Monster bristle worm

[Mihai]

Last night during a routine tank inspection around 3am I briefly saw
what looked like a huge bristle worm. It was not one of the regular
orange-pinkish ones, it was gray with the bristles of a distinctly
different color. It backed off very fast (a few seconds). I think it
was munching on a zoanthinds frag that is doing good/bad
intermittently.

I also suspect it as the prime muncher on my mandarin's fins:
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=63994

After removing all my emeralds to the refugium this morning I found
that the girl mandarin has a missing part of a fin.

A few questions:
1 - is there such a bristleworm that eats zoanthinds?
2 - that eats fish (or rather fish fins)?
3 - if the answer to 1 or 2 is "yes", how do I catch it?

Thanks,
M.

 

[Anonymous]

HA! I knew it wasnt the emerald crabs!

 

[Anonymous]

is there such a bristleworm that eats zoanthinds?

Yeah large bristleworms may and fireworms will even gang up and over power fish and devour them...

 

[Anonymous]

Be afraid, be very afraid.

http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

 

[Mihai]

I know that worm, I think I don't have that one!
I'll try to get a pic - he didn't show up last night.

M.

 

[Tbrennan]

Take a peice of pvc pipe cap both ends drill a hole in one of the caps if it really big you may need 1/4" put a chunk of shrimp insideand leave on the bottom of your tank. Worm will crawl in at night to eat shrimp and usally stay there becuase it is dark. Check it first thing in the morning and you may have couple surprises inside the tube

 

[Anonymous]

Holy Begeezus Wazzel...7' long! 8O ....That is some serious wormage

 

[Anonymous]

I'm glad it was not in my tank.

 

[Mihai]

Take a peice of pvc pipe cap both ends drill a hole in one of the caps if it really big you may need 1/4" put a chunk of shrimp insideand leave on the bottom of your tank. Worm will crawl in at night to eat shrimp and usally stay there becuase it is dark. Check it first thing in the morning and you may have couple surprises inside the tube

Thanks a lot! It would be great if it works!

M.

 

[Anonymous]

That wasnt a worm, dude thats a reef python!

 

[shalegac]

8O

 

[Mihai]

I wonder if it took a bite from my chromis last night:

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=720750

M.

 

[RWillieK]

Images like that give me nightmares - I think I'd just dismantle the whole tank, and give it away.

Robbie

 

[Anonymous]

Great pictures! I don't know how you got that picture or how you got the Chromis to sit still but I do not believe there are any Bristle Worms that can do that to a fish. I'd look elsewhere.

From my understanding, the worms that eat fish are either very large (10 - 20 feet) or build a slime coccoon around a sleeping fish and kill it before eating it.

 

[Mihai]

Great pictures! I don't know how you got that picture or how you got the Chromis to sit still ...

Hehe, by mistake . I placed a small net over the output of the pipe coming from my refugium to see if any pods are coming out from there and the chromis (and the rest of the fish freaked out - they went into a corner staring at the net). I took the opportunity and got a few shots.

Do you think it's ich? A bite?
Thanks,
M.

 

[Anonymous]

It looks like a bite to me...Ich is usually smaller..it may even be some sort of fungus (doubtful, not fuzzy)

 

[Anonymous]

BTW, fireworms will eat fish and corals...Fireworms have actually been known to gang up and take down a fish like a pack of hyenas

 

[Anonymous]

It looks like an injury from smacking a rock or getting nipped by another Chromis to me.

 

[Mihai]

It looks like an injury from smacking a rock or getting nipped by another Chromis to me.

Actually they bite each other, so it may be another chromis. None of the other fish exhibit any other signs. If it's a bite it will hill up.

Anyway, today I found both my mandarins with torned fins: a nice large piece missing (about the size of smal pea)...

M.