Spionid/Chaetopterid worms - MUST KILL

[drummereef]

Not everything, but around the tonga where it's hard to get to it really sucks. Any suggestions on getting rid of them?

 

[Russ Braaten]

What a great thread. It saves me from having to post my own.

I have tons of spionids and I think they are great with a small exception. I feed pretty heavily at times and they do a great job cleaning up. It is really a blast when 4 or 5 of them each have a tentacle on the same crumble of food and they play a game of tug-o-war to see who gets it.

They are fun to watch. I do have one concern. They can reach every part of sand and most parts of rock since they each have a 2 inch area they cover with their tentacles. They ralso really clump up my sand.

My pod population is zero in my tank. I do not have a sump at the moment and I do have one six line wrasse who may get them before I can see them.

Does anyone know if they would wipe out a pod population with this number of spionids?

 

[Russ Braaten]

Jared, I have never seen the mucus you talk about. They do have clear/white tenticles that are about an inch long that they move around to find food. Is that what you are seeing?

 

[Russ Braaten]

Here is a photo of my worms. What you see are the filaments that are the tenticles. This shot does not show the sandy tubes very well.
<img src="http://russbiz.net/images/my worms.jpg" alt=My Spionid worms"" border="0">

Neither my 6 line wrasse, arrow crab or sally lightfoot crab eat the worms. I really like them, unless they will keep me from having a good pod population.

 

[jared2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8094811#post8094811 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Russ Braaten
Jared, I have never seen the mucus you talk about. They do have clear/white tenticles that are about an inch long that they move around to find food. Is that what you are seeing?

Russ,

I have to say, I used to have tons of pods, and now I have none. Now I don't know if there is a correlation or not, as I have done several other things in between, but to be honest, I don't think it affects. Their tentacles can't reach the glass which is where all the ones I could see lived.

As for the mucus, if I were to agitate the rocks while doing a water change, there would be long strands of mucus (sometimes up to a foot long) coming off the rock. Quite gross really. The worms in your picture look identical to mine.

All in all, I guess their a good thing, but I just don't like them. I assume I will also have to live with them because no one has been able to tell me a way to get rid of them. Apparently a 3 day fresh water soak didn't do it.

 

[romunov]

They are the cutest things! They seem to do really well in some tanks. I'm out of luck.

 

[jared2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8098160#post8098160 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by romunov
They are the cutest things! They seem to do really well in some tanks. I'm out of luck.

romunov, YOU ARE ONE SICK PUPPY!!!

 

[Russ Braaten]

Does anyone out there have these worms AND still have a lot of pods? ANYONE?

 

[LeslieH]

Spionids & chaetopterids feed on particulates picked up from the surrounding surfaces or out of the water. They don't eat pods so there's no direct effect that way. If the worms & pods eat the same size food particles there could be some competition but they're feeding in different eco-niches.

 

[Russ Braaten]

Leslie,

Pods generally stay close to the rock and in the rock. I know the worls tenticles would be hitting them and I figure, sticking to them. I wonder if the pods would be able to get away from them once touching the worms.

 

[LeslieH]

The tentacles move particles by a combination of beating cilia (hairs) and mucus carrying the food down a central groove. They're not strong enough to handle a live pod. Besides, the worm wouldn't want a pod & would release it if touched accidentally.

 

[Russ Braaten]

Thanks Leslie

 

[Russ Braaten]

Leslie,

Are there any critters that can be put in the aquarium that will eat them tto keep them from getting too far out of control? I have so many of them I would love to have a use for them other than just as a ditrious eater, which they do a great job at.

Russ

 

[LeslieH]

Are yours mostly inside the rock or are the tubes completely on the surface of the rock? That will make a difference. If they're inside then probably only something like a nemertean, small predatory crustaceans or another worm can crawl inside to get the worms. If they're on the outside then fish, crabs, other worms, even echinoderms can get at them. I don't know of anything that specifically preys on spionids & chaetopterids but then we don't know much about feeding habits in small critters.

 

[dc]

I don't have as many as I did, just a few, mine are on the sand and rocks.

 

[jared2]

Great picture! That is definitely what I have also, but most of mine are in the rocks.

What are the little red worms with the black dots?

 

[dc]

Cirratulids, or hare worms. A lot of people call them spaghetti worms. It's one worm with a lot of tentacles.

 

[Russ Braaten]

Great photo dc! As you see in your photo, I thought my worms only had one tenticle for the longest time.

Leslie: Most of my worms are ON the rock but a few are in the rock but they too make small tubes of sand. When I stirr up the sand and clowd the water, these worms build larger tubes quite quickly.

I have done a little research on what may eat them.
My six line wrasse will not touch them.
Arrowhead crab would move them out of his way and not eat them.
Sally lightfoot eats around them and leaveds them alone.
Hermit crabs leave them alone.

All this food and nothing to feed them to. hahahaha