Eunice worm?

[Michael Hughes]

Managed to get a quick video just before it disappeared. Thoughts?

 

[rayadog]

Yep definitely looks like it but you know there’s better experts than me. Great quality shot.

 

[EnterName]

A bright "collar" around the neck is usually a bad sign. I would try to catch it.

 

[Michael Hughes]

Thanks for your feedback. I guess it's time to do some searching and see if anyone has any clever tricks for trapping these guys.

Good news is this is in the 14 g frag tank, not the 125 g display. So it should be a little easier to track down... Hopefully...

 

[PolypPocket]

Same kind as me, finally caught one but there’s at least one more that I haven’t been able to get. I used seltzer water on the hole it was in and it came out (and died from the exposure which I hear doesn’t always happen). I had to take the rock out of the tank. It was a small piece compared to the rock the other one lives in. I tried doing the same on that one and it didn’t work.

But the bait traps, nylon trick, “fishing line” method, etc did not work whatsoever . These anchor their nasty little butts deep in the rock and only ever expose the front half of their body unlike regular bristle worms. If they’re near the sand you may see them make tubes from sand so they can extend even further without truly exposing themselves. It’s too bad in a way because it’s kind of fascinating. But they have this sharp pincers so not safe.

On the positive side, they don’t become predators until they are bigger. The ones I have really haven’t done any damage yet other than eating a bunch of my expensive macro algae. But I wanted to try to get them before they get super big and predatory.

I bought some rock putty and am going to try to entomb the other one by sealing up the holes I’ve seen it in since the other methods haven’t worked. I will let you know how it goes.