Unknown Aggressor

[cczarnik]

I bought a TBS package about a year ago and loved the diversity of the critters on the rock and extras that Richard threw in. I got a number of bad guys that I got out of the rock right away including various gorillas, etc. No big deal. After the tank cycled and settled down for a few weeks I started stocking with livestock- a goby, couple of clowns, etc. The stock dissappeared within a few weeks, as did the freebie goby that Richard threw in. Other priorities took over for a while, and I turned attention away from the tank, but kept the basic water parameters up. Over time much of the cleanup crew dissappeared, including the cukes, the stars, etc. Some of the snails / hermits remain. I still have a good population of softies, including some zoos, mushrooms, the gorgonians, etc. that haven't been eaten.

Long story short, I turned attention back to the reef in the last couple of weeks and decided to start stocking it again to build a showpiece. I went through the rock and dug out a couple more bad guy crabs, and got everything in great shape. I restocked with a scooter blenny and a royal gramma to get started. The scooter was fine the first day, then showed evidence of an agressor a day later. The next day he was dying and the hermits were chasing him around. Then this afternoon the gramma was gone without a trace.

So I started looking around in the aquarium to try and see what's going on. I did find a questionable worm.

It's a small worm, light sensitive. Clearly segmented with a white body- looks like a bristle. It has 3 or four antennae on the head and a mouth. No other discernible features. He's too quick to get a pic. About 1.5 cm diameter, hiding in the crevices of the rock. If you put any object near the rock, the worm will come out and attack. He gave my bamboo skewer that I was probing with a pretty good bite. I think he's a bad guy, but I don't how many I have, and if I need to get rid of tbem how I would do that. I pulled the rock and of course there was no sign..

If I do have any more crabs, they're really small, and I don't think I should be too worried about them.. This worm (or other critters?) really has me concerned though.. Any tips appreciated.

Chuck

 

[oct2274]

an aggressive worm.........that is scary lol. just bait him out. Use a two liter bottle trap and put something like krill or a chunk of shrimp in there.

trap:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Soda-Bottle-Fish-Trap/

you can make one out of just one two liter, you don't have to have the capped end on the other side. just cut the top off and turn it around. Some small holes around it will help it release any air that might get trapped when sinking it. If you catch it you have to post pics or you will be banned!

 

[Untamed12]

That sounds like a Eunicid worm. I've kept them in my tank for years, even much larger versions than that. They have a bad reputation, but their behaviour varies by species and size. The largest one that I had was about the diametre of your pinky, and probably 3 feet long - while he would eat anything, he preferred macroalgae.

My bet is that everyone has them, but few look carefully enough to find them.

I really, really doubt that this would be the cause of your challenges.

 

[cczarnik]

Yeah I don't think the worm is a bad guy after all.. He stays in teh same place and just hangs out at night waiting for something to float by. Too small to do any damage.

I did some more looking around and found one more small bad guy crab.. I tried to bait him out, pulled the rock and tried to flush him, etc, and just couldn't get to him. So I finally epoxied the holes to his tunnel closed. He may have a backdoor-- we'll see!

I pulled every rock from the aquarium all the way down to the sand in the last 48 hours looking for bad guys. Never found a trace of the gramma..

THEN, when I was rockscaping a few min ago and had the pump off, the gramma came zooming OUT of the return. It's insane, he wasn't in the sump, I looked in there at least a dozen times. (Couldn't get through the impeller anyway? The only thing I can think of is that he decided to hang out in the plumbing?!?

 

[SPeter]

Sometimes you need to be careful in what you look for. I did the 1.04 saltwater solution dip and low and behold 2 Octopus came zooming out. 1 was rather large and the other was a little guy. I wondered why my fish were disappearing then it became clear.
When I recieved the rock from Richard, I looked it over and looked in every hole. I never seen the Octopus.
Just a thought but you might try the dip but be very careful not to leave the rock in for more than about 30 seconds as that strong of a solution will do in some of the more tender sponges and reef safe crabs.
Good luck in you reefing,
Steve