Best way to remove pest(s) during tank move?

ACBlinky

Premium Member
We will be changing from our current 150g to a new 180g tank in a few months when we move house. I had initially planned on trying to disturb things as little as possible; set up the new tank and get the water well-mixed, then put the rockwork in as close to the way it currently sits as possible.

Then nature threw a wrench in the works.

Staring into the tank one night at 2am, I saw a horrifically HUGE -- I mean gargantuan -- worm. This beast cannot be anything other than a eunicid; I didn't see its front end, only body segments streaking by as it moved between two rocks, but it was (without exaggeration) the width of a pencil. I saw a good 20" go by and I have no idea how much of the worm was already gone by the time I spotted it. The only good thing about seeing this thing is that we finally have an answer to the question "hey... where'd that coral go?!" We thought it was our rogue crab, but he seems to be a pretty peaceful little dude who mostly hangs out in one spot and eats fish food. I've actually never seen him bother a thing.

We have a two-foot worm in our tank, that's the best-case scenario. For all I know he could be longer, and he's got another five months to murder coral and grow before I get him out of the tank (I figure there's no sense stressing our fish doing a total tear-down to get the worm out now when we're going to do it very soon anyway).

So. Knowing that we have this monster worm, at least one pretty big crab who hitchhiked in and will be moved to our sump, and goodness knows what else hiding in our tank after all these years, what's the best way to make sure we get the bad guys out, without killing off our rock, when we move everything?

We thought about using soda water, I've read that bubbling CO2 fizzing in their hiding holes will flush out just about anything. If we have a catch bucket underneath the rock and flush each rock, this would be painstaking and I'm certain it would kill a lot of bacteria, but would it force worms, starfish (we have a thousand tiny brittle stars everywhere), and hiding crabs out? I don't want to kill our crabs -- we have two tiny emeralds along with our lace crab -- but I'd like to make sure they're out of the tank while we're aquascaping.

Is plain freshwater an option, or is there something you guys use that works well? Our rock is full of deep holes and crevasses, and many of the pieces weigh upwards of 10lbs. I don't want to smash any of them if I can avoid it, but I've lost a LOT of coral over the last year and until we found the worm, we were dumbfounded. Now we're pretty sure we know who the frag-muncher is, and we want him gone!

TL;DR - we have a biiig, coral-consuming worm and want to flush him out of the rockwork when we move our tank. Any ideas you have, but preferably those that don't kill off everything in and on the rock, to get it out would be appreciated!
 
Staring into the tank one night at 2am, I saw a horrifically HUGE -- I mean gargantuan -- worm. This beast cannot be anything other than a eunicid; I didn't see its front end, only body segments streaking by as it moved between two rocks, but it was (without exaggeration) the width of a pencil. I saw a good 20" go by and I have no idea how much of the worm was already gone by the time I spotted it.

Pics, or it didn't happen... :D
 
I would stay up one night with red lights on and figure out what rock he lives in. then pull that rock out and attack it with a hammer till you get it or the pieces of it out.

When I broke down my first salt tank I knew I had one as well, and flushed it out this way.

The thing ended up to be 12+ inches and defiantly a Euchanid/Bobit worm.

My new build is getting dead rock in it to start in the MT and I will seed coralin later. I lost so many Zoas to that thing >_<
 
Pics, or it didn't happen... :D
I wish I could have taken pictures of it -- the beast escaped so fast that sometimes I wonder if I imagined it.

I have tried so, so many nights to find it again, to no avail. I cannot believe that something so big could a) hide for so long and b) be completely out of sight now that I know it's there and I'm actively searching for it.

In my night watches I've found a huge (1.5" or so) spotted flatworm, watched crabs and our goby do some really interesting home renovations, seen big peanut worms, spaghetti worms, loads of starfish, bristleworms, sponges, pods, all sorts of nifty things... but never the Beast.

He has 150lbs of rock, much of it stacked in columns, with caves and holes, in a space 48" x 24" x 30". He's as wide as a pencil but flattish, long, but fast. I figure my chances of seeing him again are about as good as winning the lottery, until I pull out the rocks.

Is smashing really the only way to go?
 
I wish I could have taken pictures of it -- the beast escaped so fast that sometimes I wonder if I imagined it.

I have tried so, so many nights to find it again, to no avail. I cannot believe that something so big could a) hide for so long and b) be completely out of sight now that I know it's there and I'm actively searching for it.

In my night watches I've found a huge (1.5" or so) spotted flatworm, watched crabs and our goby do some really interesting home renovations, seen big peanut worms, spaghetti worms, loads of starfish, bristleworms, sponges, pods, all sorts of nifty things... but never the Beast.

He has 150lbs of rock, much of it stacked in columns, with caves and holes, in a space 48" x 24" x 30". He's as wide as a pencil but flattish, long, but fast. I figure my chances of seeing him again are about as good as winning the lottery, until I pull out the rocks.

Is smashing really the only way to go?

Soooo... you're saying that you don't have pics? (j/k - lol)

GL w/ the hunt... :beer:
 
I'd fw dip the rocks. Be very careful. If he bites you the spot will be numb. For good.

Just get him out now.
 
i know when i have peroxide dipped zoa frags, bristle worms quickly exit the rock. i dont know how much peroxide you would need for 150lbs of rock though.... i also dont know what this does to the bacteria on the rock, i have only done it on small frags.
 
It sounds like you're mostly worried about the worm? I bet if you leave the sand behind the worm will hide in it while your messing with the rocks. You can use fresh sand in the new tank, seeded with a few cups of (beast-free) old sand to get your other critters started. Then poir some bleach or something into the old tank and fish out the dead worm for taxidermy ;)

As far as all the other stuff, I don't think there's an easy way to get out just the bad but not the good. Wear gloves no matter what.

Love your avatar :)
 
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