Things You Wish You Never Bought

Pier Pressure · #1 03-05-2008, 07:13 PM

I thought I would start a post about this.

I bought a bright pink tube worm (I think it must be a tube anemone) from a LFS where I was told that it should do just fine in my tank. It is about the size of a coco worm, but has long, neon pink skinny tentacles coming out of the top of it. It sure is pretty.

It does just fine, all right - just fine at killing everything it comes into contact with. I have lost many coral frags to this bad boy and it moves around the tank on its own so it is hard to keep control of. We affectionately refer to him as the "Whip of Death".

I decided not to try to sell him because after all why would I want to pass him on to another person who is even less knowledgeable than myself in the saltwater hobby?

He has stayed in the same place now for a few months and is not touching any of the corals so hopefully that trend continues.

Now I know I am not the only one who has made one of these impulse buys. What stories do you have about things you wish you never would have introduced to your aquarium?

BC564 · #2 03-05-2008, 07:23 PM

ok..we started talking about this thing in the other thread. I bought a tube anemone in October...the wife thought it was just so pretty and amazing...which it is.....but after it killed its third fish......in 4 days...it had to go....so I started up my 20 gal nano and bought some live rock....put sand in the bottom.....he now resides in this little tank...which Im sure he has no clue of his surroundings......if you want him to stay in one place....cut a piece of pvc about 10 inches long and stuff his tube in it....he will stay put....he hasnt moved plus it anchors him down.....the tank is called death tank .....i have 3 chocolate chips stars in there with him....and urchin....a conch....tons of bristleworms....a crab that came out of the rock.....I had a sea hare.....he ate it.....anyways...they look incredible with the main lights off......oh...also when my 6 line wrasse went carpet surfing.....the body was eaten by the tube worm...normally he gets a big fat shrimp....about once a week......buy a cheap shrimp ring....lol

Joe Reefer · #3 03-05-2008, 07:31 PM

A reef tank.

BC564 · #4 03-05-2008, 07:39 PM

btw...they dont need any special lighting or anything...so start a little tank and enjoy him....oh..here is a picture of mine in the big tank ....after the slaughter...

Chowder · #5 03-05-2008, 07:48 PM

My first and second marine setup and probably gone to regret buying my third setup. I say that because when I buy my forth set up I definetly will be thinking I should have just gone this big the first time and not wasted so much money on the first three setups.

BC564 · #6 03-05-2008, 07:55 PM

yeah....but I think its a natural progression to start small and make sure you like it.....

Pier Pressure · #7 03-05-2008, 08:04 PM

Yes that must be his brother in the picture. Mine looks exactly the same. However, mine is a lot friendlier - it has not eaten a fish or an invert as far as I am aware. Or maybe the fish are too smart as I have never seen one of them go near him.

I do not feed him anything special. He is in a spot where NLS pellets drop into him and he gobbles them right up. I am hoping they do not live too long. Thanks for the pcv idea - if he starts moving again I am going to anchor him down.

My worst buy tank-wise was my 150 gallon freshwater tank - that blew up on me twice in eleven months. That was the main tank and the replacement tank as well. Silicone let go on both - got rid of all my freshwater as a result.

Actually I was not too fond of the big tank thing. You miss a lot of what goes on and you can only buy livestock that gets along. If you have several small tanks you can get whatever catches your eye! Also, moving those big ones is a big pain you know where!

BC564 · #8 03-05-2008, 08:07 PM

Death kept catching the fish at night.......Im sure they would swim and forget that death was in there ...just around the next rock.....

mastergunsg · #9 03-05-2008, 08:11 PM

I bought a purple tube anemone about 6 months ago. When i first got it I dug a depression in the sand and placed him into it and covered it over with sand I then placed a rock on either side of it to make a "cave" so he cannot move around the tank. When fully extended his tentacles can reach about a 6-7 inch radius. I did understand that it could sting and kill corals and possibly kill fish but so far I have lost nothing.. I turn off my water flow when feeding the fish and target the anemone with food, he readily takes flake food, arcti pods, brine shrimp etc and is amazing to watch when feeding. So far I am happy with my purchase because he is a beautiful addition to my tank.

tang daddy · #10 03-05-2008, 08:24 PM

For me it was a file fish not knowing they eat sps, before that it was a purple dotty before that a coral beauty after all those a striped rabbit fish that went apeshiets on my zoas and donuts sigh.

Live and learn..... If the whip of death reigned havoc on your reef why not get rid of it sometimes it's better to remove 1 thing than letting it stay to kill off many things IMO.