Now it hurts twice as mich (pic)
- Thread starter Nek
- Start date
Turtlesteve
New member
get those other clams outta there!
I'm pretty confident by that photo that it's the same type of worm i had eating my snails.
Buy one of those floating fish-breeder boxes (the kind with the small holes for water flow) and put them in there, at least at night, until you have caught the predator.
I'm pretty confident by that photo that it's the same type of worm i had eating my snails.
Buy one of those floating fish-breeder boxes (the kind with the small holes for water flow) and put them in there, at least at night, until you have caught the predator.
Which normally you would think is good. But my worm started killing snails about 10 months after adding the last rock to the tank. I would sometimes find 2 or 3 snails pulled up against the rock it lived in. Maybe they eat something else until they get to a certain size?
I could always bait mine out with a piece of meat in a tube. Could never catch it, but I could see it. Had to be pitch black in the room though. Put out a trap, wait in the dark and then surprise the tank with a flashlight. Maybe you'll see something. Mine also responded to red light, so that won't work.
I could always bait mine out with a piece of meat in a tube. Could never catch it, but I could see it. Had to be pitch black in the room though. Put out a trap, wait in the dark and then surprise the tank with a flashlight. Maybe you'll see something. Mine also responded to red light, so that won't work.
Turtlesteve
New member
reefraf, was the worm SMOOTH and orange like Dr. Ron said <i>Oenone</i> should be?
I never even got to see mine, just figured out what rock he was probably in, and dipped it in FW for long enough to kill all of the worms in it. And since i haven't had a snail death since, i figure i got him.
Anyways, good luck. I would suggest putting pieces of shrimp in the tank at night and surprising it with a flashlight, to look for it.
I never even got to see mine, just figured out what rock he was probably in, and dipped it in FW for long enough to kill all of the worms in it. And since i haven't had a snail death since, i figure i got him.
Anyways, good luck. I would suggest putting pieces of shrimp in the tank at night and surprising it with a flashlight, to look for it.
Steve, I got to see my worm, Oenone fulgida, many times. It was approaching 2 feet long. I actually baited it one night with a heavy glass tube, and it dragged the tube back to it's rock! Strong worm:eek2:
It would never leave it's rock completely and trying to cut it's head off proved impossible. Like trying to grab a released elastic band!!
I ended up removing the whole rock from the tank. I never did recover the body.
And in keeping on track with this thread, they do smoother snails and CLAMS with slime and eat the remains!!
It would never leave it's rock completely and trying to cut it's head off proved impossible. Like trying to grab a released elastic band!!
I ended up removing the whole rock from the tank. I never did recover the body.
And in keeping on track with this thread, they do smoother snails and CLAMS with slime and eat the remains!!
Here is a clip from Dr. Ron...
"Another type of worm that causes problems can be very large; I have seen individuals about 40 cm long and bright orange. These are thin compared to bristle worms, and although they do have small bristles along the sides, these are generally not apparent. These worms, Oenone fulgida, prey on snails and clams. They suffocate snails with a viscid mucus, and then eat the body, and apparently can bore into clams, such as Tridacna species and eat them as well (Delbeek and Sprung 1994). They live in holes in rocks and emerge to feed, but generally keep their posterior end in their home hole. They are nocturnal and feed in total darkness. When startled by a light they can retract back into their den with extreme rapidity. About the only way they can be removed from a system is by removing their piece of rock and manually pulling the worm out if it possible. "
"Another type of worm that causes problems can be very large; I have seen individuals about 40 cm long and bright orange. These are thin compared to bristle worms, and although they do have small bristles along the sides, these are generally not apparent. These worms, Oenone fulgida, prey on snails and clams. They suffocate snails with a viscid mucus, and then eat the body, and apparently can bore into clams, such as Tridacna species and eat them as well (Delbeek and Sprung 1994). They live in holes in rocks and emerge to feed, but generally keep their posterior end in their home hole. They are nocturnal and feed in total darkness. When startled by a light they can retract back into their den with extreme rapidity. About the only way they can be removed from a system is by removing their piece of rock and manually pulling the worm out if it possible. "
Sid
Premium Member
Another way to get the worm out of the rock as long as nothing else is living on it is to remove the rock from the tank into another vessel (a bucket will do), place a heater in with it and get the temp up to about 35 degrees c (i'm english i dont know the degrees f scale) and wait, after a while the worm will leave the rock completely (dunno why low disolved o2 levels prob) grab it and kill it, this way you can keep the rock with no worries.
