Pretty! Too bad it's evil.

[bad coffee]

I found this in the new batch of LR.

It's some polycheate worm. All the research I found says it's not good.

So how do I treat the rocks I just bought? Would interceptor kill it? How about FWE? Any suggestions?

B

 

[jhale]

I don't think interceptor would do anything, FWE might kill it, or just stun it.

 

[bad coffee]

Yeah, I'm looking to treat about 30 pounds of rock. I need to know I'm killing all of them, and the eggs.

The rock is really nice and I don't want to cook it. But since I did just cook about 10 pounds of my old rock I could just cook it and cure it the same time I'm doing my old stuff. . .

B

 

[cybermeez]

I've had this guy lurking in my live rock for quite some time now. It probably depends on the species, but he's never hurt anything and after extensive research I determined he is probably a detritivore. So, after catching him for his one and only photo-op I put him back in the tank.

Sometimes after lights out I can catch him out in the open slithering across the surface of a rock. He's pretty big, maybe 2 inches long and an inch across. I'm always amazed at how drastically he can change his shape and size.

Even if you can manage to find the piece of LR he's hiding in, any dip will probably just stun him and of course kill all the little critters you want that are living on that rock. Maybe even some cool ones like this guy:

He's a navy blue Ribbon Worm that came in on that big piece of rock he sticking out of. That piece of rock had been in my tank for a month before I ever saw him venture out (at night of course). He's definitely the coolest hitchhiker I've ever been lucky enough to get.

 

[kimoyo]

When I got rock I killed it first. I didn't even look for "live" rock just rock that was in the sea at one time but dry now. Just too much bad stuff can come in on rock and its not something thats easy to treat.

The only important thing for me was that the rock was phosphate free. So mined rock was out but dry "live" rock was cool.

 

[prattreef]

Brett, As far as I know that guy is harmless.

 

[bad coffee]

Thanks Randy. Do you happen to know a genus/species?

 

[prattreef]

I believe it to be a Turbellarian worm, Pericelis sp. (Fossa and Nilsen vol 3 pg. 79)

 

[cali_reef]

Brett, I found crap load of those in my Fiji rock shipment few years ago. I am guessing lack of water and heat (the rocks were shipped in the summer) made them fall off the rocks.

 

[prattreef]

I think they are not uncommon and very cryptic. I've only seen them when breaking down a tank.

 

[masterswimmer]

I tend to agree with Randy (most of the time ). However, since you caught one, it would be pretty easy to determine if FWE would work on it :biggrin: You've got your volunteer!

R

 

[bad coffee]

FWE doesn't work, but as Jhale guessed it really didn't like it. It shrivled up and bolted away from where I put in the drop.

Looks like it's going back into the rocks!

B

 

[jhale]

B, if you don't want him I'll put it in my fuge.

 

[vanceny]

It looks like the large predatory flatworm from melev's id site.

http://melevsreef.com/id/flatworm.html

 

[cybermeez]

It looks like the large predatory flatworm from melev's id site.

http://melevsreef.com/id/flatworm.html

There are thousands of species out there, many of which look alike visually. Most are unidentified and science knows little or nothing about them. With such critters I tend to be of the opinion that he get's the benefit of the doubt until he proves himself to be a less than model citizen. My flatworm hasn't tuched my clam, fish, SPS of soft corals. He's actually kind of neat. :smile: