How do I remove a 4' Eunicid worm?

[Ralph ATL]

I have a 48 inch 55 gallon stony reef tank, and I've noticed that I had an Eunicid worm for sometime now. It's at least 4 feet long. I wasn't too worried at first, but lately my fish are all huddled up on the left front of my tank at night where only my clowns "slept". One of my chromis looks likes it's been in a fight. Tonight I noticed the worm (located deep inside a bottom rock on the right side) slithering all the way toward the left side (behind & underneath the rock of course!) where my fish are. I can't take the rocks apart due to a clam, & stony corals that are on the rocks above. Do you have any suggestions on how I can catch, kill, eliminate this creature?

 

[RONCGIZMO]

Try the water bottle trick...Cut the top off and reverse is and toss in some grub for this monster...

 

[GS-Rock]

if its clost to 4 ft long i do not think the water bottle trick will work, you might need a 2 liter bottle, cut the top off and invert it back into the opening, push it in deep enought that it stays in, bate the bottle with some meat, and you can catch smaller worms, crabs, shrimps, but i am not sure if it will work on a 4ft worm, if you do catch it, you can sell it on online auction site.

 

[sps_addict]

to catch my 6' eunice i had to remove the rock entirely and pour some fresh water on the rock for it to come out.

the thing i noticed with the eunice i had was that it would not leave the rock it entirely when it went out to feed, it always left a portion of it's body in the rock, so if yours does the same, i do not think the bottle trick will work.

good luck on removing it.

 

[Sk8r]

Staying partly in the rock is common worm strategy, for sure. Try to id which rock this is. The bottle might help you do that.

Worm psych is not my forte, but I did notice that my larger worms each had a 'home' rock, and they didn't change.

 

[GoingPostal]

I had to remove the home rock and squirt water in it, even then it came out most of the way and started heading back in so I had to rip it apart to get it totally out. Mine was in a pico tank so any trap I put in the worm grabbed and moved closer to it's rock, I would think you would have this same problem considering how large it is.

 

[Ralph ATL]

update here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1268265