Something eating my torch! PICTURE

briangg57

New member
Something is eating the skeleton of my torch. I turned on the lights last night and saw a small red fireworm and some amphipods right in the eaten area. Do you think that they are eating the skeleton and causing this, or just eating the decaying matter? Do you guys reccomend a fresh water or Lugol's dip? What else might you experianced reefers reccomend?
sicktorch-1.jpg
 
I'm curious to hear the answer on this one. The skeleton on my Frogspawn did that, to the point where there was a pretty big hole, but it doesn't seem to have effected it at all. It's split twice since.
 
Could you list the livestock you have in the tank with it? Fish, Crabs, etc.

The worm and Amphipods are probably eating dead or decaying matter.....

Is it getting any worse? If it were me, and it seems to be just the old skeleton.... I'd just keep an eye on it.. check on it at nite... I have a red led flashlite I go over my tanks every now and then... you'd be surprised what you find!!
 
I just checked out my tank,and a new finger leather frag that I added yesterday has also been attacked. About 2 months ago I had some eagle eye zoos that I saw amphapods eating. The famous author Anthony Calfo, said they were probably just eating decaying matter. They are gone now. But there was no decaying matter on my new frag, and my torch looks great except where it is being eaten.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12151118#post12151118 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 2farNorth
Could you list the livestock you have in the tank with it? Fish, Crabs, etc.

The worm and Amphipods are probably eating dead or decaying matter.....

Is it getting any worse? If it were me, and it seems to be just the old skeleton.... I'd just keep an eye on it.. check on it at nite... I have a red led flashlite I go over my tanks every now and then... you'd be surprised what you find!!
Royal gramma, yellow tail and talbot's damsels,firefish,yellow tang,six line, clown, blue and red legged hermits, emerald crab-mabey, havent seen it for ever. I've snapped the lights on a hundred times a night when my zoos were being eaten , and all I saw was them covered with pods. I also have turbo's. I do have some pyramids that the sixline is really helping with. And also a little white snail with a smoth shell that resembles the shape of a land snail. But like I said, With numerous night time checking, I would catch a snail grazing on them. Nothing but the worm and pods.
 
i bet theres a gorilla crab in your tank. why not set up a trap and see what you catch?......... a drinking glass with a piece of bait should do the trick.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12153564#post12153564 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Triton97
i bet theres a gorilla crab in your tank. why not set up a trap and see what you catch?......... a drinking glass with a piece of bait should do the trick.
How do you set the trap? I can only guess that you put bait in the glass and stand it upright next to a rock or something and when they go in they can't get out. So, am I close?
 
Yes that could be signs of a crab an unless you find another one I would venture put the blame on the emerald crab. Mine used to scrap the rock for coraline taking chuncks at a time.
Also check your calcium and alkalinity levels to insure they are not below the recomended levels.
 
I leaned a glass against the eaten spot and put in a piece of shrimp and caught this. I know he is probably not the culpret but somebody has to pay for this crime. I did see him in the eaten spot the night before. He's probably floating down the Hudson river right now lol. I'm gonna keep setting the trap for a while.
fireworm-2.jpg
 
I realize that it may not have caused the damage, but I did see him the day before munching in that spot. Eating dead matter or not, I'm not chancing it. What I wonder is, when he's done with the dead matter and gets to the living flesh, What does he say? opps, I'm sorry.lol
 
So yes, I still have a problem. A big one. 3 days ago, due to coral growth , I had to add a piece of dead bleached coral that I had in my old 55 gal. 2 years ago. I boiled it for 2 full hours before adding. It's a nice piece with a nice smooth front. Till I noticed that sometime last night something chewed the exact size and shape hole in it as the one in my torch. It has to be that darned emerald crab that I haven't seen in at least 6 months.I thought he was dead. How do I catch this beast. will the shrimp in the glass trick work?
coraldamage-1.jpg
 
Nope, you will have to catch it at night but you need to find were it sleeps. Usually they brace to the base of a coral.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12162151#post12162151 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdieck
Nope, you will have to catch it at night but you need to find were it sleeps. Usually they brace to the base of a coral.
You gotta be kidding, I would have to pull all my rock. There has to be a way to trap it. If not, I'm getten my gun.!!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12161984#post12161984 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by briangg57
So yes, I still have a problem. A big one. 3 days ago, due to coral growth , I had to add a piece of dead bleached coral that I had in my old 55 gal. 2 years ago. I boiled it for 2 full hours before adding. It's a nice piece with a nice smooth front. Till I noticed that sometime last night something chewed the exact size and shape hole in it as the one in my torch. It has to be that darned emerald crab that I haven't seen in at least 6 months.I thought he was dead. How do I catch this beast. will the shrimp in the glass trick work?
coraldamage-1.jpg

The shrimp in the glass trick works extremely well...just be sure to change out the bait every few days as it will start to turn

We used a large coke glass with the flared top, just set it in the tank leaning on a rock so it's easy entry. The crab won't be able to climb out as long as it's at a sharp enough angle =)

If you know it likes a certain piece of coral use the coral as bait. If you think it's a worm you can try to trap that as well by using a ziplock disposable container with bait inside and x's cut into the lid (like the slot for a straw on a fastfood lid). Be sure to push the x's inward so the work can wriggle in but not out =)
 
As I was up till 3am last night, while checking my tank every 2 hours,While in between checks I can't believe something did this to my GSP. Tonight I'm getting my gun.
GSPDAMAGE-2.jpg
 
Sheesh!!

I'm kinda having a hard time believing it's the emerald crab,,, I think there's something else in your tank that you don't know about....

Although, you never know!!! We've all seen strange things in these tanks before!!!

Keep us updated!!
 
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