Oenone & eunicid worms - starve time?

[techreef]

How long can an oenone or eunicid worm survive in a reef tank without a food source? I have decided to not restock my CUC in my tank until I feel relatively safe that the oenone and several eunicid worms are dead from starvation. But I think they eat just about anything, so I'm wondering how long that period of time will be. I presently have no hermits, and only 2-3 nerite snails that seem to be smart enough to stay near the top of the tank walls (away from the predator worms!). It literally took 3 weeks for 100 dwarf blueleg hermit crabs and a mess (20-30) of nerite and cerith snails to be predated the last time I tried to replace my CUC. The worms are just too good at what they do. I haven't seen chunks of corals go missing yet (I have LPS and one SPS, plus a couple shrooms and a ton of zoas)

I will still try and trap/remove the worms whenever I spot one up against the glass in its tunnel in the sand, but otherwise, I've pretty much admitted defeat against ever being able to actively remove them. This starvation trick is my last ditch idea.

 

[mscarpena]

I had some oenone worms 6 of them and I removed them all manually with a pair of tweezers. They will pretty much eat anything so I don't think starving them will work. They will actually eat each other. Also I have had one in a 12 gallon tank and have not fed it in over a month and it is still alive. Good luck, but manually removal worked well for me. It was tough work, but you have to do it. GL. PM me if you need anything else. Also a trap will not work because they will never leave their rock and fully enter the trap. They are bastards, bastards I tell you.

 

[techreef]

Well, crp. Can you tell me a little about your technique w/ the tweezers? ie did you lure the oenone worm out a couple inches from its burrow/tunnel and then swoop in w/ tweezers? if so, what did you use as bait?

I've caught two eunicid worms using tweezers, and each time i pretty much expected to be struck by lightning or win the lottery the next day. That's how unlikely I thought it was that I had managed to catch something that retracts SO FAST with a pair of tweezers. So I unfortunately think my remaining eunicids are here to stay, unless they starve. But the oenone retracts much slower; it's just it was clear at the bottom of my 90G display, buried in my 5" sand bed, and even w/ my hulking set of forceps, I still couldn't either grab the worm or successfully dig into the sand around the worm as it retracted into its burrow to catch the little bugger. sigh. any advice from anybody is much appreciated.

 

[mscarpena]

I had no help from anyone on this board. I was actually very surprised. I did lure them out with food and they like scallops from the supermarket. I would then leave all the lights off for about an hour and go over with a very dim light very slowly. I would reach in the tank and grab them with tweezers. Do not grab them too hard or you will tear them and they will regrow. I then just kept steady pressure on them and kept pulling. I would eventually get all the worm. They ranged from 6" to about 37". I had 6 of them. If you know what rock they are in you can just remove that as well. Mine seemed to move around a lot so that was not any option for me. Again man good luck and I really do feel your pain and frustration. I thought about giving up a few times as well. Don't give up though. Press on and get them out.

 

[techreef]

well, thank goodness they don't like filet mignon, although I'm not sure it's any cheaper!

thanks again. i've got a ton (OK, 225 lbs.) of rock in my tank, one of which is just over 2 feet long and a complete PITA to move (and just happens to be on top of most of the other rock, acting as a plateau), so I'm not taking out rock in order to remove the worms. guess I'll keep chasing them whenever I spot a sand burrow up against the glass. i'm off to go buy scallops...

 

[mscarpena]

Good luck. I truely do mean that and know what you are going through. Bait them ut with the scallops and try to snag them with the tweezers. I am not going to say it is easy, but I have been worm free for about 3 months now, I think. No new bites out of my clam in that long and let me tell you it feels GREAT. I hope to hear you say the same thing in a moth or so.