So how bad are eunice worms

[acrodave]

I hear some people like them others hate them. Well i found one in my tank the other week. And i cant get it out were its living. Moving the rock is not a option as all my corals are mounted and have grown in a lot. I keep all sps and a few zoas. I have seen a few zoas go missing but never seen it do it but i hear they like to eat softies and mushrooms and zoas. It must have been in the tank since the beginning i have not added any lr bigger then 3in just what ever the acros were mounted to. So any opinions ? should i worry my self to death of it ?

 

[scrmbld33]

how bigs the worm? id try and get it out to be safe. check out "the worm incedent" at www.oregonreef.com

 

[acrodave]

I have only seen about 3-4 in of it and its about as thick as a pencil . And its the same as the one in the pic

 

[Untamed12]

It is difficult to say...because there are lots of different species of Eunicid worm. The really famous ones grow to very large size! The ones I commonly encounter are brown with a white ring around their neck. I've seen these grow to nearly two feet, but even at that size I didn't have much trouble with it. In small sizes, they are helpful detrivores.

I believed that one of mine was eating Xenia....so I stopped trying to keep Xenia. Hand feeding the worm was more interesting to me than keeping Xenia.

I had another type that grew much larger. I never got to know how long this one worm had become, but it was nearly the thickness of my finger. In observing this worm, it was 100% vegetarian..no problem at all.

In some respects, they are like many things. They may be incompatible with something in your tank that you would prefer to keep (zoas)...in which case you decide to keep one thing instead of another. It doesn't mean that any particular critter is universally "bad".

 

[seapug]

Those things are creepy. I'd get it out. Try a trap. I had one in my first tank that used to rearrange the rocks at night.

 

[acrodave]

I would agree on it being creepy. But i hear most of the worm traps are a joke. And i have no idea how big it really is

 

[Merit]

get it out. remove the rock. I've got one now. It's on a spectacular rock with a lot of growth on it. I hate to remove it, but I've caught it munching on my zoa's. I believe he's my ric thief as well. They are quite strong. Last night mine picked up a frag rock with zoa's on it and munched on them. Needless to say, my rock is coming out tonight.

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