Fire worm eating fish?

[N1Husker]

Does anyone know of a fish that eats fireworms but won't destroy my reef or eat my hermit crabs? I know that a coral banded shrimp eats them but may also eat my cleaner shrimp and may become predatory in his own right. Also I have a 36 gallon tank, so it has to be one that will be okay for that size of tank.

 

[BReefed]

I'd recommend a six-line wrasse. Easy, hardy beginner fish and most of them have a taste for worms. Also, not to bad to look at and a bunch of fun to watch.

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Six Line Wrasse - Reef Safe Wrasses

Rob over at Red C Aquarium in Shoreline often has them in, and always has healthy fish. Not sure what your stock list is, but they can be aggressive to other wrasses and can deprive dragonets of food. Overall I think this is the best choice for the size of your tank, however.

 

[N1Husker]

I ahve a small sailfin tang, a yellow stripe maroon clownfish, 2 tail spot blennies, which I am trying to catch one and put her in my 10 gallon because one picks on the other one, a sand sifting starfish, a few hermits and that's about it.

 

[BReefed]

Rats... I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that sailfin is not going to be comfy in your 36 gallon for very long. Those are big tangs that get around 13-14" in length if they have room to grow.

Maybe trade the sailfin in for a six-line? Otherwise I wouldn't add the six-line, that's going to push you a bit further over stock.

Just my two cents.

 

[N1Husker]

Yeah, I found that out after I got him, he was my first fish and I saw him at the LFS and just had to have him. I know I will have to get rid of him soon, but he still is small and I will have separation anxiety. I have a couple of places that he can go, none of the LFS's will take him in trade, they already have some. RedC said he would take him but wouldn't give me anything. I am not trying to make money off of him and I know that they are in business to make money, I understand, I was in business for myself for 10 years before I got sick and retired. So he seems happy now but soon he will have to go and it will be better for him in a bigger tank.

 

[N1Husker]

Also reading up on the sixline wrasse it says that they will also eat ornamental shrimp, which wouldn't do my scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp any good and they can get aggressive as they get older.

 

[BReefed]

Yes, there's a chance that a six-line will eat your cleaners, especially if they aren't fed frequently and the cleaners are smaller than them. They are more of a threat to smaller shrimp like anemone shrimp and peppermint shrimp however. Plenty of people out there house the two together without issue, but six-lines are energetic and pretty bold, it's those same characteristics that would make them likely to tackle your worms. I hear four-lines are less aggressive and might still lend you a hand, although they tend to fetch a pretty penny more. Aside from that its hawkfish... which eat shrimp. A pseudochromis (dottybacks)... which eat shrimp. Or a butterfly, which is too big for your tank, not guarunteed to worm... and eats... coral! (You thought I was going to say shrimp here!)

As for the sailfin, I'm sure you could find a good home for it on classifieds when you are ready and if you wanted to, you could probably recoup some of your cost or get a frag that you want from someone on here.

 

[N1Husker]

Okay, well that gives me some options. My cleaner shrimp is quite large, much larger than a sixline that I would purchase. I got 4 baby worms out from under a rock that had my red mushrooms on it, it was like a nursery under there. Then about an hour later I pulled a 4 inch long one out from under the rock that had my green mushrooms on it. There is still that big 6 inch grand daddy in there plus I am sure there are more. I am pretty sure that I will be pulling them out for a while. I got one of those traps from Coraline, but that big one just crawls in steals the food and backs out. I am going to put on a vinyl tube extension tonight so it has to crawl all the way in to get to the food. I will get that sucker. Also do you have a method for catching a fish in the tank. I need to get one of my tail spot blenny out of the tank because one is harassing the other one. They are both females and I was told that as long as they weren't two males that it would probably be okay, but it is not. I am going to put the other one in my 10 gallon tank I have tried netting them but as soon as I get the net out they both take off and hide. I don't even get the net in the tank and they are gone.

 

[BReefed]

I'm not very good at catching fish to be honest. With blennies and dragonets I've always just caught them by hand, but depending on your rock scape that may not work for you. The whole 'no swim bladder' bit makes them have to stay pretty well attached to your rocks, walls, or substrate so they get real clumsy if they have to swim up. If you have to, you can chase them by your hand into a net.

Not sure if this works on blennies at all, but for mid tank swimmers one trick I've heard of people having a lot of sucess with is turning on all bright lights like halides in the middle of the night. Fish swim out clumsily to see what is going on and are easy to net until they wake up and adjust their vision.

Finally, there is the bag or bottle trick, of getting the fish to swim inside of an object by baiting it with food and then sealing the exit with a string. That always sounded too complicated to me though, maybe someone else here can testify to its sucess.

Better part about all of these later ones is that it avoids the net. Nets hurt fish more than hands, smooth walls, and plastic bags.

Oh yeah! Since it is a blenny easiest way is probably to just remove its hiding rock! That's how I transported my lawnmower the last two times. I just took his rock out and he stayed inside, then placed it in another tank wholesale.

 

[N1Husker]

I watched a video on youtube on a cheap DIY fish catcher using a plastic coke bottle, cutting off the top, inverting it back into the bottle, baiting it with food and pulling it out, so I will try that, sounds simple enough, but I'm sure that they will just make an idiot out of me. Both blennies high tail it back to the back of the aquarium when I show them the net, because when I am in front of the aquarium they both are right up by the glass, and as soon as I even look like I may be going for the net, they vanish into thin air, er water. Normally one blenny hides in some rock where there are 3 rocks together forming her hiding hole and the other goes up and hangs around the top of the protein skimmer draw tube. The other blenny will leave her hole and swim up to harass the other one. They don't really totally duke it out, it is just a quick nip and the other takes off, then goes right back to the tube. It's like one thinks she owns the aquarium and the other justs ticks her off.

 

[BReefed]

Think there's any chance that they might settle down and carve out territories or is it constant, ruthless chasing? Only time I've ever owned a tank with multiple gobies was a brackish tank with a bunch of bumblebees and they eventually carved out territories and claimed personal caves. Every so often they'd test each other and rally into another bumbles territory but the owner would usually send 'em scooting back after a bit or give up a little extra turf for a while.

Anyway I've heard the bottle trick can work, but I've never tried it. I have also heard that it can work very well on bristles and crabs depending on how you set it up. Of course, it sounds like you already tried something similar with your devious fireworm friend.

 

[N1Husker]

It's not a constant thing with the blennies but it seems to be enough to where the one won't let the other come anywhere near any part of the rest of tank. The one stays pretty much up around the PS tube and the other one has claimed 9/10ths of the tank and still goes up and harasses the other one, so I don't know if they will ever divide territories. I just don't want it to get to the point where the one gets into a weak condition and then all of the other fish will pick on it till it dies.

 

[BReefed]

Yeah, no fun.

Totally understand why you want to seperate them then. Best of luck with the bottle and the retrieval!