New to reef, frustrated with pests or parasites

[flatfish72]

2week ago I found this acan frag was eaten by something, dip in Rx couple of times, didn't kill them. So mad I dip it in RO water, still not killing it . So I crack it in half and found this little red worm happily munching the tissue.

Today, I found someone little things try to drill hole on my chalice frag's skeleton. OMG ! They r really small but I can tell they are red colored. Might be the same worm? They have built these white spirals on the plug, their little houses .

Sea of pests, fresh water doesn't really have these kind of issues.
Sad my chalice frag is starting to grow a bit. Now I have to dip it again.

 

[Billdogg]

Bristle worms and perhaps spirobid worms. Harmless IMO

Not to be harsh, but if things like that are going to ruin the hobby for you, you are in for a short run. I've been at it over 30 years and still find new things to enjoy all the time, Sure, some truly are pests, but most are easily controlled. Rarely anything to get too worked up about.

 

[WV Reefer]

Bristle worms and perhaps spirobid worms. Harmless IMO

Not to be harsh, but if things like that are going to ruin the hobby for you, you are in for a short run. I've been at it over 30 years and still find new things to enjoy all the time, Sure, some truly are pests, but most are easily controlled. Rarely anything to get too worked up about.

^ Totally agree.

 

[sp1187]

one persons pest is another's clean up crew.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I see red Bugs which are bad news and a main source of issue. These bugs, (Tegastes acroporanus) are small flea-like beasts that can infest smooth-skinned acropora sp. and classified as blood suckers as that is what they do with coral. The medicine that kills them is actually dog medication, and you must obtain it from a vet which is called interceptor. Common signs of a red bug infection include color fading, poor polyp extension, and slow death of colonies. You may have to use a magnifying glass to see them, and make sure you check all sides of the coral. Prevention. The best method of avoiding an infection is to quarantine every new frag coming into your tank.

 

[saturn13]

Just wondering what are your parameters? How long has the tank been established?

 

[flatfish72]

Just wondering what are your parameters? How long has the tank been established?

I was about to set up a Discus tank, but I am dread of doing water change for a 75 gal plus tank.
I only start 2 months ago with some easy corals in a Innovative 20gal AIO.
So far I quite enjoy it though, watching these little colorful sea creatures is really enjoyable.
Thank you guys for replying.
I wasn't really mad.

 

[Alexopora]

2week ago I found this acan frag was eaten by something, dip in Rx couple of times, didn't kill them. So mad I dip it in RO water, still not killing it . So I crack it in half and found this little red worm happily munching the tissue.

Today, I found someone little things try to drill hole on my chalice frag's skeleton. OMG ! They r really small but I can tell they are red colored. Might be the same worm? They have built these white spirals on the plug, their little houses .

Sea of pests, fresh water doesn't really have these kind of issues.
Sad my chalice frag is starting to grow a bit. Now I have to dip it again.

Like many have pointed out, those are spirorbid worms and bristleworms. These shouldn’t be the cause of your corals demise. If anything, the bristleworm is only doing its work as a cuc eating away the dying tissue. Your corals are most likely dying or receding due to some other factor.

 

[Tamberav]

Agree with above. They are harmless. You need to look elsewhere for your for your coral woes. While pests exist... often pest card gets played when it isn’t a pest at all.

Chain dipping and breaking frags open chasing ghosts is no good. Very stressful for the corals and likely contributing to their decline.

 

[zalick]

Is that a worm like creature literally in the middle of acan frag skeleton?

 

[saturn13]

I was about to set up a Discus tank, but I am dread of doing water change for a 75 gal plus tank.
I only start 2 months ago with some easy corals in a Innovative 20gal AIO.
So far I quite enjoy it though, watching these little colorful sea creatures is really enjoyable.
Thank you guys for replying.
I wasn't really mad.

ok, I think you'll find through out this forum that stability is key with your parameters. 2 months old is a very new tank in salt. Where in freshwater you can get started fairly quickly, and there are some things you hardly need to test, in Salt you have to test on a weekly schedule and there are cetain parameters to test dailiy like alkalinity. One thing that helped me early on was an automatic top off for evaporated water, it really helps stop some major swings.

 

[flatfish72]

Agree with above. They are harmless. You need to look elsewhere for your for your coral woes. While pests exist... often pest card gets played when it isn’t a pest at all.

Chain dipping and breaking frags open chasing ghosts is no good. Very stressful for the corals and likely contributing to their decline.

It was a new cheap frag with two heads. One had receding tissue. One was seemingly healthy. But I was so curious what were those worms really eating into the skeletons. I hated to see them waving their two tiny tentacles through their tunnels mocking at me. Just learned something new thx.

 

[flatfish72]

Is that a worm like creature literally in the middle of acan frag skeleton?

Yes, they digged a lot tunnels in the skeleton. Lol, It is Covid time, no in-store shop, only curbside pickup. Otherwise, I would rather pay twice for a better frag. I won't deal with that LFS anymore.

 

[flatfish72]

ok, I think you'll find through out this forum that stability is key with your parameters. 2 months old is a very new tank in salt. Where in freshwater you can get started fairly quickly, and there are some things you hardly need to test, in Salt you have to test on a weekly schedule and there are cetain parameters to test dailiy like alkalinity. One thing that helped me early on was an automatic top off for evaporated water, it really helps stop some major swings.

I only try to keep couple of zoas, a chalice, a candy cane, one trochus , one nassarius . I have refugium running. The chaeto almost double in size in two weeks . Water parameters should be fine. I only test nitrate after tank cycled.
Not going crazy with the tank, my wife is already not happy with all the money I spent. Maybe couple of easy softies later on as the tank matures.

 

[vabben]

Water parameters should be fine.

This is your problem. Swings in parameters such as salinity, temperature, and alkalinity will cause this exact issue. I'd suggest test and test often, also give your tank more time to become a stable environment before adding more coral.

 

[zalick]

This is your problem. Swings in parameters such as salinity, temperature, and alkalinity will cause this exact issue. I'd suggest test and test often, also give your tank more time to become a stable environment before adding more coral.

Water parameters are important but I'm pretty sure they have nothing to do with the worm inside his scan skeleton.

Yes, they digged a lot tunnels in the skeleton. Lol, It is Covid time, no in-store shop, only curbside pickup. Otherwise, I would rather pay twice for a better frag. I won't deal with that LFS anymore.

Here ya go! Eunicid worm eating scans from inside out.

The concept of an acan eating worm infestation that wiped out entire colonies or tanks full of acans is an aquarist myth. There is some known worms that bore through the skeletal tissue of scolies and acans. It is a type of small red eunicid worm. Here is a small excerpt from coral magazine July/August 2010

"a small red eunicid worm that sometimes arrived with imported scolymia an acanthaestrea corals lives in tunnels in the skeleton and eats its way through the soft polyps. Iodine dips can help kill these pests. This worm has not been positively identified yet. According to Dr. Leslie Wright, some members of the genus lycidice are known coral borers. Photos courtesy of Vince sug and Eddie Vargas."

Issues arriving from these worms will not cause rampant death of all of your acans with tissue recession. The coral will slowly die from the inside out and you will not notice it, just a head will be dead one morning. After the entire colony has been eaten, the worm will move to another and the corals will slowly die in a systematic fashion. If you suspect you have this worm you can cut your coral in half and find its holes. Aquarists are to quick to find something to blame besides themselves. Below are the pics from the magazine

 

[flatfish72]

This is your problem. Swings in parameters such as salinity, temperature, and alkalinity will cause this exact issue. I'd suggest test and test often, also give your tank more time to become a stable environment before adding more

Water parameters are important but I'm pretty sure they have nothing to do with the worm inside his scan skeleton.


Here ya go! Eunicid worm eating scans from inside out.

I read this post too, that's why I decided to crack it open.