Once I cracked open the tube this black thing was inside...Any ideas what it was, it was about 11/2" long.....past tense

 

[PeterEde]

Predator

 

[BaliReefBox]

sorry the video didnt load

 

[BaliReefBox]

Predator

do you know what the black wormy thing is...not after a zoa ID thx

 

[PeterEde]

Sorry

do you know what the black wormy thing is...not after a zoa ID thx

No. Looks like a sarlac from starwars

 

[pygo1]

Likely Chaetopterus or other similar "parchment worm". They are filter feeders and not likely the cause of the dying zoas. I have collected larger ones locally and added them to my tank with no issues

 

[BaliReefBox]

Likely Chaetopterus or other similar "parchment worm". They are filter feeders and not likely the cause of the dying zoas. I have collected larger ones locally and added them to my tank with no issues

nope thats not them, i googled it and they are really different. this one made the tube to the underside of the rock out of sand , wish I had of video it prior to breaking it up. I have done alot of searching and I cant seem to come close to what it looked like

 

[pygo1]

nope thats not them, i googled it and they are really different. this one made the tube to the underside of the rock out of sand , wish I had of video it prior to breaking it up. I have done alot of searching and I cant seem to come close to what it looked like

yes, parchment worms attach sand, shells, and other detritus as a sort of "armor" for their tubes. They either bury themselves in sand or wedge themselves into the bases of rocks(or under a frag in this case). Chaetopterus might be wrong, there is a pretty wide variety of worms like this. But, I am pretty much certain it's a filter feeding worm of sorts. I looked back at my old photos, the ones I had are genus Nothria. Doesn't look the same as yours, but still does the same sand tube thing.

 

[BaliReefBox]

could it be a bobbit worm?

 

[BaliReefBox]

with pinchers like these i doubt its a filter feeder..thoughts?

 

[anthonygf]

I can see some nasty pinchers on the end of that worm, doesn't look like a filter feeder to me.

 

[BaliReefBox]

Well upgrade to a larger tank this morning and it was alot more work than I figured.... I found these 2 crabs in the rock work no wonder all my zoas are still disappearing...any idea what they are cheers

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

No idea but you might find the answer here... https://chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net/hitchcrabs.html

 

[OldRed1]

These appear to be some kind of rubble crabs.

Rubble Crabs (Phylum Arthropoda: Family Xanthidae) of Singapore

Rubble crabs (phylum Arthropoda, subphylum Crustacea, class Malacostraca, order Decapoda, superfamily Xanthoidea, family Xanthidae) are mos...

tidechaser.blogspot.com

 

[BaliReefBox]

These appear to be some kind of rubble crabs.

Rubble Crabs (Phylum Arthropoda: Family Xanthidae) of Singapore

Rubble crabs (phylum Arthropoda, subphylum Crustacea, class Malacostraca, order Decapoda, superfamily Xanthoidea, family Xanthidae) are mos...

tidechaser.blogspot.com

thx mate I think you nailed it, brown egg crab seems to be the one..cheers and thx for the help. I gave up after a couple of hours

 

[MWFoster]

A few week ago I had a healthy colony of predator zoas...about 4 days ago I woe to only having 3 eyes. this morning there was only one eye left. I decided to pull the small rock and put the last eye onto a frag and store it up high. Underneath the rock was a sand tube. Once I cracked open the tube this black thing was inside...Any ideas what it was, it was about 11/2" long.....past tense

by the fangs this thing has it could be a bobbit worm of some type

 

[AydenLincoln]

with pinchers like these i doubt its a filter feeder..thoughts?

Whatever it is it belongs in The Upside Down!