Candy Cane Being Eaten by Worm?

[jmj]

I have had this Candy Cane in my tank approximately 3 months and it was doing well until a few days ago. It appears something is eating the heads and leaving a white tube behind (see picture). Any ideas on what this could be or how to fix? The far right two heads are dead and the "worm" appears to be eating the head with the arrow now.

Paramaters: Na & Po =0, CA 420, Alk 3.2

 

[raoul]

I don't have any anwers to what, I hope you get it figured out soon though!

Would a freshwater dip be in order to try to evict what appears to be a pest?? I don't know, I'm just wondering.

Good luck!

 

[jmj]

bumping this to see if anyone has an idea on how to help.

I did do a fresh water dip but the "worm" has continued its path and eaten about half of the heads at this point. It leaves behind a white tube (where the arrow points in the picture). I have pulled the tube out with tweezers a few times but it doesn't appear to have helped.

 

[mcox33]

Frag off the area where he is and try to make sure you get all of his hole in the part he is eating from. Try dipping in Reef Dip. LFS or Reef Iodine.

 

[jmj]

I am still having problems with this "worm" eating my candycane. I have done multiple dips (Reef Dip, Lugol's, freshwater) but i keep getting the worm back. The dips seem to slow it down but it always comes back in a month or so. So far it hasn't touched any other of my LPS's. Anyone else have ideas on what this is and how to eradicate?

 

[traveller7]

As suggested earlier, if you have reason to believe it is a predator living in the coral head, frag off a few polyps and move the remaining piece to isolation.

Hopefully you can isolate the critter and attempt to identify it by observing it more closely, in evening/morning hours etc.

Good luck.

 

[thecichlidpleco]

Same thing appears to be happening to me, i thought it was just a ligthing issue, but no I think that I have the same problem.