ReefingBuddha
New member
Awesome. Thanks for the quick responses.
Dutch reef
- Thread starter jwre
- Start date
jwre
New member
Hi Paul, it shows how important a good sandbed is. Maybe more important then live rock.
A deap sand bed on the other hand would not be my choice. I prefer my shallow sand bed ( 5cm ) which can be removed easily. That together with the live rock is plenty of space for the necessary bacteria.
jwre
New member
Eunicid horror
Eunicid horror
I was having trouble keeping Xenia, ricordea, LPS and later on SPS. I knew something was munching on my corals at night but never really investigated well. I thought it was a crab and I tried a crab trap for a couple of days without succes.
Then I red a story on the internet about a big coral eating worm ( Eunicid ).
It was 80 cm but I read that they could reach 2 meters in aquariums. This kept me awake at night. I decided to sit by the tank all night to finally catch the thief in the act.
Then al of a sudden there it was!!!! I forgot to breathe for a couple of seconds. :surprised It was the same worm that I saw on the internet. Only this one was a bit bigger. Everytime I tried to make a picture it would retract very, very fast. I coudn't beleive my eyes how fast it was for such a big animal. I was so terribly facinated that I could not leave the tank until the next morning.
Then I called my friend Martin who helps me maintain the tank. We decided the best way would be to take out the rocks from the tank and catch it.
We started at one end of the tank and ended up having to take out every piece of live rock and moving every piece of coral.
Finally when we reached the last rock there he was. A magnificent creature as if from the stone age.
My friend Martin caught it quickly.
The tank was a big mess but the mission was completed.
Despite of all the damage the worm did to my tank over the years ( he has been in there for almost 4 years ) I felt very bad to have to kill it.
Much worse then destroying my aquascape.
It was 1 meter and 30 centimeters !!
It's droppings
Eunicid horror
I was having trouble keeping Xenia, ricordea, LPS and later on SPS. I knew something was munching on my corals at night but never really investigated well. I thought it was a crab and I tried a crab trap for a couple of days without succes.
Then I red a story on the internet about a big coral eating worm ( Eunicid ).
It was 80 cm but I read that they could reach 2 meters in aquariums. This kept me awake at night. I decided to sit by the tank all night to finally catch the thief in the act.
Then al of a sudden there it was!!!! I forgot to breathe for a couple of seconds. :surprised It was the same worm that I saw on the internet. Only this one was a bit bigger. Everytime I tried to make a picture it would retract very, very fast. I coudn't beleive my eyes how fast it was for such a big animal. I was so terribly facinated that I could not leave the tank until the next morning.
Then I called my friend Martin who helps me maintain the tank. We decided the best way would be to take out the rocks from the tank and catch it.
We started at one end of the tank and ended up having to take out every piece of live rock and moving every piece of coral.
Finally when we reached the last rock there he was. A magnificent creature as if from the stone age.
My friend Martin caught it quickly.
The tank was a big mess but the mission was completed.
Despite of all the damage the worm did to my tank over the years ( he has been in there for almost 4 years ) I felt very bad to have to kill it.
Much worse then destroying my aquascape.
It was 1 meter and 30 centimeters !!
It's droppings
jwre
New member
Hi, thanks !
He ate lots of corals, snails, starfish, clams and shrimp.
I am so surprised it has been in there for such a long time and that I had never seen it.
It didn't try to bite when it was caught. It must have been in a terrible state of shock with all the bright light and movement.
ReefingBuddha
New member
Wow.
jwre
New member
Hi Joe,
It would not come out even if I made the slightest move next to the tank. I was sitting at one side of the tank with all the lights out for at least an hour. Every time I wanted to take a picture it would retract like lightening ! :eek2: What a predator ! I am still amazed that it didn't harm the fish. They would be sitting ducks sleeping between the rocks and coral.
I can just hope for you that you don't have one of these worms in your display. It just makes me shiver if I think of how big it probably would be by now.... Take care when you go on your maintenence dives. :bigeyes:
I think I read somewhere that they are very common in mari cultured live rock from Florida ?
Muscle Reefer
New member
Wow that is insane
jaynie1028
Member
OMG, If I found that in my tank I would be done with this hobby. There is no way I could ever look at my tank the same after having something like that in it. Now I dont want to put my hands in my tank anymore Thanks 
jwre
New member
Sorry to scare you all like that. This is a beautiful hobby but it is not only beautiful. I think it is important that people know what can be crawling in live rock for years without being seen.
I will never again handle live rock with my bare hands !
It is a big releif that this coral devestator is gone but on the other hand I feel sorry for this animal. It did not choose to be put in my aquarium and it only tried to survive as nature told him. RIP big guy !
I will never again handle live rock with my bare hands !
It is a big releif that this coral devestator is gone but on the other hand I feel sorry for this animal. It did not choose to be put in my aquarium and it only tried to survive as nature told him. RIP big guy !
