help with removal of huge Eunice Worm

[Ryan7]

Found a huge Eunice Worm in my 325G reef. I'm estimating it is at least 2ft long and is the thickness of my index finger.

For the longest time I have been blaming my tangs and reef crabs for the bite marks on my sps and disappearing zoa's, but never caught them in the act. Then the other night to my horror I discovered the worm, now he is definitely getting the blame, have managed to see it twice now at night in the tank, but is gone once I get a light on him... didn't appear to retreat to a home of some sort that I could see..

I have read the only success people have in removing them is to dismantle their tank, but there is no way I am going to do that... it would be hard enough for me to remove one rock with all the encrusted corals, assuming I knew the rock it was in...

So I thought someone here might have a clever way to get it out?

I was thinking of baiting a long clear tube at night to see if it crawls in, then take the whole tube out if it does??

Where can I buy local a red lens flash light?

NASTY!

[spit.fire]

Just turn the brightness up on your phone with a red screen, lots of the flashlights you can buy at Canadian tire will have a red led as well

[Ryanerickson]

Sounds nasty hope we get pics if you catch it good luck

[corpusse]

Burn your house down, collect the insurance and start again.

Really a trap is your best bet. Maybe put a pvc pipe with some holes drilled in it and some shrimp or fish or something smelly in just after lights out. Watch with a red flashlight. If you have a spot large enough on your sandbed / bottom that is away from the rock that would be ideal because for all you know he's 8 feet long and you've only seen 2 feet of it.

[gobytron]

sure doesn't sound like it's scavenging for dead things.

you should try to identify whatever it is in your tank that it seems to eat the most, then remove as much of it from your system as you can, then bait a trap with whatever it is.

I don't think you'll read too many successful trapping stories with these guys.

[Aquattro]

I had one years ago, never caught it, but did find the rock it lived in. The rock went into the garden

[Ryan7]

Replies: (I don't know how to multiple quote)

-tried the red phone, not bright enough, found a red led flashlight. thx

-"Really a trap is your best bet. Maybe put a pvc pipe with some holes drilled in it and some shrimp or fish or something smelly in just after lights out. Watch with a red flashlight. If you have a spot large enough on your sandbed / bottom that is away from the rock that would be ideal because for all you know he's 8 feet long and you've only seen 2 feet of it."77

^This is along the lines I was thinking of trying, I like where you are going with this, except I was think clear flexible tubing.. with one end out of the water, where I can dangle in bait on a hook and line.. what do you think?

-Not sure what the UV light would do..

-nothing particular I can bait any trap with in my tank...

-If I catch him, anyone is welcome to it.

Update:

I have only managed to see it once since the OP. Only about 2" of it... its definitely thick! I have not tried catching it via any trap method yet, as I was hoping more investigation of night watching would give me some clues as to where it hides... no such luck.

My purpose of the OP is to whether someone had something new or clever to get it out, as I cannot/will not take any rock apart... I am well aware of their biology, and the common efforts others have made for removal (;

[Ryan7]

Well I caught it!! my heart is still beating a mile a minute..

Here's how it happened..

Same as most nights, I get the red flashlight out to look for the beast, most nights I see nothing, and when I did, I would only get a glimpse of it for a few seconds and it would always be in a different spot that there was no way I could get at it or the rocks.

But tonight was different, I saw 4 inches of it in the corner of my tank where there is only two rocks, and those 2 rocks where on the sand on top of each other and surrounded by sand. I kept the light on the area for a few minutes to see if it moved, it didn't, so I decided to go for it. I turned on all the lights in the tank, no way I was going in with just a red flash light.. no movement from the rocks. I went from above and with a set of eheim tongs moved the first rock out of the way while checking to see if it was in there, it wasn't. One large rock left on the sand... I could see that it was under the rock, not in it.. I didn't have much room to work with.. I put a net in and had the tongs ready. I fiddled around trying to lift the rock for 15 minutes with no success.. then it escaped.. I could see it moving from underneath the rock down the side of the tank towards the front pane, but couldn't get at it... I jumped down from the back of the tank where I have access and ran around to the front of the tank.. I thought I lost it..

When I got to the front of the tank I could see it in the front corner and making its way across the tank.. I watched it to see if it would go to a spot where I could try to catch it again.. It must have been startled from the lights going on and my previous attempt to get it under the rock, because it travelled mostly in the open across the sand under my cave setup..

My tank is 6 feet long...

Its tail was in the front corner, it was stretched out 5 feet to where the head was!! I almost sh*t myself...

I watched it go to the other side of the tank and curl itself up within some small rocks in the other corner. This was the easiest area for me to get at and be able to move some rocks.

As I started moving the rocks it would curl itself through all the rocks.. I figured a this point im going to grab a piece of it with the tongs... I did, I squeezed the tongs as hard as I could, and it release a 1-1/2 foot piece.. I put the piece in a bucket and went in for more. I got another 2 foot long piece, into the bucket.

Now I was worried it was going to get away, so I decided to try for the front head section... I waited until I got a good shot and squeezed the tong trigger about 4 inches down from the head.. but this this time it wasn't releasing a segment of itself.. I squeezed as tight as I could and pulled at for about 15 minutes... it was literally a tug of war..

Finally, it gave up, and I pulled the rest of it out of the rock and put it in the bucket..

The palm of my hand is red and bruised from squeezing the trigger soo tight... but I got it, all of it!! 4 pieces in total in a bucket..

knock on wood, the nightmare is over..

Sorry for the long read...

I will post some pics tomorrow afternoon.

[Ryanerickson]

Crazy story glad you caught it thanks for sharing can't wait for pics.

[Myka]

GROSS!

I'm glad you got it out though. At 5 feet long, it could really do some damage!