Christmas Tree Worms and Coral Hermits! My new show piece...

KingTideCorals

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Happy Sunday Reefers!.. its here... the Christmas Tree Rock!!

Hope you all are well today, and the tanks are getting along just fine through the pandemic. Just yesterday I was lucky enough to acquire a beautiful piece from a tank breakdown. Drum-roll.... tsssssss..... The Christmas Tree Rock! I was ecstatic to see it on our local facebook page so immediately reached out and gave her my offer. After a long week of waiting due to work, I was able to head out and make the 3 hr round trip to snag the piece.

When I got to the tank this is what I saw, and was slightly worried... (first photo) I trusted the local reefer, and honestly felt as though the worm was just a little stressed by the amount of fish in the tank, and the placement with the lack of flow. Got the piece in a tupperware then into a bucket and made its way back home. After getting home the timing worked out that the lights were shutting down for the day and I was able to get the piece drip acclimated for one hour and forty five minutes. Placed it into the lagoon front and center right in front of the MP10, and decided to peek back in a couple minutes. After just waiting 10 minutes I was able to start seeing the worms working their way out and inspecting their new home. Decided I would check in the morning after getting some rest.

The next morning the piece looked stunning! The worms are working their way out and really getting used to the daily activities around the house. Even the black lab begging for treats and pounding her tail against the nearby coffee table startled them at first, but with time they seem to grew accustomed to.

Another pleasant surprise was seeing the coral hermit that was mentioned on the post as well, in the tank I could not see it. Once home and acclimated the little feelers started to poke out and I could see the little one! Super excited about that, but not too sure on care other than attempting to get small meaty foods its way for it to snag in the water column.

As for feeding I am looking at giving the rock a mixture of things coming from the following list: Algae Barn Live Phyto, Reef Nutrition Phyto Feast and Oyster Feast, Benepets, and possibly Reef Chili from BRS. If you have some of these worms anything in particular you see they are able to really enjoy? Please let me know!

Now here I am reaching out to YOU hoping I can get maybe the slightest bit of insight from personal experiences or friends with experiences! I have done weeks on weeks of research and just within Jake's two videos on his system dedicated tank for the rocks I have learned quite a bit!

Thanks all and hoping to start a nice fun thread about a really fun piece of livestock that we can have in our personal reefs in our living rooms! Cheers and hope to chat soon.

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KingTideCorals

KingTideCorals

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Appreciate it! Such a fun piece, have never seen them in the wild would love to one day! I am excited too get this piece acclimated and used to the new lagoon it resides in!
 
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Beautiful piece.
Be sure not to have wrasses in the tank. Wish I wouldve known that when I got mine.
Currently have a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse in the tank and was hoping to get a Possum Wrasse.... bad idea? Have not seen any issues with the cleaner and the bisma worms yet.
 
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Enjoyed a fun first evening of spot feeding the Christmas Tree worms last night...

Waited till lights went out, and at this point all the worms at once really started to work their way out of the rock. Still skiddish some are from vibrations around the tank, but for most part getting used to me.

Utilizing my handy dandy amazon coral feeder I took live phyto from Algae Barn and started laying a small cloud over the piece. After dispensing the remainder little amount right up against the MP10 within what seemed like seconds all the worms were seemingly swaying around looking for a snack! Excited to see how the worms do since they havent been spot fed in almost a year (living off the water column in last tank). The last tank they were in was heavily fed though due to the huge fish stock, so I felt the worms were able to find some nutrition through that.

Heres a pic I snagged with the light directly on it, and WOW the colors are ridiculous and hard to believe even real! Cheers all.

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X-Mas worm rocks used to be quite common in the hobby. Much less common now and expensive for a nice one. Coral is usually porities, sometimes cyphastrea. Keeping the coral alive isn't absolutely necessary for worm survival, but it does seem to help. If you have fan worms propagating in your tank then there is adequate food for the x-mas worms also. Biggest problem is that fish that pick will cause the worm to shed it's frilly head. If this happens too much, the worm will starve.
 

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Mine live off of phytofeast fed a couple of times a day and have been doing great for the past 6 months or so. The hermit crabs are also really fun to watch. I always get scared when they molt because they hide all the time after for a couple of days. The smaller worms seem to be growing since I got them and I am pretty sure I see a little baby worm sticking out too! I read that someone had their cleaner wrasse pluck a worm or 2 so out of fear I moved him to a separate tank. The porites for me shows pretty decent PE and has been encrusting well so far. Keep the rock in a spot where the worms get decent flow and the porites gets enough light. Good luck with them!
 
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X-Mas worm rocks used to be quite common in the hobby. Much less common now and expensive for a nice one. Coral is usually porities, sometimes cyphastrea. Keeping the coral alive isn't absolutely necessary for worm survival, but it does seem to help. If you have fan worms propagating in your tank then there is adequate food for the x-mas worms also. Biggest problem is that fish that pick will cause the worm to shed it's frilly head. If this happens too much, the worm will starve.
Thanks so much for the info! Been reading a ton and exploring the forums here... seems as though you're right in the fact there seems to be far less then what was around say 10 years ago..

Regardless so happy to have it, and as for picking I have not seen any of my livestock give it the time of day so far. Worried about my future add of a possum wrasse though.. should I be wary of adding one?
 
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Mine live off of phytofeast fed a couple of times a day and have been doing great for the past 6 months or so. The hermit crabs are also really fun to watch. I always get scared when they molt because they hide all the time after for a couple of days. The smaller worms seem to be growing since I got them and I am pretty sure I see a little baby worm sticking out too! I read that someone had their cleaner wrasse pluck a worm or 2 so out of fear I moved him to a separate tank. The porites for me shows pretty decent PE and has been encrusting well so far. Keep the rock in a spot where the worms get decent flow and the porites gets enough light. Good luck with them!
Thanks so much for the reply! I have not seen my Hawaiian Cleaner take to it at all and they both are my two favorite things in the tank so hopefully they have decided to play nice.

Sweet! I just snagged some phyto feast from reef nutrition and some live phyto from algae barn yesterday from my LFS... So for feeding you are going with several times a day? I have an extra head on my DOS I could potentially use to dose phyto? Curious to see peoples opinions.
 

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Most likely if it hasn't tried yet it won't so I think you're safe in that area. Yes I feed 3 times a day with the recommended dose and it seems to have worked, regarding the DOS I don't know how they work so maybe someone who has experience using it for that purpose will chime in.
 
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Experience any addition of algae growth from the increase addition of phyto to the tank? Considering looking for more to add so that the phyto isnt going to waste through the water column. Are you dosing directly onto the rock or are you putting phyto into the water column and allowing the worms to catch the food itself? Thanks again for all the information seems reefers with the pieces are having to create their own system to keep them since not tons of info online.

Reefbuilder videos I feel have been the best help for me by far!
 

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Experience any addition of algae growth from the increase addition of phyto to the tank? Considering looking for more to add so that the phyto isnt going to waste through the water column. Are you dosing directly onto the rock or are you putting phyto into the water column and allowing the worms to catch the food itself? Thanks again for all the information seems reefers with the pieces are having to create their own system to keep them since not tons of info online.

Reefbuilder videos I feel have been the best help for me by far!

No problem happy to help! Putting it in the water column has been enough for them so far. I've loved Christmas tree worms since I heard of them but initially I wasn't even on planning to get a rock but since I had a sea apple and found one for "cheap" I decided I'm already feeding an animal that needs a lot of filter feeding foods I said might as well go for it. I do have a decent amount of algae growth so spot feeding and heavy filtration may be key to keeping decent water quality. I try and spot feed them sometimes but usually they are too scared to come out. I've always wanted a system like Reef Builders Christmas tree worm tank but unfortunately have found it far too expensive to buy that many rocks.
 
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No problem happy to help! Putting it in the water column has been enough for them so far. I've loved Christmas tree worms since I heard of them but initially I wasn't even on planning to get a rock but since I had a sea apple and found one for "cheap" I decided I'm already feeding an animal that needs a lot of filter feeding foods I said might as well go for it. I do have a decent amount of algae growth so spot feeding and heavy filtration may be key to keeping decent water quality. I try and spot feed them sometimes but usually they are too scared to come out. I've always wanted a system like Reef Builders Christmas tree worm tank but unfortunately have found it far too expensive to buy that many rocks.
Right on! Appreciate the help probably will head out today and go get a bunch of snails for the system! Like you said the worms seem to suck in whenever I get too close, but noticed last night while attempting to spot feed they did not seem to retract as much.

Think the flash light feedings will become my new favorite night time activity lol!
 
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Good choice on the snails, I need them but my frags would disagree lol
I have a turbo that is a huge help, but everyday I consider evicting him... Need some trochus for sure! Have any pics of your christmas tree rock you could post love to see!
 

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