Tubeworm eats torch head

[Nano sapiens]

I know this is an old thread, but I just want to add that I also have one of these in my tank. It's been slowly killing a blasto colony that we've had in the tank - healthy - for over 4 years. Every time I aggressively vaccuum it out/scrub it off, it comes back within a day. I collected a glob of the soft "tube" and put it under my scope - it just looks like a pile of sand. Since it's near the top of the tank, not anywhere near sand, I've come to the conclusion that it's burrowing into the coral and that the sand in its tube is actually crushed coral skeleton. Since manually removing it has failed numerous times, my next approach is to super glue the whole area and hope to smother it. Ofcourse if it burrows, there's a chance it will just burrow a new opening next to the super glue section, but I've got no other ideas left. Crazy to me how dismissive the forums are - everyone is convinced this doesn't really exist. But if you've got it, you know.

I have had the same thing for at least 10 years in my small reef. The tube substrate is silky like a spider web, but often has lots of small sand type particles imbedded that give it a gritty texture. Diameter is around 3/16" and length can be up to 2" or so.

I'm not sure if the tube material itself causes the death of coral tissue, or if the worm making the tube is actually feeding on the coral flesh. Tubes sometimes appear on live rock or sand where there is no coral in the vicinity and they are always constructed during the dark hours. They also show up for a week or two, then typically disappear for a few months before showing up again. I suspect it may be a worm in the Eunicid (or related) family like my tank buddy, 'Bob' here:

Here's a R2R thread from a while back on the same topic:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/e...ptoms-how-do-you-know-if-you-have-one.175219/

My latest casualty was a large Blastomussa vivida that has been damaged from tubes three times over the course of a year. This last time about 2 weeks ago, only 1/3 of the polyp remained and I decided to move it to a brand new location where it is recovering nicely.

 

[RusttyReefer]

Omg thank you!!! Everyone is so dismissive on the web. Have you tried killing it?

Yep I have one of these suckers also - has killed a couple of hammers, but doesn't seem to go the frogspawn nearby. I have tried tracking the tube and glued over what I thought was his "burrow" but he popped up again. I don't think trapping is the solution if he is happily munching away on your prized LPS, and none of the suggested treatments have had any effect. My next move is to set the alarm for the middle of the night and use the coral he is eating at present as the trap. Hopefully he is in there and a fresh water dip doesn't agree with him.
Will keep you posted.

 

[joefishtank]

Those things are freaking scary looking worse than bristle worms and they eat your live stock? I'd wage war on it if I had one.

I had one and it looked like this. Mine was about 7' when he stretched out across the tank. He chewed all the tips off all my acros.

Caught this one in my tank about a year or so ago.

 

[FreshSaltH2o]

Weird finally got one of these guys out of my tank this afternoon. I think there’s one more will find out over the next day or two…

 

[joefishtank]

I actually had one living in my torch skeleton he made a yellow door that I thought was a sponge. It dug around inside the skeleton so I just fraged it.

 

[HSLSaltwater]

I have had the same thing for at least 10 years in my small reef. The tube substrate is silky like a spider web, but often has lots of small sand type particles imbedded that give it a gritty texture. Diameter is around 3/16" and length can be up to 2" or so.

I'm not sure if the tube material itself causes the death of coral tissue, or if the worm making the tube is actually feeding on the coral flesh. Tubes sometimes appear on live rock or sand where there is no coral in the vicinity and they are always constructed during the dark hours. They also show up for a week or two, then typically disappear for a few months before showing up again. I suspect it may be a worm in the Eunicid (or related) family like my tank buddy, 'Bob' here:

Here's a R2R thread from a while back on the same topic:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/e...ptoms-how-do-you-know-if-you-have-one.175219/

My latest casualty was a large Blastomussa vivida that has been damaged from tubes three times over the course of a year. This last time about 2 weeks ago, only 1/3 of the polyp remained and I decided to move it to a brand new location where it is recovering nicely.

I was wondering of you can help me. I found this critter in my coral this evening. I thought it was a dead spot in the coral for 3-4 weeks but today I saw this one.

 

[Nano sapiens]

I was wondering of you can help me. I found this critter in my coral this evening. I thought it was a dead spot in the coral for 3-4 weeks but today I saw this one.

Could try plugging up the hole with some epoxy putty.

 

[HSLSaltwater]

Could try plugging up the hole with some epoxy putty.

Just couldn’t go to bed with it there so I took it for dipping and a bit of surgery. Cut of a piece of the side exposing a tube and a small worm. I’ll take photos in the morning to make sure I know what I’m dealing with.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Just couldn’t go to bed with it there so I took it for dipping and a bit of surgery. Cut of a piece of the side exposing a tube and a small worm. I’ll take photos in the morning to make sure I know what I’m dealing with.

From the photo and what you described, I think you’re dealing with one of the larger varieties of Vermetids. I would dig it out if you can do it without damaging the coral or dip the coral and see if it comes out (probably unlikely). You can try to cover it with epoxy but they sometimes make another tunnel. Good luck!

 

[HSLSaltwater]

From the photo and what you described, I think you’re dealing with one of the larger varieties of Vermetids. I would dig it out if you can do it without damaging the coral or dip the coral and see if it comes out (probably unlikely). You can try to cover it with epoxy but they sometimes make another tunnel. Good luck!

Just cut it yesterday before I went to bed. Got weirded out by it so took the coral cutters and started to work.