An unidentified worm seems to be eating my silicone?

[Lowell Lemon]

Yeah, im pretty confused myself... I did find this article that seems to suggest burrowing through plastics is possible...

Polystyrene is a world apart from cell cast acrylic that is used for aquariums. You can crumble Polystyrene with your fans no effort at all. It is very soft.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Polystyrene is a world apart from cell cast acrylic that is used for aquariums. You can crumble Polystyrene with your fans no effort at all. It is very soft.

I should send you an acrylic tank to move this worm into to see if it can eat acrylic. You know in the name of science! PM me if you would like to try it out.

 

[Bucs20fan]

It is clearly evident that this worm is consuming the silicone seal. No one can possibly deny it after that last video. Im with everyone else though. You have video proof. save it. and scoop out the sand and everything in that area, the worm will come with it. No sense in waiting for worse to happen.

 

[Purkey Pets]

anytime someone claims to report the very first event seen in a web forum I think that warrants scrutiny and tight proof

who here has ever seen this in a web forum before

is there a link you posted in, where we could see that seen-it-before mention (googling the subject to report here doesn't count=seen this before now)

I've been posting for 22 straight years, I made it through the eco aqualizer event of 2002

and i've never seen silicone eaten by a worm

for example

there's not a video of a worm eating this silicone or anyone's tank on this site. on the web I can understand how a worm was near a seam break and it looks really indicative

Okay everyone. This video may be the most definitive proof of what's going on in here so far.

@brandon429 - Proof is now 100% concrete


Thank you @shorty6049 for the super-clear video evidence


I had a hole through silicone, foam mat underneath tank, and the painted wooden stand underneath that, and this confirms it was most definitely a worm. Nightmare fuel!

 

[Travis Warren]

Has anyone seen similar with clear silicone? It seems that it is black silicone only and in my experience.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Has anyone seen similar with clear silicone? It seems that it is black silicone only and in my experience.

As rare as this may be, I doubt the color of the silicone matters. To the worm, which can burrow into rock and coral, soft wouldnt matter.

 

[brandon429]

I have been reading this thread, there is not 100% proof there's worm at the wrong place at the wrong time, story of my life

Worms don't cause tank leaks, red sea causes tank leaks

 

[Bucs20fan]

I have been reading this thread, there is not 100% proof there's worm at the wrong place at the wrong time, story of my life

Worms don't cause tank leaks, red sea causes tank leaks

Watch the video man. In this case, you can clearly see the worm EATING the silicone.

 

[brandon429]

Same example: my api test kit says my 2 year old reef has a stalled cycle, so it must be. Don’t consult reef forums for cause and effect

sometimes in life a worm goes into a vacant hole right when theres a camera being actioned


worms caused the fifty pages of Red Sea seam breaks

 

[LegalReefer]

New reefing fear acquired

 

[shorty6049]

Worms don't cause tank leaks, red sea causes tank leaks

Lol, in this case its not a Red Sea tank and these holes have appeared about a year after setting the tank up, but in my opinion, this thing has definitely done some actual excavation work on this silicone. When shining a light around the holes , there's pretty clear boring/chewing marks all over the place and not just a spot where the worm has squeezed between a seam and the glass panel, or somehow pressed its way into a weak spot in the silicone (which I'd then expect to look more like a straight line where the silicone was split apart and the thing wedged itself in?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Okay everyone. This video may be the most definitive proof of what's going on in here so far. I think this will be the last video I try to take of this thing. My next step is going to be to either try to remove it from the tank or just tear down the tank itself and begin the process of starting from scratch.... I hate to keep starting over with my tanks but I just don't know if I can risk putting a single item back into this tank that's been in there previously at this point.... I don't want to lose my thriving population of pods and bacteria etc but I'm not sure I see any other solution that ensures this doesn't happen again...

Im convinced and this is insane.
A home-made worm trap is best bet. Bait it with shrimp using a water bottle:

 

[Dburr1014]

Wow, crazy. Yup, it is taking chunks out of the silicone.
Maybe the black is a little softer than others??

 

[Bucs20fan]

@brandon429 we are all aware of your aversion to red sea tanks. Set that aside, do you still not believe this worm is consuming the silicone???

 

[brandon429]

I’ve never seen a black silicone sealed tank other than custom jobs, I wouldn’t buy one either / I would just buy a normal non Red Sea aquarium and worms would not fell it I’m 100% sure

if some company was making black sealant tanks I wouldn’t buy one even before this thread, I wouldn’t buy anyones beta test tank. If anything in a tank can be relocated by a eunice it will be, that doesn’t seal the deal for me at all. A worm didnt bore or bite into normal seals but if some shavings were hanging off for whatever reason it’s no surprise they’d bite it, they used to bite and relocate my frag plugs annoyingly

 

[Dburr1014]

Watch the video man. In this case, you can clearly see the worm EATING the silicone.

1 minute to 1:20
You can see it take a bite, pull it off and swallow.

 

[Bucs20fan]

I’ve never seen a black silicone sealed tank other than custom jobs, I wouldn’t buy one either / I would just buy a normal non Red Sea aquarium and worms would not fell it I’m 100% sure

if some company was making black sealant tanks I wouldn’t buy one even before this thread, I wouldn’t buy anyones beta test tank. If anything in a tank can be relocated by a eunice it will be, that doesn’t seal the deal for me at all. A worm didnt bore or bite into normal seals but if some shavings were hanging off for whatever reason it’s no surprise they’d bite it, they used to bite and relocate my frag plugs annoyingly

Most manufacturers make black silicone tanks, manufactures that sell 100x what most other sell in a year. aqueon seapora....All reputable manuf. I dont understand how you still refuse to admit that this worm. clearly without anything else, is biting pieces of this silicone away.

 

[c_healy]

I’ve never seen a black silicone sealed tank other than custom jobs, I wouldn’t buy one either / I would just buy a normal non Red Sea aquarium and worms would not fell it I’m 100% sure

if some company was making black sealant tanks I wouldn’t buy one even before this thread, I wouldn’t buy anyones beta test tank. If anything in a tank can be relocated by a eunice it will be, that doesn’t seal the deal for me at all. A worm didnt bore or bite into normal seals but if some shavings were hanging off for whatever reason it’s no surprise they’d bite it, they used to bite and relocate my frag plugs annoyingly

There’s a lot of non custom tanks with black silicone and judging by your last few posts, you haven’t watched the last video.

 

[Gtinnel]

I saw this thread a few days ago and didn’t believe the worm was to blame, but that video made a believer out of me. That’s crazy.

I would be spending my time trying to get it out instead of videoing it destroy my tank.

 

[MnFish1]

1 minute to 1:20
You can see it take a bite, pull it off and swallow.

I'm going to go against the grain here. how did the worm get in there in the first place - there is no defect. Right? This whole thing is a non-issue IMHO.