My 2 foot Eunicid Worm

Snaz · #1 03-23-2009, 03:27 PM

Those things freak me the hell out. I'm a big guy and I love bugs and spiders and good ole fashion Hollywood gore but something about Euncid worms give me the big willies.

Chowder · #2 03-23-2009, 03:45 PM

I heard there good eating too.

Drock169 · #3 03-23-2009, 03:49 PM

good job sam,
now you can start to stock your tank again, assuming that was the only one in there.

fkshiu · #4 03-23-2009, 03:52 PM

Keep it in a species tank. I know untamed kept one like that for a long time.

Everytime someone pulls out a monster eunicid I think back to Steve Weast's +4 foot monster from www.oregonreef.com.

brizzo · #5 03-23-2009, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snaz

Those things freak me the hell out. I'm a big guy and I love bugs and spiders and good ole fashion Hollywood gore but something about Euncid worms give me the big willies.

I agree 100% ... Picture #3 gives me the heeby jeebies.

untamed · #6 03-23-2009, 05:14 PM

I think they are interesting detrivores, and much of their bad reputation is just hype related to how they look. Like lots of other things, keeping these depends on what else you want to keep in the tank at the same time.

The largest one I had was probably 2 feet long and was a vegetarian. Another, was maybe 16" and did have a taste for Xenia (which really isn't a problem, and might be a solution for some people). I used to hand feed the smaller one. Sadly, something else in the tank ended up getting the better of the smaller one. I suspect that a fish got the worm, not the other way around.

I find the "eeww" reaction to be very odd. It just isn't in me to look at a critter from that point of view.

Samw · #7 03-23-2009, 06:19 PM

I can't say for sure that this worm preyed on small fish at night. However all of my small gobies dissappeared over time. Also, something took a bite out of my baby Hippo tang earlier this year. 20% of its body was completely bitten off overnight and I don't think it was from one of my other fishes. I didn't think the tang would survive but given how healthy it was from the start, it survived and has healed 100%. I wish I had taken pictures to show the before and after of the fish to see how amazing the bite and the recovery was. I don't know what else in the tank could have taken that bite. I have seen this worm carry rocks around its cave like they were nothing so it is not hard to imagine this guy grabbing a sleeping fish. I have also lost all of my ricordia and zoas. I feel more confident about buying new corals and gobies now. If I buy a new Ricordia and zoas and they stop getting eaten, and if I buy new gobies and they stop dissappearing then I'm pointing my finger at the worm.

Snaz · #8 03-23-2009, 06:25 PM

I think if I saw one in real life and was able to watch it move I would be more comfortable. All I have seen of this creature is the spooky pictures and descriptions of it moving very fast and eating babies.

If I can see it then I can "catalog it" and thus probably not be such a wuss whenever you guys post pictures of this thing.

christyf5 · #9 03-23-2009, 06:40 PM

I had one and it made very expensive snacks of all of my zoos and ricordeas. Eventually I hauled them all out to a nano and made short work of removing its lair in which it was also using various SPS frags to shore up its front door. Awesome time had by all upon its removal. I was across the room at the time

Samw · #10 03-23-2009, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snaz

I think if I saw one in real life and was able to watch it move I would be more comfortable. All I have seen of this creature is the spooky pictures and descriptions of it moving very fast and eating babies.

If I can see it then I can "catalog it" and thus probably not be such a wuss whenever you guys post pictures of this thing.

Do you want me to take a video of it moving in a bucket?

Its very difficult to take video of them in action in a tank because they only come out in the dark.

It does look like an awesome creature to keep in a species only tank. I noticed that it makes a huge amount of waste. My container water is full of crap and is all yellow over a few hours.