ID please Pictures

spellbound · 10/02/2007, 08:58 AM

Our son calls these phantom worms. Whatever this is, I am unable to dig them out of the bed to get a closer look. At night I do not see them crawling at the top either. As you can see in the first of the pictures there are a lot of holes against the front of the tank. We can see them moving around in several areas of the sandbed against the tank. The one that is vertical I think may have become a meal as that end of the tank this morning is lower now and looks as if something dug into it. Thank you for your help.

papagimp · 10/02/2007, 10:21 AM

Could be from multiple different species of worms, critters, ect. ect. I've seen bristleworms leave behind trails like that, I've seen feather dusters do the same. Just any ol' critter trying to dig through the substrate. These are typical sights in almost any reef tank with an appropriate sized sandbed. Nothing to worry over and without a pic of the actual "phantom worm" I can't say who did it. The second pic kinda reminds me of the feather dusters though, that last however, could have been any number of wormies.

anybody got a link to meleve's site with all the ID pics? That would be a great place to start, just to familirize yourself with the various worms that enter our systems by surprise.

Mavrk · 10/02/2007, 10:21 AM

Polychaete. That narrows it down to about 10,000 species

I would guess Ampharete, but am no expert on bristle worms. The "holes" look like bubbles from the cyanobacteria against the glass, but I could be wrong.

papagimp · 10/02/2007, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mavrk
The "holes" look like bubbles from the cyanobacteria against the glass, but I could be wrong.

My sandbeds got the same holes in it, were there prior to the cyno outbreak. I think in my case it's just unsettled spots in the sandbed.

spellbound · 10/02/2007, 11:19 AM

Thank you very much. We will keep an eye on them and hopefully see some out at night. As these have only been there a short while I would think their population has just gotten to a point they are throughout the sandbed. When the company comes and cleans the tank, they ususally siphon the sandbed and I'm sure that has hindered their population.

Mavrk · 10/02/2007, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by spellbound
When the company comes and cleans the tank, they ususally siphon the sandbed and I'm sure that has hindered their population.

Don't siphon the sand bed.

papagimp · 10/02/2007, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by spellbound
When the company comes and cleans the tank, they ususally siphon the sandbed and I'm sure that has hindered their population.

Ack!! that will definatly hinder the micro-fauna in the sandbed. Some people will syphon the sandbed clean, but personally, I'm not a big fan of touching the sandbeds at all. If it gets dirty enough that it needs to be syphoned clean, theres probably some weaknesses with the setup that need to be addressed first, such as lack of appripriate detritus/sand sifters, overfeeding, lack of sufficient filtration, flow, ect.

10/02/2007, 08:58 AM	#1
spellbound Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Homestead, Florida Posts: 163	ID please Pictures Our son calls these phantom worms. Whatever this is, I am unable to dig them out of the bed to get a closer look. At night I do not see them crawling at the top either. As you can see in the first of the pictures there are a lot of holes against the front of the tank. We can see them moving around in several areas of the sandbed against the tank. The one that is vertical I think may have become a meal as that end of the tank this morning is lower now and looks as if something dug into it. Thank you for your help.

10/02/2007, 10:21 AM	#2
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	Could be from multiple different species of worms, critters, ect. ect. I've seen bristleworms leave behind trails like that, I've seen feather dusters do the same. Just any ol' critter trying to dig through the substrate. These are typical sights in almost any reef tank with an appropriate sized sandbed. Nothing to worry over and without a pic of the actual "phantom worm" I can't say who did it. The second pic kinda reminds me of the feather dusters though, that last however, could have been any number of wormies. anybody got a link to meleve's site with all the ID pics? That would be a great place to start, just to familirize yourself with the various worms that enter our systems by surprise. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

10/02/2007, 10:21 AM	#3
Mavrk Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: California - South Bay Area Posts: 2,775	Polychaete. That narrows it down to about 10,000 species I would guess Ampharete, but am no expert on bristle worms. The "holes" look like bubbles from the cyanobacteria against the glass, but I could be wrong.

10/02/2007, 11:19 AM	#5
spellbound Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Homestead, Florida Posts: 163	Thank you very much. We will keep an eye on them and hopefully see some out at night. As these have only been there a short while I would think their population has just gotten to a point they are throughout the sandbed. When the company comes and cleans the tank, they ususally siphon the sandbed and I'm sure that has hindered their population.