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Remember the movie "Tremors"? Please help!

4K views 30 replies 16 participants last post by  Kubla 
#1 · (Edited)
Ok, here's the scenario...

-Small 5g cube shrimp tank
-All parameters are fantastic
-Trace/marginal CO2 with equally low ferts

So I feed my shrimp last night (Ebita Breed something or other), the shrimp feed then get bored and walk away. As I go to pull the pellet of food back out, I see it move. I figured a baby shrimp was on the back side and I didn't notice. Then I see the substrate heave up slightly in a line that moves over to one of my plants (about 3" away), then the line moves over to another plant further away, then back to the food. It was the identical "ground heaving" type movement that was in the movie. Plus it moved rather fast. It was definitely creepy.

I had double dosed the tank with the standard planaria treatment the week before the shrimp moved in. I was concerned the little things I saw back then were planaria, but they were just nematodes. Regardless, the tank was dosed pretty heavy while this "thing" was in there.

I noticed some tunneling in the substrate (Controsoil) next to the glass in places. Rather large at approx 1/8-1/4" .

Any ideas? The shrimp are rather sensitive, so moving them even for a little while seems like a gamble. No shrimp missing yet. I set a trap last night but it was empty this morn. :-(
 
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#5 ·
Yeah, I was at first hoping it was a MTS but then saw it move so fast. Still nothing in the trap (clear sealed cup with a hole in the bottom and food inside). Maybe the hole needs to be bigger.

I was really hoping to come home to it inside the cup. Instead I just see a few new tunnels along the glass and am even more concerned because it's hard to get a head count on juvenile shrimp in a tank full of little plants :-(
 
#8 ·
Wish I had a webcam like you mentioned @clownplanted. That's a good idea! I made a second trap with some different food and a slightly bigger opening on the bottom. Really wish I could get a decent shrimp head count. I honestly wouldn't think it was that big of a deal, but I was amazed how fast the stupid thing could seemingly "swim" right through the substrate.
 
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
Do you have like a 5 gallon tank or something you can temp move the shrimp to. Just grab some of the substrate, a few plants. The tank water and if possible the filter and get the 5 gallon setup. Then get as many of the shrimp out as you can. Then grab an algae scraper and dig it all the way down then work up. It whatever it is will come up. Once you can get it out from under the substrate should be easy to catch. . I know it's a lot of work but that is what I would do. Could even get like a bucket or something temporary for them. They should be fine as long as you have the same water and substrate in there for a couple hours while you get it out. I know you will easily be able to get it this way.

You want this out sooner than later in case it has babies whatever it is.


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Or better yet get like a knife or something thin and start poking it in the substrate where you think it may be. Dunno man just hope you can catch this sob.


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I wonder could it be a tubifex?


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#11 ·
This reminds me of a good friend’s reef tank. He pulled out a 5 ft worm that was living behind / under the liverock. He saw it when it was small, but couldn’t get it because whenever he turned the lights on, it would haul arse to the safety of the liverock and removing the liverock was a huge task. He only decided to remove it once livestock began to go missing. Apparently the thing was predatory.
 
#12 ·
Latest news... first sighting!



Pic is deceiving, it was sort of retracted when I took the pic. Stretched out it was prob 5" (tank is only 10"x10").

Wish me luck- I'm going after it.

Update: took a stab at it with my 12" tweezers. I missed. This thing is so fast!

Update: pulling all plants and structure... still don't know how I'm going to go after it without disturbing the tank/shrimp too much.
 
#14 ·
Yep- even the color looked similar. I just looked it up and supposedly they can survive underwater if there's ample O2? Crazy.

Plants are all out and I'm slowly combing the substrate with the tweezers. Shrimp appear indifferent and possibly happy that I'm exposing some new biofilm in the substrate.
 
#20 ·
I really can't believe it. I'm wondering if it came in on a clump of Bucephalandra maybe. I know I rinsed it but maybe the buce was grown in soil or something. I'm wondering how I had enough O2 in the water to keep it alive. Maybe all the plants and no fish/minimal inverts to use what the plants were adding to the water?

I do hope that's the only one and also hope they need land to reproduce. Regardless, I'm glad it wasn't something 12" long covered in spines! I was driving myself crazy trying to guess what it was. One positive is that I finally got a good shrimp head count with all the plants removed :)
 
#21 ·
Wow crazy just so glad you got it. A typical earthworm. Who would of thought. At least you know it's not predatory so all your guys should be good to go. So relieve for you bro seriously. If something like that was in my 60 gallon it wouldn't last a day. The clown loaches would have fun with that. Now you can rest easy


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#23 ·
Forgive my ignorance if having an earthworm is a bad thing, but why is having a healthy earthworm in your substrate a bad thing exactly? I would think that it would help keep the tank just a bit cleaner by consuming some of the detritus that's fallen through the gravel, as well as helping keep water currents in the substrate going and gas pockets from forming...

Not to mention if it came out to explore and it got... eaten... really that's his own fault...
 
#24 ·
Forgive my ignorance if having an earthworm is a bad thing, but why is having a healthy earthworm in your substrate a bad thing exactly? I would think that it would help keep the tank just a bit cleaner by consuming some of the detritus that's fallen through the gravel, as well as helping keep water currents in the substrate going and gas pockets from forming...



Not to mention if it came out to explore and it got... eaten... really that's his own fault...


Well for one he did not know what it was. And am sure was more relieved it was only an earthworm. Would not of thought it was an earthworm to begin with so the concern to what it was caused concern. But at the same time when you want a specific tank say for shrimp last thing you want is it overrun with worms that the tank just was not intended for. These are my thoughts anyway.

Would be good if you are setting up a fish bait shop [emoji16]


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#28 ·
A long time ago I kept a tank with 3 or 4 panfish in it. I used to feed them live earthworms. As far as I knew every earthworm was devoured at feeding time in the frenzy. The fish were voracious eaters. As the fish outgrew the tank over a two to three year period I released them one by one back to the pond where I originally caught them. After I released the last one I was doing a large water change, preparing it for new inhabitants. As I was doing so I was also cleaning the substrate with a gravel vac. Suddenly I sucked up a couple of earthworms. Astonished I paused, checked them out and kept going. I ended up sucking out a whole colony of earthworms of various sizes. Evidently some escaped the feeding massacres into the substrate and were quite happy down there. So yes, they can survive and thrive in an aquatic environment. The tank was very well aerated by the way.
 
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