Christmas Tree worms

[steamer51]

I am planning a 75 gallon primarily for Christmas Tree worms that will also contain other filter feeders; feather dusters, sponges etc. What types of small fish can I put in there that will not eat the worms? Thanks.

 

[mscarpena]

Most gobies, Anthias, Hawks, Clowns, Some wrasses, Just watch your water quality and make sure your feeding them a good variety of filter feeding foods. Good luck and would love to see some pictures.

 

[steamer51]

Thanks for the reply. Will be a while before pictures come. Been planning for a long time but I'm slow to get started. It will have a 100 gallon stock tank for a refugium that I'll be doing everything possible to maximize plankton production, including feeding live phyto. Water quality will be a challenge since I tend to overfeed but hopefully I can get enough live food going that I won't have to worry about it with everything eating everything else.

 

[rowjimmy]

+1 on what mscarpena said.

Also keep in mind that these worms usually come embedded in Porites coral. An SPS coral that requires good lighting and strong water flow.

If the coral dies the worms tend to follow. I've read that the worms benefit from the coral mucous, but I don't know for sure.

Porites will "shed" a waxy film from time to time like Gorgonians to expel fouling organisms, so flow is important.

Christmas Tree Worms are a beautiful addition if you can care for their needs. A whole tank devoted to them would be an amazing sight. Would love to see pictures as well when you get it all together. Here is a specimen from my tank:

 

[jollyballs]

yep that would be neat to see

 

[steamer51]

Thanks for the info and great pics rowjimmy. I've done a lot of research and knew that people fail with them because they don't meet the needs of the Porites. Thanks for the tip on the shedding, I had not found that in my reading. I got some very good information from a post I made here at RC at http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1608387 As you can see from the post date my planning has been a long time but long hours at work have kept me from getting started setting it up. When I was into freshwater I was always setting up more tanks specifically for one type of fish I wanted to keep and I seem to be heading in that direction with reefs as well. I've been collecting tanks and equipment for quite a while but the only one running is the 55 with softies right now. I feel my chances for success are better if each tank meets specific needs rather than trying to keep everything in one tank and only being able to meet some of the needs of each individual organism. Plenty of people successfully keep mixed reefs but they are a lot better reefers than I am!

 

[mscarpena]

I think what you are doing is very cool. I really hope you are successful. There are a lot of foods out there now for these specific animals. With a little work I think you can be successful. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[CLINTOS]

I was thinking the same thing I want a few christmas tree worm's as well and I'm just starting to culture nanno phyto I hope now I have a chance

was wondering if a person can mix and match christmas tree worm's by placing another colored wormed rock next to a another colored worm rock?

here's a pic I came across I would like to get all the color's

 

[steamer51]

Thanks to all for the replies and encouragement. Clintos - From the worms I have actually seen and pictures I've found there are a variety of colors colonized on each coral. It's not like one rock/coral will have all blue or all yellow. I have seen as many as six different colors on the same coral. I have also not found any information stating that the worms will reproduce in our tanks. I wish they would as I would like my tank covered from wall to wall.

 

[CLINTOS]

That's vary unusual that they don't reproduce I wonder if it's just all this time that no one has mass dosed live unlimited Nanno phytoplankton I think this was the reason all these years?

but imo I've been working with this type of phyto and can say that 1/2 cup daily in a
20G diy Nanno should help change this cosidering this is thier main food?

Do you think it's worth a shot because I was able to maintain large copepod/myslid/mini serpent star population with mass dosing while controling inorganics naturaly

Will 4 t5 h.o keep the coral alive?

 

[steamer51]

Clintos - I agree that they probably can reproduce in our tanks since other tube worms do, it's just that everyone I have communicated with has not seen it happen. Not sure if these worms eat phyto or are carnivorous like many other things. What I do know is if you are dosing phyto and able to maintain a large zooplankton population, whatever they eat will be there for them. If the copepods are too big, their larvae should be small enough for success. 4X T5 should be no problem providing the coral with sufficient light. Go back and read the responses to my post that I linked here on the Nov 17 posting for some very good information. They said at that time that there was nothing special about keeping Porites coral alive, just normal SPS requirements. I think people have failed in the past because they didn't have tank parameters and lighting sufficient for SPS, not because Porites was particularly hard to keep.

 

[CLINTOS]

Weird question but I was wondering if some people say some coral feed off of fish poop would mass amount's of copepod poop maybe help a little more since it is smaller?

just a question because I was thinking of culturing extra pods for mandarin's and maybe it will be a catch 22

o yeah what sps is that Montipora?

I'll check that post over soon thanks

 

[steamer51]

Don't know the exact size of food required for Christmas Tree Worms but your idea is correct. If copepod poop would be too big (I doubt it) then something would eat that (bacteria perhaps) and their waste would be eaten. Most Marine organisms have very fast metabolisms and only partially digest the food before it is passed on for something smaller to consume and gain the nutrients. It's all about having a diverse ecosystem where one creature breaks up or poops out the food in continuously smaller pieces until it is the right size to be consumed by the organism you are trying to feed. There is an excellent article at http://www.dtplankton.com/articles/sandbeds.html that describes how this happens in a deep sand bed. It's a long read, but well worth it.

 

[VaderWS6]

I just received a porites coral the size of a softball with xmas worms, and noticed that I have a small hermit crab living in one of the tubes :dance: It has long orange antennae. :thumbsup:

 

[rowjimmy]

I just received a porites coral the size of a softball with xmas worms, and noticed that I have a small hermit crab living in one of the tubes :dance: It has long orange antennae. :thumbsup:

Nice! I got one of those guys living in a head of Porites w/x-mas tree worms too. They are filter feeders, and fun to watch. They catch particulate matter in the water with their "long orange antennae". I can't photograph mine well due to the angle it is on but here are a few online pics: