spaghetti worms

[rocko918]

Does anyone else have them. not sure where they came from but they have multiplied very fast. Now they are not longer just on the sand bed they have moved up in the rocks. I know they don't kill Zoas but they are bothering a big colony I have and they are not open much. I used a pick and tried to kill them. Does anyone know a safe way to get rid of them or control them. Any animal they will eat them?


thanks!

 

[jessiesgrrl]

Hmm, I remember seeing a thread in the Zoa discussion where someone was battling those with a blowtorch, superglue, and something else... can't remeber what. Was it Surfn maybe? Let me go look for it...

:D
Laurie

 

[jessiesgrrl]

Ok, surfn was battling hydriods.

But I did find this on wet web media .com, from Anthony Calfo:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/wormfaq2.htm

Nuisance worms in reef tank 12/16/04
I have several reef systems in my house. The are all doing well but I have one common problem...I have an infestation of small white worms. They remind me of white hair, there doesn't seem to be any segmentation, just thin and white. At first I thought they were dog hairs, but I don't have any white dogs. They don't seem to be harming anything, but they are ugly in the tank. It's as if someone dumped hair in my tanks, except they're alive!
<they exist only because there is a food source... if you limit the nutrients, you will limit them my friend. I promise you that if you add a large powerhead or two to the tank for improved water circulation and increases your water changes (10-20% weekly ideally), then they will reduce in mere weeks. Making your skimmer yields several cups of dark skimmate weekly by fine tuning with help this occur even faster>
I've tried hermit crabs, sixline and fourline wrasses, Fridmans and Neon Dottybacks. Nothing seems to stem the tide of these white worms.
<you are treating the symptom (worms) and not the problem (nutrients) my friend. I suspect they exist because of weak water changes, poor protein skimming, less than 20X water flow in your tank and perhaps some overfeeding or overstocking>
Do you know what they might be, any pictures so I can verify if we are talking about the same thing, and what can I do to get rid of them or at least decrease the population? Thanks and Happy Holidays! Bobby Williamson
<many possibilities... do check out the writings of Dr. Ron Shimek at reefcentral, reefkeeping and advancedaquarist.com websites. A keyword google search of his name will help. Anthony>

 

[surfn]

..... was battling those with a blowtorch.......

WHAT!!?? lol



....actually...thats not a bad idea lol

 

[rocko918]

Thanks laurie, Although they are yellow but i think they are the same thing. I will tune the skimmer a bit, do more water changes and feed less.

 

[maroonytunes]

I had them in my other tank, and I fed less and more water changes and they went away.

Hmm, I remember seeing a thread in the Zoa discussion where someone was battling those with a blowtorch, superglue, and something else... can't remeber what. Was it Surfn maybe? Let me go look for it...

:D
Laurie

I like to play with fire., Supergluing a blowtorch to my hand sounds like fun.JK See disclaimer

Disclaimer: Do not try anything fro the quote on, it can result in serious injury and/or death, please do not try this at home.

 

[Stixbaraca]

I have them...and I like them. Some people have said they annoy zoos...but I never had any problems personally. A lot of people say they are beneficial for the sand bed and what not.

There is a ton of info on them on WetWebMedia...just type spaghetti or medussa worm int the search

 

[jessiesgrrl]

WHAT!!?? lol



....actually...thats not a bad idea lol

ROTFL!

I really did read that somewhere- can't remember what board now... I actually went looking for your thread thinking that was where I saw it last, but yours was hydroids of course.

Some guy was saying he really took the LR out of the tank and was trying to melt their holes shut with a blow torch. I laughed about it until Kris said what you just did... "Actually, that's not a bad idea, LOL"... Then I just got really quiet in hopes he'd forget!!!

<giggle>
Laurie

 

[jessiesgrrl]

I had them in my other tank, and I fed less and more water changes and they went away.






I like to play with fire., Supergluing a blowtorch to my hand sounds like fun.JK See disclaimer

Disclaimer: Do not try anything fro the quote on, it can result in serious injury and/or death, please do not try this at home.

LOL, That looks like the disclaimer on ******* right before someone gets hurt really, really badly...

<grin>
Laurie

 

[rocko918]

Spent some time lastnight pulling a bunch of them out of my sand bed. I have too many can they can stand to lose a little. I know i am not going to get all of them out, which is good because they do clean up the extra food / poop.

I don't like it when they have their legs all over some of my zoas.

 

[Farrmanchu]

I've got those literally EVERYWHERE. The tentacles do sting somewhat, I notice Waving Hand gets burnt a bit from them. My sand is super white though, they collect the detrius into little piles that are easy to syphon out, if the worm syphons out too, then good, more nutrient export.