mhhh...

[KahluaZzZ]

Hi guys..i have a killer in my tank. I lost a scarlet skunk shrimp last week she was ok during the night, found an empty skeleton the morning. This morning my firefish was missing. He was fat, colorful and healthy yesterday.
Didn't find any dead fish, no ammonia, no weird smell...no fish jumped out.
Could a huge bristleworm grab an ultra speedy firefish ?!?
I don't hear click noises like mantis do...but i have some bristleworms.
My other fishies were always friendly with the firefish and he was only 2 years old. I'm worrying now that i lost 3 inhabitants during the last month, and they were all healthy.

 

[eva]

oh no! i'm sorry for your losses and i hope you find the perp soon! I don't know you've seen Oregonreef.com but there is a six foot long bristle worm in that guy's tank!

 

[Flowerkid]

that is the grossest thing ive ever seen. I cannot believe checking on your tank and seeing a thing like that..wow

 

[Joe Fish]

The firefish could be hiding. On occasion mine will go into hiding and not come out for a while.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

yup but i know mine...and i checked, i removed cautiously the rocks...no trace. He ate every day...and he sat on the same spot for 2 years.

 

[1979camaro]

that is really odd K. I know you said you haven't heard the popping...any chance it is a spearer that showed up? have you gotten any new LR lately? It seems conceivable that a bristleworm could get a sleeping firefish...especially if it was a toxic one which stung it.

 

[Lorna]

wow if it were just the cleaner shrimp I would suggest he molted but....the missing firefish. Do you have a sump? Could he be sump surfing?

 

[KahluaZzZ]

could be a spearer..dunno...still no ammonia and no trace.
Well yup i added some Sulewasi and Fiji rocks from old tanks. Since then, bristleworms problems and aiptasia + majano party..kinda sucks since i added it, even Joe is having problem getting rid of some.

Lorna, it looked more than a molted exoskeleton...got some stuff attached with it. At first i tough " hey this cleaner was old ", like 2y and a half in my tank + she was already a medium size when i bought it and since they live around 3 years in a tank usually..
My sump is higher than my tank, so there's no way the firefish could have been sucked in the overflow

 

[Lorna]

that sucks.....sorry to hear about that. You are sure he didn't jump? I had my midas blenny go floor surfing through eggcrate, go figure. I heard of a person finding a dried up chip on the back of their tank that turned out to be a missing fish.......poor thing.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

god...i just saw a baby bristleworm destroying a yellow polyp under MH..big problem that my turkey baster can't resolve...i think i have 2 much of those if i can spot 'em during the day. May buy a purple pseudochromis..

 

[SALTY WATERS]

It's highly unlikely that a Fire/Bristleworm killed them.

You should really get the 2007 issue of Marine Fish and Reef USA and read the artical on Fireworms. It will give you a whole new outlook on these miss judged little guys.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

well...this time i doubt it's my tang, and the firefish was super healthy.
Maybe he got stuck under a rock, i got too many LR now..
still no smell inside and outside the tank.
Also my open brain was badly burned, tiny holes in the flesh

 

[SALTY WATERS]

In the artical it states somthing about the worms only eating the dead flesh of some corals, clams and that they do not actually kill them. They have no teeth and actually have to slup up the food... I don't remember the whole artical but you should really read it, it's a very interesting artical on the fireworms.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

well it really looked like fireworm eating a yellow polyp..maybe it was another type...i found 3 different species. God this new LR messed up my tank...filled with crap.
Problems in my ghetto tank
...my percula is now a hooker

 

[SALTY WATERS]

You could have one the lottery and got one of the uncommon worms that are bad and destructive. Anything is possible!

 

[KahluaZzZ]

yup i might..and my LR is from so many different places...

 

[eva]

Is there a particular kind of live rock that aren't prone to having pests like aiptasia and bristleworms, or do they all run the same risk?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

im sure all aquacultured rocks have the same risk of being exposed to aiptasia and other pest anemones. they are like letting lice loose in a school. im not positive, but i think its fiji rock thats more likely to harbor bristle worms.

 

[Mushroomman]

Sorry to here kauhlua

Carribbean rock is known to harbour some pretty tough stinging worms.

 

[Lorna]

I have Marshall Island and suffice to say....I haven't seen a bristle worm though I did have a "Hairy the Crab" who is still residing in my live rock and doesn't really bother anyone or anything.......just get glimpses of him occasionally at feeding time or at night.