Another day, another "big" surprise from the tank. I think I'm getting a multitude of challenges thrown at me all at once to test my fortitude for this hobby (Bryopsis, trachyphillia was dying but has come back thanks to feedback from you guys, and now this). I was up pretty late last night and decided to do an inspection of the tank with an LED flashlight and what I saw made my stomach curl. There was a 10 - 12 inch, multi-legged worm (looked like a large centipede) crawling on the underside of one of the bigger rocks. It was moving very slowly at first, but it seemed like once it noticed the light, it started crawling faster. It was hard to tell where it was going, but I finally spotted it crawling into a very small hole. I didn't know what it was, but my initial instinct was not good, I had a very bad feeling. Of course I had to jump right on the computer and start researching my find. Sure enough, it appears as though it is a Eunice worm, and of course it's a known coral and fish eater. There are many accounts of these things eating SPS, Zooanthinds, Chalice, gobies, etc. etc. And, of course, they are a pain it the butt to catch....worm traps are supposedly useless and they are not easily enticed by pieces of raw fish or shrimp meat. Most of the successful catches I read about involved staying up until 2 or 3am with a red LED light and were usually the smaller ones (4 - 5 inches) luckily snagged with tweezers or tongs. The bigger ones seemed to require a complete strip of the tank and busting up of the live rock. There's a chance it's still in the big rock I saw it crawl into, but it may have move again during the night.
SIGH.......
Anyone had experience with these lovely creatures?
Edited by jcom - January 02 2010 at 12:38pm
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