Vermetid Worm Outbreak (Tube Worms) - How do I get rid of them? Why do they only see

that Fish Guy

that Fish Guy

Frag Swap Crusader!
I have always had a Few Vermetid Worms (The Tube Worms) but they never seemed to bother anything.

But now I have an Outbreak and a Ton of them are popping up all of a sudden.

Why?

They seemed to Favor my Montipora Danae (Superman, Poker Star, Sunset, etc.).

But now I am even seeing them in my Montipora Caps.

I have a Big Monti Cap and noticed three new ones today.

Why do they like Montipora and not attach to other Corals?

I had Frags with one before but now I have Frags with 6 of them!

They are burrowing in the Corals and surely will kill them.

So the Big Question - How do I get rid of these Pests?
 
I understand the resemblance to feather dusters you are referring to. A snail that stays stationary in a tube and filter feeds is not like most snails.

I glued the tubes shut when I could not break off a chunk of rock around it. Lowering nutrients did the rest to get rid of most of them.
 
reeferstace said:
Vermetids are snails, not worms. Do you have tube worm or snails?
Click to expand...

What is the Difference I thought they were the same thing.

Do the Vermetid Snails move around like regular snails?

Or are they in Tubes.

Does anybody have a picture to show the differences between the two?
 
Vermetid snails live in those tubes. When they sense food they will send out slime nets to catch particles. Once they catch something they reel the slime back in. It's pretty cool watching them go fishing but unfortunately can irritate surrounding corals.
 
Someone told me to Super Glue the Tubes shut but

Couldn't they just Burrow out the Back and form a New Tube and then it stars all over again?
 
Here's one from my tank:
2013_08_18_Emmett_blue_polyp_purple_tort_stinger.jpg


Here you can see the tort has actually encrusted around the tube.

Here's another shot with 200+ baby vermetid:
2013_09_03_Montipora_Undata.jpg


To the naked eye (at least with my 43 year old eyes - I thought this was CaCO3 precipitate. On Macro shots though - you can see the spiral tube starting to be built.

This thread details and outlines the opinions and research I put into figuring out how to solve my problem:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2324189

to summarize:

The biological solutions for vermetid control are not effective. This thread summed it up nicely:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1592091
random experiences of reefers observing these animals eating vermetids (only one reefer instance each)

zebra-legged hermit crab
narissus snail (sp?)
copperband butterfly

***only one reefer experience found success with each of these three animals **

other suggestions:
6-line wrasse
lunare wrasse
other hermit crabs (blue leg, scarlet, etc)
** vast majority of reports said these are not successful in eliminating vermetids **
Click to expand...

To this point - I have lost the majority of my SPS (out of 40frags - I only have about 4 specimens left). I no longer attribute this loss to vermetid (some of them might have been).

I am currently re-incarnating my rock to try and slow them down.
 
Toby puffers will eat them, FWIW. My girlfriend's C. valentini loved them. Toby puffers are USUALLY fairly "reef safe" in that they won't harass corals, and have small enough mouths that they generally don't go for decent sized hermits or shrimp.
 
the epoxy worked the best for me (not as messy)
they did not burrow through ...for me
im not sure if they are capable
 
I have always had a few with no problems but now they are popping up in all my Montipora and to Plague Levels.

After having them for years with no real problem why am I getting so many all of a sudden.

I probably have 75 of them on my Filter Tube Alone now.
 
They seem to come in waves...at least in my experience. I had a 90 gallon about 10 years ago that became completely infested during it's second year. I tried many of the suggested solutions, but they seemed unstoppable. I don't remember losing any corals to them (just getting my hands/arms poked a lot when I grabbed a rock), mostly irritation. At some point they just seemed to go away on their own.
My current tank (180) has been up for over two years now. I used Marco rock just to avoid such pests, but somewhere down the line I got them again! They weren't as bad as the first tank, so I just let them do there thing. I cut off the one's that were too close to sensitive corals. Sometime ago they started receding on their own again. It's almost like a stage your tank has to go through (if you get them in the first place) and it has to run it's course.
Sorry...I realize that this was probably no help to you:)
 
Over the past year I've experienced a population explosion of vermetid snails which seemed to correlate with feedings of frozen cyclopeeze.. I probably had a few all along or perhaps imported some on a frag. That said i haven't observed any negative effects aside from their dubious aesthetic value.

These little snails in conjunction with corraline algae probably do more to build reef structure in my tank than anything else. The vermetids extend their tubes which be come encrusted in corraline, it's a perpetual growth battle.

My desktop pico houses amongst other things a red montipora cap. There is a solitary vermatid snail on a portion of the monti skeleton that was bare when I purchased the colony. Since then the montipora has fully encrusted the tube to the point where only the nozzle is exposed. I think this fast growing montipora may entomb the snail soon.

I don't know if there is any practical means of eliminating vermetid snails beyond quarantine and manual removal on a rock by rock basis but I don't see the point in light of their benign nature.
 
Mine disappeared on their own, and I had hundreds covering every rocky surface. The only thing they seemed to irritate were zoanthids.
 
I have one come through a 'fragile' goniopora ... and it's been growing. Seems like some epoxy is in order. Darn buggers!
 
I have a bunch and just look at them as part of my reefs deversity. They don't seem to harm anything. It's pretty cool watching them fish for food.
 
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