Coral Eating Sand Tunnel

[slapshot]

I know this is probably not allowed but its worth it if the mods would be so kind. Here is my thread on another site documenting my adventure catching him. If not allowed please delete.

http://www.michiganreefers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=684891#post684891

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

what the heck!!!! I would literally flip if I pulled something like that out of my rock!

 

[slapshot]

what the heck!!!! I would literally flip if I pulled something like that out of my rock!

It was the sickest thing I have ever seen. I had to take 4 showers. It just kept coming out of the rock!!!

 

[RuRoo]

Yep Bobbit worm. None of those will even phase it. Not fun, not fun at all. Be careful not to break him because then you will have two! Here is a picture of mine. You will have to remove the entire rock and break it open to get him. They are lightning fast and can have tunnels yards long.

This thing would eat a cap I had like an ear of corn. Start at one end and munch to the end then go back and do it again. Once I found him his lair had enough frag pieces in it to fill a quart jar.

I wouldn't have believed you if not for the pic. That's insane!

 

[Rikerbear]

I know this is probably not allowed but its worth it if the mods would be so kind. Here is my thread on another site documenting my adventure catching him. If not allowed please delete.

The Bobbit Worm Chronicles - Michigan Reefers

Another one of the cool things about R2R is they aren't all hung up on cross posting and linking to other sites.
Thanks for posting that, it will be a fun read :smile:

 

[stunreefer]

None of those will even phase it. Not fun, not fun at all. Be careful not to break him because then you will have two! Here is a picture of mine. You will have to remove the entire rock and break it open to get him. They are lightning fast and can have tunnels yards long.

I concur. We found one that was over eight feet long and thick as my wrist in a 1,500 gallon vat when I worked for an aquaculture facility. Looked straight out of the movie Tremors, absolutely nightmareish creature. This is one of the big reasons I only set up aquariums with dry rock now (seeded with beneficial bacteria).

If you don't want to break the rock apart (due to sentimental value) I would cook it with muriatic acid (research proper safety precautions). Rinse very well with tap water several times, then soak in RO/DI overnight. Drain RO/DI, refill, and repeat several times. Coraline algae will grow back over time.

 

[CaliforniaCrisp]

Yep Bobbit worm. None of those will even phase it. Not fun, not fun at all. Be careful not to break him because then you will have two! Here is a picture of mine. You will have to remove the entire rock and break it open to get him. They are lightning fast and can have tunnels yards long.

This thing would eat a cap I had like an ear of corn. Start at one end and munch to the end then go back and do it again. Once I found him his lair had enough frag pieces in it to fill a quart jar.

Wow! That is freaky! I am almost temped to pummel the rock just to find it. But idk if I could handle pulling something like that out! Was gnarly enough pulling a 16 inch bristle worm...

Hmmm... Decisions decisions....

Thanks for the help guys! Will post pics and what I end up doing. Wish me luck!


-ADub

 

[CaliforniaCrisp]

So doing some reading on these Bobbit worms, NO JOKE! These things are scary as clowns!

I'm praying it is not one. I know it's not best to judge by pictures, but in all pictures I am not finding anything that resembles the sand covered feather duster like tunnel This things building...

Following @slapshot 's thread. I picked up a red light. Time to have a steak out tonight! (Good thing I have tomorrow off!)


-ADub

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

subscribed. scary story!

 

[BlueWaterTropicals]

Don't know if this has been mentioned... Google image search: Eunicid Worm... The Bobbit Worm aka Eunice aphroditois, is only one species of many different kinds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunice_(worm)

 

[revhtree]

It was the sickest thing I have ever seen. I had to take 4 showers. It just kept coming out of the rock!!!

Wow what a beauty you had on your hands! HA! Crazy!

 

[renoeb]

wow...

 

[CaliforniaCrisp]

So he struck again last night! I had my red lights and checked every couple hours but did not see a think... Sneaky guy! Attached is an image of the new sand tunnel. This time it's about 4inches away from last spot.

-ADub

 

[CaliforniaCrisp]

Unsure what to do at this point.. I can let it build, eat my everlasting gobstoppers. And see if I can get a peak at it.

Go hard core and pumle the rock into pieces.

Hyper-salinity dip.

Club soda dip. (Does seltzer water work the same?)

I know It was stated the dips would not work, but this is in hopes It is not a Bobbit worm. I really don't want to destroy my first rock.


-ADub

 

[Dave A]

I once found one the, uh... fun way. My long neglected FOWLR had developed an algae problem and I decided to try "cooking" some of the rock. I selected a number of pieces and moved them to a rubbermaid tub. Once a week or so I'd take out each rock, manually remove what I could with tweezers and a loupe and then scrub the rock with a toothbrush before refilling the tub with new water and putting the rocks back in.
I'd sometimes notice a mucus-y tube (no sand in the tub) and figured there was some kind of worm in there, but there was nothing for it to eat so I wasn't worried about it. Well one day, I'm picking algae off a rock and something in my peripheral vision catches my attention. There was a eunicid worm hanging out of the bottom of the rock, between my fingers. Fortunately, it was just a little 6-8" worm and I already had tweezers in my other hand. Trust me, you do NOT want to get a good look at one of these under 10X magnification.
It seems that taking the rock out of the water and rolling it around a bit might be enough to make these things stick their head out to see what is going on. It wasn't the first time I'd cleaned the rocks, probably the third or fourth time. but sooner or later it might work. Can you segregate the rock in a bare tank until you can get the monster out?

 

[CaliforniaCrisp]

I'm starting to think its something different. From the reading I haven't found anything about them creating a sand soft tunnel.

I did a hypersalinity dip. Along with a club soda dip. Not a single thing came out. I wasn't worried about the coralline at this point. I left it in 1.070 salt water for 20 minutes. Hoping whatever it is just died. Hope it works... I'll know tomorrow if I see the tunnel.


-ADub

 

[Reef Fever]

woops lol wrong thread! but like i said before

 

[CaliforniaCrisp]

I saw the beast last night! It's so tiny. Looked like a thin angel hair pasta noodle. Kind of a baby pink color.

Boil the rock?


-ADub

 

[CaliforniaCrisp]

Here is a pick of the tunnel made last night.

-ADub

 

[CaliforniaCrisp]

Major update! I think I may of found the culprit! I gave up after the dips. It came back with vengeance the next day. Clear 8 polyps of everlasting gobstoppers and 2 magicians. So I boiled the rock and found this:

It's the best pic I can do right now. Not a worm. Size of a grain of rice. Reminds me of a sand ant lion. http://www.kapama.co.za/rangerblog/2013/04/the-antlion-king-of-the-sand-dunes/

Can anyone ID?


-ADub