something fishy in my tank

[ladylinden]

So... my tank is roughly 8 months old, and I have some newer, and some older LR in the tank. A blue tang, and a clarkii clown, a carpet anemone, and a few hermit crabs. (Before you all start yelling at me about the Tang, it was a rescue, and it has a new home to go to once it gets a little bigger, so I'm not being cruel by keeping it in too small of a tank... promise!)
Here's my question - what's eating all my critters??
When I first got the LR, and for the few months following, I had tons of little white brittle stars and bristle worms. Then hubby came home with a "cleaning crew" of hermits and snails, and a pair of emerald crabs to clean some bubble algae. (they did a great job of that, btw). But something in the tank ate both emerald crabs, most of the hermits, and all but one of the snails. The brittle stars are either all gone, or never stick their little arms out anymore... and there are piles of shells in corners from both the hermits and the snails, and pieces of the emeralds shells.
LFS guy said I probably have a gorilla crab hitchhiker? But he said I should be able to see it with the lights off, and after a few weeks of looking about an hour after lights out, nothing... Anyone got any ideas? There's a HUGE blue bristle worm that looks like a nasty beast... could he be to blame??

[username in use]

I would say some random crab or a mantis.

[csmfish]

Time to get ye old glass jar out!

[Danzig]

Yah go fishing with a jar/bottle trap see what you get. Try switching it maybe check 2 or 3 hours after lights out. Make sure you use a res light though.

[usatennisfan]

My guess is your huge blue bristle worm is actually a black worm. If that's the case it is most likely a Eunice worm and you need to get it out immediately! I had one in my tank and it killed pretty much everything and reproduced in my tank and I had to start the tank all over again. A picture would help but probably most useful in the Other Inverts section.

[ladylinden]

Yikes! Eunice worm sounds awful! I have an Aunt named Eunice... she's not so bad.
So pardon me for being lame... but how does one exactly go about setting up a "glass jar/bottle trap"?
BTW, I appreciate all the help folks... don't know what I would do without the witty but always helpful advice given in these forums.
So thank you in advance for putting up with my naive questions!

[Sugar Magnolia]

If it is a crab, bait a tall smooth sided glass with a piece of raw shrimp and tilt it up against the rockwork before lights out. Crab crawls in for a delicious feast during the night, crab can't crawl back out. I caught mine the first night. It may take a few tries so be patient.

[ladylinden]

Okay, bottle trap is baited and set...let's see what the darkness brings. Will this trap work for a Eunice worm?? Because after doing another search on the forum for it, I'm pretty sure that's the bugger I've got. And I'm actually thinking I have a few, because there's a large blue one, and then at least one, maybe two big reddish/orangish ones...

[Sugar Magnolia]

Reddish orange ones are likely beneficial bristleworms. Do a google search for Chuck's Addiction Worm Hitchhikers.

[CRC88]

How'd the trap work?! Catch anything?

[ladylinden]

So the first night, I didn't have any shrimp so used some raw fish, and about an hour after lights-out, I came down with a flashlight (I don't have a red lens) and holy-sh!tballs, there was a worm as long as the whole bottle, and then some (I used a coke bottle) coming out of a crevice in the live rock, and extending all the way down into the bottom of the bottle, to munch on the fish!! It had to be a good 8 inches long... the minute my flashlight got too close though, it retracted like a rocket out of the bottle and back into the rock. Super fast. The next morning, what was left of the fish was covered in a slimy white film, and nothing was in the bottle.

So the next night, I used shrimp, but got nothing.

I'm guessing these bottle traps don't work for giant-size worms as long as the tank itself??

[ladylinden]

Thought I would post a couple pics of my tank for enjoyment. Maybe you guys will see something glaring that I am not seeing.





Got a decent pic of the apastasia anemone that I have going on in there... not sure what to do about him either... *sigh*

[jacob.morgan78]

Hope you get the worm! Can't wait to see it once you catch it!

Maybe use two glass bowls with a string and wait for him to climb in and drop the second bowl on top of the first (bottom). I wrapped a couple of rubberbands around the top bowl to attach the string to. I used this method to catch a coral nipping fish. Not sure if this would work for a worm though...

For the aiptasia, aiptasia x worked really well for me!!

[keywestcoralboy]

The empty shells are are a good sigN that you may have a manis shrimp as well they are amazing hitchhikers and very good at killing little critters.. Listen up for "cracking" noises at night and when the lights go on and off.. I know you saw a worm but I unfortunately have had the misfortune of multiple bristle worms and mantis shrimp in a tank.. Just a thought

[usatennisfan]

From what you are telling me I am positive you have a eunice worm. I have heard of noose traps working but I have little faith in them. What I had to do was take apart my rock structure in order to remove the worm, and the rock in which I thought it lived. When that came out behind it in the corner was a nest of mucus and shells that was the worm's actual home. The sooner you go balls to the wall and attack the problem head on you are only doing your system harm. I had mine in tue tank for over a year and a half and it literally ate countless fish, inverts, and corals.

[ladylinden]

Yah, no clicking after dark. At least, not that I can hear over the filter. I'm betting it's that nasty looking worm... or worms. ugh.
On another bizarre note, my carpet anemone attempted suicide yesterday by detaching from his rock, rolling around the bottom of the tank for a few hours, and then climbing into my powerhead... it was all wrapped around the front of the thing, with it's tentacles blowing all over the place... once I got it out, I wasn't sure he was gonna make it, but as you can see by the pic this morning, he survived! What in the world makes an anemone detach and go for the current like that? Starvation? I just fed him! Bizarre.

[username in use]

lack of light possibly, it moved from under the rock to out in the open. What kind of light do you have on that tank? And the hippo tang is pooping a lot for that tank, and needs more room.