Starving an Eunicid worm

[Tigé21v]

Does anyone know how long a eunicid can go without food before dying?
We had a tank a few years back with a mystery fish killer in it, or so we think. Fish would be found dead in the morning, in some sort of cocoon-looking thing, always in the same spot, under a small ledge (one or two inches between the rock and the sandbed). We assumed it must be some kind of worm that came in on the live rock.
Tank was torn down and the rock has been in a tub of saltwater in the basement for a couple of years- no heater, no light, no water changes, no new rock added to it.
If indeed there was a worm or some other predator living in the rock, would I be safe to assume it would be starved to death by now? Getting ready to set up another tank, and I'm planning on using some of that rock in it.
TIA

 

[Ron Reefman]

Yes, almost anything that was on that rock is probably dead.

Can I ask why you kept it in a tub of water for a couple of years?

 

[Tigé21v]

planned on setting up another tank in a short period of time. Unfortunately comma the project was put on the back burner

 

[Jeff4777]

A couple of years? Its dead by now

 

[Betta132]

At this point, though, there isn't much benefit to that rock. It's not live rock any more, especially if water's been evaporating without you replacing it. It's just wet dead rock.

 

[Ron Reefman]

At this point, though, there isn't much benefit to that rock. It's not live rock any more, especially if water's been evaporating without you replacing it. It's just wet dead rock.

However, if it's good looking rock, you can rinse it off and use it. It doesn't take long for 'dead' rock to develop the bacteria that it needs to make it 'live'. It will tank some time to develop new coraline algae.

 

[Tigé21v]

Yes, very good looking rock. Lots of it. 300 gallon rubbermaid stock tank filled to the top. Lots of Tonga, including 3'x2' multi branched piece, multiple 2-3 sq ft pieces of shelf, loads of "smaller" (average sized) shelf pieces. And a wild looking mushroom-shaped rock that is around 15" in diameter. Common pieces filling in all the voids between the prime pieces.
Although the rock has just been sitting in the tub, I still top off regularly for evaporation, and from time to time I'll do a WC with my tank water instead of just dumping the tank water down the drain. Once in a blue moon I'll add a little NANO3 to it. I'm pretty sure it is still doing its thing, there is still life in/on it (pods,etc.), though admittedly not as much as in a display.

 

[jayball]

If you still have any question you could bait a small fishhook (like 24 Gauge) and see if you catch it.

With life still on the rock it is possible for "stuff" to have grown large enough to keep the worm alive. I would say better safe than sorry.

 

[Betta132]

If there are live critters, the worm might still be in there somewhere. Those things are crazy opportunistic. And I'm not sure how long they live, but it's longer than that.

 

[Tigé21v]

...

 

[Tigé21v]

If you still have any question you could bait a small fishhook (like 24 Gauge) and see if you catch it.

With life still on the rock it is possible for "stuff" to have grown large enough to keep the worm alive. I would say better safe than sorry.

That's not a bad idea!
Perhaps I'll put a chunk of shrimp in a bristle worm trap. I know there lots of those in the rock. If I don't see any, I think it would be pretty safe to assume if there wasn't enough food for the bristles, then not enough for the eunicid- or whatever it was getting the fish. If they're still around, maybe I'll get hold of my nephew for one of the crazy-small
hooks he uses for fly-tying.

 

[Betta132]

Bristleworms typically eat detritus and dead things, your fish-killer worm is clearly a predator. Your killer would be able to hunt down and eat other critters, the bristles might not have done well without the ability to do so.

 

[C.Eymann]

If the proper salinity was kept and there was some circulation in there the rock would still indeed be good. Hard to say if the enucid would starve though, being predatory you think it would, not sure if they will scavenge to sustain themselves or not.