lulu1228
Active Member
I bought Christmas tree worms a few days ago and I wanted to know if anyone had tips on the care of the worms and the coral they live in. I just wanna make sure I'm doing everything right
Christmas tree worm tips
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blaxsun
10K Club member
The feathers are mostly going to be filter feeding, so I like to feed mine some coral food at least once a week (Reef Roids, etc.) That and try to avoid fish that like to snack on feathers!
blaxsun
10K Club member
I have mine on the sand bed in around 175 PAR with nothing overshadowing it. I do have high nutrients, though (although overall water quality is excellent).
Most of my feathers only come out at night as there's just too many fish spooking them during the day.
lulu1228
Active Member
Anything else I should know about porite?
lulu1228
Active Member
And how often do you dose phyto? And how much?
livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
Porites are definitely difficult to care for...I have the big and small Christmas Tree Worms in my 20 gallon and I dose a variety of particulate foods every day or two and live photo nightly. Here's a pic.
DaJMasta
Well-Known Member
I have never heard of porities being difficult to care for, but I have heard that the worms themselves are difficult to feed and often don't do well in captivity (or at least didn't in decades past).
For the coral, mid light, reasonable flow, you could think of what would be good for a branching monti or birdsnest coral and you can probably keep them fine. For the worms, they are dedicated filter feeders and will need feeding far more frequently than once a week. I don't know if these have the NPS filter feeder sort of requirements of very specific particle sizes or easy to catch prey, but a good baseline would be particulate foods meant for filter feeders (maybe small polyp corals) fed at least a few times a week (daily would be my choice) as well as similar frequency phytoplankton dosing.
For the coral, mid light, reasonable flow, you could think of what would be good for a branching monti or birdsnest coral and you can probably keep them fine. For the worms, they are dedicated filter feeders and will need feeding far more frequently than once a week. I don't know if these have the NPS filter feeder sort of requirements of very specific particle sizes or easy to catch prey, but a good baseline would be particulate foods meant for filter feeders (maybe small polyp corals) fed at least a few times a week (daily would be my choice) as well as similar frequency phytoplankton dosing.
Goaway
10K Club member
When I kept my Christmas tree worms. I had a fuge with 20lbs+ of mud. 4-6" of sand in the display. This was used as a breeding ground for worms, pods and microfauna of all kinds. I would stir up parts of the sand once a week to release microfauna.
Water flow was and is very important, you want it gentle enough to deliver food to the worms without the flow taking the food away from them.
I have kept them for 5 years. When I moved, there was perhaps 2 or 3 left. I was never successful at seeing them spawn.
Water flow was and is very important, you want it gentle enough to deliver food to the worms without the flow taking the food away from them.
I have kept them for 5 years. When I moved, there was perhaps 2 or 3 left. I was never successful at seeing them spawn.
livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
I think what you're aiming for here is a good variety of small particulate foods of different sizes dosed every two days or so. I'd recommend live photo nightly, AF Phyto Mix ever 1 or 2 nights and reef Roids (frequency depending on tank size). Honestly, the small worms haven't been too difficult for me and the large worms I've only had for a little less than 2 months.
lulu1228
Active Member
Does anyone know what this could be? It looks like hair algae possibly? But I'm not sure
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lulu1228
Active Member
It also looks like the porite has some dieback right next to that spot
Sir Bubb
Community Member
I don’t use any sort of mechanical filtration in my Christmas tree worm dominated tank. Just 2 gyre pumps for water movement. Many of the worms (small and large species) have been with me for 5+ years. I like to include sand sifters such as conchs to stir up the sand bed and keep detritus, etc… suspended in the water column which becomes an additional food source for the worms.
Here are a couple pics.
Here are a couple pics.
lulu1228
Active Member
Does anyone know about the crabs that sometimes live in these? They're beneficial right? And should/could i get some?I don’t use any sort of mechanical filtration in my Christmas tree worm dominated tank. Just 2 gyre pumps for water movement. Many of the worms (small and large species) have been with me for 5+ years. I like to include sand sifters such as conchs to stir up the sand bed and keep detritus, etc… suspended in the water column which becomes an additional food source for the worms.
Here are a couple pics.
livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
I'm unaware of any crabs that host Porites corals or the worms.
livinlifeinBKK
5000 Club Member
be v
I don't think they're really beneficial... maybe not harmful either but if I were you I'd just focus on feeding the worms and keeping the Porites healthy
Kasrift
7500 Club Member
Super cool. Following along to get tips. I've had my Christmas tree worm rock for 56 days. I dose phyto I culture daily, and rotate powdered foods. They all seem to be doing great.
Sir Bubb
Community Member
Porites are definitely difficult to care for...I have the big and small Christmas Tree Worms in my 20 gallon and I dose a variety of particulate foods every day or two and live photo nightly. Here's a pic.
Love the porites coverage on this rock!
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