Christmas tree worm rock care

[whatcaneyedo]

I was given a christmas tree worm rock earlier this week from somone who was taking their tank apart. I discovered a few hours later that the worms are easy to keep but the coral structure that coats the rock that the worms are in is very difficult to keep.

So after 3 days of trying to get the search function on this site to work I thought I'd just post a thread and see if someone could give me some advice/hope to put me at ease about keeping this thing. I'm not concerned about the worms as I have lots of little fan worms that seem to do fine in my tank. Its the coral that they live in that I wonder about and that is why I'm posting this here.

At the moment I have the rock located right under my 14K 250W MH in an area of moderate flow. I also add filterfeeder food a couple times a week. Is there anything more that I can do or do I just cross my fingers and hope that it lives?

 

[thehedge]

What type of filter feeder food are you feeding? Phyto Plankton is definately the best.

The lighting sounds fine to keep the coral. The coral is Porites lobata and is similar to any other SPS you could keep. If you have had success with other SPS, I would not be too concerned as to the coral that came with the Christmas Tree Worms. It is a pretty slow grower, so don't be too concerned if you notice that the coral does not grow that fast. In the wild they grow 1" every year.

Also keep it in high flow, as the worms really seem to come out more often in pretty heavy direct current.

 

[whatcaneyedo]

I've got Kent marine Mirco Vert as well as Phytoplankton which I alternate doses every day or so. I'll move the rock to a higher flow area and see how that does. I'm not very concerned about rapid growth or anything, I just hate to see stuff die in my tank. For that reason I've been very apprehensive about adding difficult corals etc to my tank. This is something that I never would have bought but I have it now so I'm trying to do a good job with it.

 

[HowardW]

So how are they doing so far?

 

[whatcaneyedo]

The rock seems to still look the same as the first day it was given to me. I still have the same amount of worms anyways. The coral may have receded a bit in some spots. I have been having a problem with cyano (all over my tank and crowding around the rock) because my MH bulb is overdue for a replacement (12+ months of 11 hours a day). I had bought an XM bulb in advance to switch over to but it wouldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t fit into my Hamilton fixtureââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦(XM is getting an angry letter from me soon) and in the little city I live in it takes 3 weeks to order a new bulb. So I should be getting the new Giesemann in this week and then things will get better.

 

[rustybucket145]

From the homepage click on the 'Search Tools' button on the lefthand side of the page. Then type your search into the Google (r) Box. Always Works!!!

 

[reefnewbie54321]

I hated when I didnt have accsess to search,

So I did one for you

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=499906&highlight=Christmas+tree

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=788731&highlight=Christmas+tree

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=584452&highlight=Christmas+tree

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=196167&highlight=Christmas+tree

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=537117&highlight=Christmas+tree

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=602815&highlight=Christmas+tree

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=731295&highlight=Christmas+tree

First off, considering some of the PC arguments and their counter arguments this lovely year, maybe it should "Holiday Tree Worms" or, my personal favorite, "Satunalia Tree Worms."

These worms are serpulids, see here for some information on serpulids.

All feather duster type worms move water through their filters, it is not a unique property of these worms. The amount of water that they move is dependent upon the correct current flow and orientation over them.

They are generally found in Porites heads. This is because such corals are often found in areas of "brisk" laminar flow, and the worms may need such currents for good feeding. However, laminar flow, and the turbulent flow seen in most tanks are two different things. In your tank, problaby the best bet for long term survival of these worms is gentle steady current flow. No vortices, no turbulence.

The corals also probably need such laminar currents, and they need a lot of food to survive. Consequently, as neither the currents nor the foods are found in most reef tanks, the corals die. Their death, in and of itself, will not kill the worms, but the worms also need the same environmental factors and food, so when one can't make it, neither can the other.

The primary worms don't generally do well in aquaria as they starve. They need a LOT of phytoplankton food. Probably a mixed diet of various phytoplankton types is best. However, they also need the appropriate current regimes to be able to collect their food. It is rather a double-edged sword working against them here.

It is hard to tell if they are feeding. For example, the observation that they "poop," is misleading. What you are seeing may be the "real thing," indigestible food that has gone through the digestive tract. On the other hand, all worms of this type feed with mucus, and this mucus is produced whether or not they get food. The mucus gets bound into either strings or "balls" and is released as "pseudofeces." It looks like "poop" but it contains just mucus, not anything that goes through the digestive system.

-Ron Shimek

 

[bsaastad]

For what it's worth, this is mine. I've had it for nearly two years. The tank has about 70 gallons capacity between display and sump, rock is sitting on the sand bed at a depth of, oh, probably 24". Lighting is a pair of 175W 20000K MH supplemented by 192W of PC. Flow in that area is moderate. I feed about 3/4 oz. of DT's every 3 days or so in addition to frozen foods for the fish soaked in Selcon. The coral is spreading, albeit slowly, maybe 1/2" - 3/4" since I got it. It even survived a temperature episode where the flow to the chiller got blocked while I was away for the weekend and tank temps spiked into the high 90's! Hopefully some of this is relevant/helpful.

 

[parothead22]

The unfortunate thing about Christmas Tree Rock is that if the Porites dies off, usually the worms die as well!! Just some insight from "Borneman". I wanted to try it as well but decided against it and went with Montipora and Pavona instead.
Good luck with it.

 

[bljohnson]

I would ditch the Kent foods - they will foul your water. Try DTs or that Instant Algae Paste that others use. I had one that didn't not last long b/c my cleaner shrimp made short work out of the worms - they picked them right out and ate them all.

 

[Stephany]

I have a porites + worms rock as well. I second the DTs phytoplankton.

It did well under power compacts in my nano for over a year before I moved it to my current take.

 

[superswimmer]

I also have porties + worm. I have even had a new x mass worm grow! I have my porty midway up in the tank under 4 t-5 bulbs. It grew pretty fast for me! I have it with moderate flow. I do not add any sort of phyto, however i do have a running fuge, and frequently stir up the sand.