A picture of a hole would be good.
What does the inside of the hole look like? Color, etc.
What does the inside of the hole look like? Color, etc.
Question for Randy?
- Thread starter Crosby
- Start date
When I was starting my new tank, LR developed new holes and I was wondering why. At night, I used a flashlight to investigate and found a snout 2-3 in" long extending from 1 of the hole. It was feeding on the algae on my LR.
When the light shined upon it, the snout retracted quite rapidly...so it's photo-sensitive. The retraction is interesting because the front seemed to be collapsing and pulled in. The next morning, I see dusty, cylindral
shaped material around that area. It looked like that worm has pooped or was drilling holes in my LR.
Now I have 2-3 of them 'worms' and they drill new holes 1-2x/month. They have different color and striations too...one has light brown color, another has dark color, another has black and white lines. I didn't do anything to them or know how to get rid of them. So far, no harm done except for new holes and some detritus in my water.
Use a flashlight and check your tank at night.
When the light shined upon it, the snout retracted quite rapidly...so it's photo-sensitive. The retraction is interesting because the front seemed to be collapsing and pulled in. The next morning, I see dusty, cylindral
shaped material around that area. It looked like that worm has pooped or was drilling holes in my LR.
Now I have 2-3 of them 'worms' and they drill new holes 1-2x/month. They have different color and striations too...one has light brown color, another has dark color, another has black and white lines. I didn't do anything to them or know how to get rid of them. So far, no harm done except for new holes and some detritus in my water.
Use a flashlight and check your tank at night.
luther1200
Premium Member
I think you are referring to Peanut Worms.
jlinzmaier
Premium Member
+1
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-04/rs/index.php
Regardless, they don't make swiss cheese of LR like crosby is describing.
Jeremy
Here are some pics of my live rock. Here is a sample of the holes that started appearing in the rock. Some rock has a lot of tiny pin holes. Other rocks have bigger holes. Some of the rock looks like the outer skeleton has dissolved off. Some rock has sections of black on it. All of this started in the last 2 weeks. Ignore the nuisance algae.
jlinzmaier
Premium Member
Hmm. Very interesting!
One thing I can say for sure is that kalk didn't directly do that! If your certain that these aren't merely holes you had overlooked before because they were filled with detritus, then I would have to say there is definately some sort of critter(s) causing this. Your best bet at finding out what critter this is, is to spend some time looking at your tank after the lights go out (give it a good 2-3 hours after the lights go out - let the noctournal creatures wake up). Another option would be to take some of the rock out and dip it in a concentrated Lugols iodine solution or a freshwater dip. The freshwater dip will likely kill anything good growing on the rock, but the mysterious critters will definately come out too. If it were me I'd go with the lugols first and if nothing comes out then try the freshwater. I'm entirely convinced this is a critter of some sort and not a chemistry issue causing these holes.
Jeremy
One thing I can say for sure is that kalk didn't directly do that! If your certain that these aren't merely holes you had overlooked before because they were filled with detritus, then I would have to say there is definately some sort of critter(s) causing this. Your best bet at finding out what critter this is, is to spend some time looking at your tank after the lights go out (give it a good 2-3 hours after the lights go out - let the noctournal creatures wake up). Another option would be to take some of the rock out and dip it in a concentrated Lugols iodine solution or a freshwater dip. The freshwater dip will likely kill anything good growing on the rock, but the mysterious critters will definately come out too. If it were me I'd go with the lugols first and if nothing comes out then try the freshwater. I'm entirely convinced this is a critter of some sort and not a chemistry issue causing these holes.
Jeremy
jlinzmaier
Premium Member
After looking at the pics in more detail, I have to ask the question again. Are you positive there isn't some DIY rock in there? That could explain the dissolving of the outer layer you described and the one piece with all the little holes looks a bit suspicious.
The larger holes in the other rock sure looks like a creature of some sort is involved.
Jeremy
The larger holes in the other rock sure looks like a creature of some sort is involved.
Jeremy
Kenmx10
New member
Sounds like you have some kind of critter. I have seen the same thing in one of my rocks. What throws me off is that you say all your rocks have it. I have one rock that has some sort of worm. It has trenched a hole, and the hole has got bigger, and there are smaller holes that connect on the inside. When I take my compact Eheim and blow the rocks off, something like sawdust comes out of all the holes. It appears to be ground up pieces of the rock. It must be drilling the hole out from the inside.
I also have a rock that has some clear looking jelly type substance growing on it. And there are clear jelly like arms growing out of the holes in various places on the rock. It appears that something is growing inside the rock and reaching outward from all the tiny holes. Looks like some type of clear worm. I have no clue what it is.
If you dont have anything living in the tank , other than the sand, You could spike the Magnesium level really fast...Ive done this twice when I first started dosing by accident because I had the mixture off. All the worms came out of the rock and died. I had dead worms all over the sand bed. Im not sure if theres' a downside to this. I never experienced any myself. Other than dead worms.
I also have a rock that has some clear looking jelly type substance growing on it. And there are clear jelly like arms growing out of the holes in various places on the rock. It appears that something is growing inside the rock and reaching outward from all the tiny holes. Looks like some type of clear worm. I have no clue what it is.
If you dont have anything living in the tank , other than the sand, You could spike the Magnesium level really fast...Ive done this twice when I first started dosing by accident because I had the mixture off. All the worms came out of the rock and died. I had dead worms all over the sand bed. Im not sure if theres' a downside to this. I never experienced any myself. Other than dead worms.
Well if it's not water chemistry and critters are responsible. Then it's a big relieve. I can live with that. I have seen lot's of white worms with 2 antennae. I also have a ton of bristle worms. But I know bristle worms are beneficial and feed on detritus. I am going to start dripping Kent Kalk at night time. Hopefully when my Longnose Hawkfish leaves quarantine, he can do some damage to the worm population.
jlinzmaier
Premium Member
I don't know that spiking mag is the best way to tackly this. Dramatically elevating mag will likely cause other elemental imbalances and you will then end up with a "real" chemistry problem.
Carnivorous hunters like hawkfish and banded coral shrimp will likely take care of pests of this sort. The banded coral shrimp may be a better option since they hunt at night and it sounds like your not seeing anything causing this during the day.
The freshwater dip will be very effectiev at making any unwanted pests quickly exit the rock and look for a way away from the freshwater.
Jeremy
