Colt Coral/Worm

[thellance]

Hello,

I got a new piece of Colt Coral for my birthday and put it in my tank. It never actaully opened up like it was in the fish store. My conversations with the fish store was that it would open up in a few days. It never did. Recently I had seen a worm (yellow very long looks like a bristle worm or a clam worm - yes I go fishing. Guessing its about 4 inches long or so and very fast) feeding on a snail. I was impressed with the worm (probably a mistake) and did not remove it. I did some research and found that some bristle worms (according to the web) will feed on leathers and hunt and kill snails. I went in at night with a light and found yet another type of worm feeding on yet another snail. I snagged this one and it appears to be a common bristle worm of a much smaller size. Whie Iwas in there I picked up the coral and discovered holes in it at the base (a couple of the holes are quite large and alarming). So at this point I am sure that someone is eating it. I suspect the worm and now that I have done a little more research I am sure that I have had worms all along. Snails often go missing and need to be replaced. Xenia & anthellia shrinks and crashes for no apparent reason and restarts itself (possibly eaten but leaving enough of itself to begin again)

So now begins recovery....
I have removed the coral from the main tank and put it in the sump. There is enough airflow and intense lighting down there to sustain it. After about 36 hours, some of the polyps seem to be extending a little.

Assumptions:

I assume that the normal bristle worms are not really feeding on the coral but the gaint one(s) are.

The sump was recently cleaned so that it could be modified so what ever is feeding on the coral is not in the sump (at least not yet)

Banded coral shrimp feed on bristle worms and I can use them to control the population of the worms yet I will lose any of the shrimps (mostly ghostshrimps) that I have in the tank because they will prey on them as well.

I assume that they worms will feed on the snails until there are no more and then turn on the anemone (which I will not be amused by).

Questions:

I have a 60 gal corner

Can I have more then one banded coral shrimp and and I correct to pursue this course of action regarding the worms?

Are there any other predators that will consume these worms other tan the arrow crab which will eat my hermits?

Are the worms actually good for the tank? Maybe its just that big yellow one?

Does anyone know what the big yellow worm is? Looks like a clamworm/Bristle worm. I am trying to catch it but it did not put in an appearance last night.

Any feed back, sources of info or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

Lance

 

[stingythingy45]

JMO,but I don't think the worms are your problem.I have some very big brissle worms and have never seen any eating corals.
Posting your water parameters would be a great place to start.
Not sure what the yellow one is.

 

[spaceship]

i have had a neon green tree that had to move maby 2inches down in the tank and then started to expand took a week the fist time. I belive a gave away a free leater because it never opened and as i was ther when bean put it in it expanded in less the 20 min...

 

[Kiah]

Many years ago I had a colt coral that would not thrive, eventually found a coral eating nudibranch on its base, the exact same color. That is the only worm like creature I have sen eating soft corals.

 

[RayD]

Hello,

I got a new piece of Colt Coral for my birthday and put it in my tank. It never actaully opened up like it was in the fish store. My conversations with the fish store was that it would open up in a few days. It never did. Recently I had seen a worm (yellow very long looks like a bristle worm or a clam worm - yes I go fishing. Guessing its about 4 inches long or so and very fast) feeding on a snail. I was impressed with the worm (probably a mistake) and did not remove it. I did some research and found that some bristle worms (according to the web) will feed on leathers and hunt and kill snails. I went in at night with a light and found yet another type of worm feeding on yet another snail. I snagged this one and it appears to be a common bristle worm of a much smaller size. Whie Iwas in there I picked up the coral and discovered holes in it at the base (a couple of the holes are quite large and alarming). So at this point I am sure that someone is eating it. I suspect the worm and now that I have done a little more research I am sure that I have had worms all along. Snails often go missing and need to be replaced. Xenia & anthellia shrinks and crashes for no apparent reason and restarts itself (possibly eaten but leaving enough of itself to begin again)

So now begins recovery....
I have removed the coral from the main tank and put it in the sump. There is enough airflow and intense lighting down there to sustain it. After about 36 hours, some of the polyps seem to be extending a little.

Assumptions:

I assume that the normal bristle worms are not really feeding on the coral but the gaint one(s) are.

The sump was recently cleaned so that it could be modified so what ever is feeding on the coral is not in the sump (at least not yet)

Banded coral shrimp feed on bristle worms and I can use them to control the population of the worms yet I will lose any of the shrimps (mostly ghostshrimps) that I have in the tank because they will prey on them as well.

I assume that they worms will feed on the snails until there are no more and then turn on the anemone (which I will not be amused by).

Questions:

I have a 60 gal corner

Can I have more then one banded coral shrimp and and I correct to pursue this course of action regarding the worms?

Are there any other predators that will consume these worms other tan the arrow crab which will eat my hermits?

Are the worms actually good for the tank? Maybe its just that big yellow one?

Does anyone know what the big yellow worm is? Looks like a clamworm/Bristle worm. I am trying to catch it but it did not put in an appearance last night.

Any feed back, sources of info or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

Lance

One of our biggest downfalls in this hobby is over-reacting to events in our tanks. We make assumptions that cause us to panic and then we react and 9 out of 10 times we make things worse.

I don't think you can have more than one CBS in a 60 gallon tank. Plus if you have any other shrimp (cleaner, blood, peppermint, etc ...) the CBS will probably be aggressive toward them in a smaller tank.

Xenia especially are known for shriveling up for no apparent reason and most of the reading I've done over the years indicate that this is a natural occurrence in the wild also. It's just mother nature doing her job. Tree corals can go either way. Sometimes they do amazing and other times they die off. I personally don't think it's bristle worms causing the problem. We all have bristles in our tanks. They come in on the rock and multiply. They are actually beneficial to the tank's eco system as they feed on detritus and other junk in the tank.

I would follow Bob's advice and do a full workup on the tank parameters. Water quality is more than likely your culprit. Test your water and log your results, then take a sample of your water to your LFS and have them test. Compare the results. Then get third opinion from another LFS or a friend that may use different test kits.

Good luck. All things work themselves out in time. Patience and not over reacting are your best friends in this hobby.

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