LR being eaten by bristle worms?

Hello to the 3 reefers out there. My cleaner clam died today, it had bristle worms crawling all inside it. I liked it I had decided it helped me with my nitrates. Wish full thinking maybe. Anyway my water has been testing decent lately, no new additions to my take so I just sat and looked at my take for a long time. It is really starting to mature. I was enjoying my tank when I noticed bristle worms every where on my bubble coral in my LR. I had been trying to trap them but I have not been able to get rid of them. I saw three perfectly round deep holes in my LR in different places the size of a pencil eraser. I am watching my tank now at night with the lights off and it is disgusting pink bristle worms every where. AAAHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!! Have you guys ever seen holes like that in LR and do you get rid of those horrible worms. Do you think they killed my clam or are they just part of the clean up crew. Are they harmfull or benifical. Anybody???????

 

cleaner clam = scallop? You know, those things don't survive long in captivity. They could have been eating the death away. Now, if you see them taking chunks off your coral with your own two eyes... then it's time to start doing something about it.

There is a trap made by coralife to trap the little boogers. It's called "Trap'em". You insert food into a little cylinder and have them eat it inside, they get fat, can't get out. bam. You can also try to devise a trap yourself using plexi. You have to think of a way to trap them, etc.

 

Most of the worms that enter your tank through the addition of live rock/sand are beneficial to an extent. Bristle worms are no exception(except for the fire bristle worm). The thing to be careful of is feeding to much as this will help to spur a population explosion, which isn't a good thing.
I really don't think the worms killed your clam. I think they were an aftermath clean up crew to help rid of the dead clam. I really don't think they were the cause of the clam dying-Flame Scallops are very difficult to keep and it probably dies due to improper/lack of food-no knock on you-it is just that they are specialized filter feeders.

 

I had the same problem a while back- I got up in the middle of the night with a flashlight and found one of those redish brislte worms doing a lawnmower act on my greem monti cap (which I prevoiusly thought was dying off on its own)- I had a population explosion of these beasties and they were turning predatory on most of my corals- argh! I am not saying this is your problem but IT DEFINITLY HAPPENED TO ME.
As far as an remedy I added an SMALL arrow crab (watch out he may eat your snails) and an coral banded shrimp- I combined that with reduced feeding and everything seems to have returned to normal. One thing I found interesting is that one day after adding the arrow crab all of the worms pretty much went undercover- it was almost like they could sense him in the tank!

 

Most LR holes are caused by dissolution, rock-boring sponges, rock-boring clams, and rock-boring urchins. There are a few algaes that can bore through rock and so can spionid worms (mud worms, oyster-boring worms).

While I suspect that these are just regular bristleworms eating a dead cold-water clam that cannot tolerate reef tank temperatures, it is possible that you did import parasitic worms with the clam.

Spionids are parasitic to various oyster, mussels, abalone, clams, scallops, etc. Basically, most bivalves. If you think that these holes in your LR are new then maybe they killed off your cleaner clam and they are looking for a food source. If you have a decorative clam in this tank, I would quarantine it and inspect it's shell (particularly near the foot and byssal threads) for small holes and worms. By any chance, do you know the species of cleaner clam? The only cleaner clam I could find on google was at Saltwaterfish.com and they didn't give any info whatsoever. I also found this thread on 3 reef. http://www.3reef.com/forums/clams/benefits-clam-34411.html

 

I found a site: www.ispf.com that sells bristleworms... I have some in my tank and now I guess i will leave them in... Any one else have any suggestions? I can't seem to find where on this 3 reef site I can pose the question for all to see!! If you can help please do! Thanks, Wayne

 

I know that coral banded shrimp & arrow crabs are enemies- I'm surprised you have them living together successfully!! I'm not sure whether I will get a shrimp or a six-banded wrasse as it also eats worms- but then again some say the bristleworms are beneficial- oh, what to do!?

Wayne

 

If you have some now, in time, you will have plenty enough worms without having to add them.

As for starting a new thread to ask questions, simply go to the appropriate forum section and click on the "New Thread" button.

 

Sorry but there is no way a bristleworm ate it's way through your rock. It's just not physically possible for a bristleworm to do.

Sounds like your clam died on it's own and the bristleworms, scavengers, did what they're supposed to. I probably wouldn't rely on clams to keep your nitrates down.

Sorry to hear about your loss. Good luck.

 

Very informative