Cirolanids on live rock, not yet in tank- suggestions?

[Tired]

I just got 10 pounds of live rock in. It's gorgeous, covered in macros and coraline, showing off at least one species of coral if not more, crawling with brittle stars and all sorts of nice stuff, aaaand also crawling with cirolanids. I've pulled half a dozen and keep seeing more skittering around inside the container, though they vanish before I can catch them.

I know some are obligate parasites and will starve in a fallow tank, but this looks like it's been eating something, so I'm thinking scavenger capabilities. Should I just pop all this in a separate tank and run bottle traps for awhile? I really don't want to throw out this rock, and I don't trust hypo/hypersalinity dips to dislodge them (plus it'd kill everything), so I'm trying to work out what to do.

I also got a polyclad flatworm, but I'm actually happy about that- this guy's really cool. He can go in a breeder box or something.

 

[KrisReef]

Sounds like an isolated bucket with circulation and frequent investigations to locate and remove unwanted items is a good idea for your situation.
Good luck with the live corals. Great challenge to have, imo.

 

[Tired]

I've popped the rock into a spare 10gal tank, and will monitor. I might try transplanting some of the macroalgae into the main tank. There's actually what appears to be the rock-anchored type of sargassum on here, so I've pointed the pump directly at it in hopes that I can get it to not die; this stuff is cool.

The corals are a hidden cup coral and something else, either a starlet or maybe, /maybe/ a very small rose coral? Both pulled back into skeleton from shipping. I have hidden cups and starlets already from other rock, and they are, fortunately, pretty hardy. Started my pico tank with a rock that had a starlet coral on it, and that thing survived, not just the curing at the LFS, but being in a shaded overhang for months before I realized it was alive and rescued it.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I have nothing constructive to add, but where's the rock from?

 

[Tired]

Gulfliverock.com. It's gorgeous stuff, but, boy, did I win the undesirable critter lottery on this one. Took the rock out of the package, put it in a bucket, and off pop a bunch of little fish-biters.

I think there might also be a cirolanid in the main tank from a prior batch of rock, but I'm hoping to trap that out, and that's just one. This? There's probably half a dozen still left on the rock- I kept seeing them dart between rocks and wasn't able to turkey baste them out fast enough. Caught several of 'em.

On the upside:

Check out this upset spaghetti I found. Multiple six-inch brittle stars of one species, a couple of pretty banded ones of another species, that really interesting red one that I'm hoping will survive despite being beat up, and some odd, tiny ones with long, wide, blunt-tipped arms for their size. Also a ninja star snail and a hermit crab, and there's a bunch more brittle stars still on the rock. There was a porcelain crab, but that doesn't seem to have survived shipping.

 

[Jeeperz]

Cirolinid and Eunice worms are why my shipment of live rock will probably end up bleached or just tossed out. 2 months later and no traps work and pulling 1-2 cirolinid out each night with turkey baster(only 10lbs rock) no clue how to get the dozen Eunice out that won't kill rock anyway. Probably pull a few baby stars, porcelain, and pistol out and trash the live rock/sand. Would not risk those 2 hitchhikers attacking fish and inverts in my main tank

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Cirolinid and Eunice worms are why my shipment of live rock will probably end up bleached or just tossed out. 2 months later and no traps work and pulling 1-2 cirolinid out each night with turkey baster(only 10lbs rock) no clue how to get the dozen Eunice out that won't kill rock anyway. Probably pull a few baby stars, porcelain, and pistol out and trash the live rock/sand. Would not risk those 2 hitchhikers attacking fish and inverts in my main tank

Where is your rock from?

 

[Jeeperz]

Where is your rock from?

Id rather not say.

 

[KrisReef]

Cirolinid and Eunice worms are why my shipment of live rock will probably end up bleached or just tossed out. 2 months later and no traps work and pulling 1-2 cirolinid out each night with turkey baster(only 10lbs rock) no clue how to get the dozen Eunice out that won't kill rock anyway. Probably pull a few baby stars, porcelain, and pistol out and trash the live rock/sand. Would not risk those 2 hitchhikers attacking fish and inverts in my main tank

Fresh water dips should encourage the motile hitchhiking creatures to leave cover looking for saltier water. A 5 minute dip, shake and move the rock back into salt water, repeat every hour and the mobile bugs and not kill the good guys

 

[Jeeperz]

Fresh water dips should encourage the motile hitchhiking creatures to leave cover looking for saltier water. A 5 minute dip, shake and move the rock back into salt water, repeat every hour and the mobile bugs and not kill the good guys

I've always read that hypo dips kill pretty much all the beneficial stuff on the rocks and won't budge the Eunice worms/isopods, hyper salinity would be less damaging but won't move the worms and pods. I will definitely try it and seltzer water before I toss them outside

 

[BZOFIQ]

Cirolinid and Eunice worms are why my shipment of live rock will probably end up bleached or just tossed out. 2 months later and no traps work and pulling 1-2 cirolinid out each night with turkey baster(only 10lbs rock) no clue how to get the dozen Eunice out that won't kill rock anyway. Probably pull a few baby stars, porcelain, and pistol out and trash the live rock/sand. Would not risk those 2 hitchhikers attacking fish and inverts in my main tank

Are the pistols really that bad?

 

[Jeeperz]

Are the pistols really that bad?

Pistols are fine, at least the one I got, has turned mostly red or red stripped. It is very shy and small so can't get a good look, even at night with a red light. Definitely moves sand around under the rocks, which is cool, keeps it stirred up. It's the Eunice(Bobbitt) and cirolinid isopods that I'm not taking any chance on

 

[BZOFIQ]

Pistols are fine, at least the one I got, has turned mostly red or red stripped. It is very shy and small so can't get a good look, even at night with a red light. Definitely moves sand around under the rocks, which is cool, keeps it stirred up. It's the Eunice(Bobbitt) and cirolinid isopods that I'm not taking any chance on

The worms I get. I have multiple pistols in the tank and they havent caused damage hence my previous question.

 

[Jeeperz]

The worms I get. I have multiple pistols in the tank and they havent caused damage hence my previous question.

Everything else I got is easy enough, but those 2, worms/isopods, nope not gonna chance it

 

[Spare time]

I wonder if you can kill them by some medicine. I overdosed an expired bottle of prazi into my invert qt and it killed all bristle worms. May have killed other micro fauna too but it's something to consider

 

[Tired]

It's the Eunice(Bobbitt) and cirolinid isopods that I'm not taking any chance on

Cirolanids are nasty, but some eunicids are fine. True bobbit worms are pretty rare, and the rest are generally coral-eaters, macro-eaters, or scavengers.

I don't think there are any chemicals I can put in here that will kill the isopods without killing all the other crustaceans as well, and potentially leaching out of the rock later. I've seen an article somewhere of someone who tested a few things on them, without much luck.

 

[Jeeperz]

Cirolanids are nasty, but some eunicids are fine. True bobbit worms are pretty rare, and the rest are generally coral-eaters, macro-eaters, or scavengers.

I don't think there are any chemicals I can put in here that will kill the isopods without killing all the other crustaceans as well, and potentially leaching out of the rock later. I've seen an article somewhere of someone who tested a few things on them, without much luck.

These are the Eunice with 5 feelers and Pinchers/mandible with the white band behind what would be the head, so I assume the ones that are bad. They are very small but have grown in 2 months. They reach out from rocks and collect/glue sand fragments together into tunnels. Easily reach 3-4" from rock burrows, never leaving rock

 

[Tired]

The feelers and jaws are pretty much what all eunicids look like. There's some that come in on Florida rock and usually mind their own business, and some that will go after snails but not fish. Bobbits are an outlier, not the norm for eunicids.

 

[JoJosReef]

Might want to double check if those are cirolanids or spheromatids.
https://images.app.goo.gl/M8yaNWXMK794Si71A

I find the ones with eyes further on the sides periodically. They seem to like my AIO filtration chamber. Never seen them on any of my fish at any hour of the day/night.

 

[JoJosReef]

These are the Eunice with 5 feelers and Pinchers/mandible with the white band behind what would be the head, so I assume the ones that are bad. They are very small but have grown in 2 months. They reach out from rocks and collect/glue sand fragments together into tunnels. Easily reach 3-4" from rock burrows, never leaving rock

Yes, they are impossible to remove. Even if you grab them, they just break apart and regenerate.

I've read that taking their rock and injecting holes with soda water can work. I tried using heated (not boiling) water and it didn't shew them out.