Every time we use live rock in our aquariums, we’re potentially opening the doors to a variety of hitchhikers. There are many creatures that can end up in an aquarium without an invite and there’s pretty much nothing that can be done about that.
One of the strange creatures that can make its way into our aquariums is the spaghetti worm, a common name for multiple species of similar worms. What are these worms? Are they harmful, neutral or even good for our aquarium? Keep reading to find out all about these wiggly aquatic hitchhikers.
What Is A Spaghetti Worm?
The spaghetti worm is an annelid (segmented) worm, making it a relative of the more familiar earthworm. They form part of the family Terebellidae and are sand dwellers that live their lives buried in the soil. The ones found in our tanks are mostly native to tropical regions.
Spaghetti worms get their name from the tangle of white feeding tentacles they stick out of their hiding places in the soil. These don’t catch live prey, but instead fish for small particles and general detritus.
The spaghetti worm’s burrowing nature protects it from predators. A startled spaghetti worm will quickly withdraw into its burrow, retreating its tentacles and remaining invisible for a while.
Spaghetti Worms In The Aquarium
As mentioned in the intro, spaghetti worms are a common hitchhiker that can very easily end up in your saltwater aquarium. This is not a sign of carelessness on your part: it just happens, and there isn’t much you can do to prevent it.
The sight of a spaghetti worm extending its tentacles can be pretty disturbing if you weren’t counting on seeing it when you turned on the tank lights in the morning!
The tentacles can grow very long and spread an unattractive layer of mucus around the bottom of the tank. This mucus is reminiscent of the stuff produced by vermetid snails, a very annoying aquarium pest, but luckily the spaghetti worm isn’t nearly as much of a nuisance.
Are Spaghetti Worms A Problem?
No, spaghetti worms aren’t harmful to the health of your aquarium. They don’t bother fish or inverts and don’t damage your precious corals like vermetid snails do. We’ve occasionally heard of them irritating corals by sitting on them, but since they prefer being in the substrate they usually soon move on.
If anything, a few spaghetti worms here and there are signs of a healthy tank. These friendly hitchhikers even help you keep the aquarium clean by consuming detritus the other inhabitants aren’t interested in.
If you’re seeing a disturbing amount of spaghetti worms, this is an indication you’re either overfeeding or not cleaning enough. This can cause trouble if the population suddenly collapses for some reason, as a bunch of dead worms will lead to an ammonia spike that can endanger your fish and corals.
How To Remove Spaghetti worms
If you’re suddenly spotting spaghetti worms all over the tank, it’s understandable you might want to remove them. As friendly as they are, we’ll admit all those tentacles sticking out of the substrate and mucus floating about can be a bit disturbing!
Although there are critters that eat spaghetti worms, including copperband butterflyfish and some wrasses, most fish don’t seem to be all that interested. Sand-sifting starfish would do the trick, but those are notorious for starving once they’ve picked the substrate clean.
Removing their food source and manually picking out the worms should quickly bring the population down to a manageable level:
- Review your feeding habits: are you overfeeding your fish, causing leftovers to stay on the substrate? Try cutting back or target feeding.
- Clean more: regularly vacuum the substrate, making sure to get in all the corners where detritus tends to accumulate.
- Introduce competition: many other invertebrates, like saltwater shrimp, eat detritus. If the worms don’t have food, their population will shrink.
- Manual removal: to speed up the process use aquarium tongs to pick out any visible worms whenever you do aquarium maintenance. Your fish might like to snack on them once they’re out of the substrate.
