Tubeworm

[hongqixian]

i'll try to take a shot at the bb feather for u to see.. compare the original (old tube against the bb feather n u will know wad i mean.. i would say rare chance instead of "no possibility"

i did press n feel the empty tube 1~2 months back n there was no worms inside..

I don't know about that then. Perhaps it did shrink due to lack of feeding like uncleliew stated. But it can be rather hard to tell esp in larger mud tubes or in tubes partially buried/attached to rock. I bought a small tubeworm at Kwang's Aquarium(crane road) last time, which was partially buried in the sand. The uncle packed it in a little plastic bag for me. then just after i left the shop i looked at the worm in the plastic packet and saw the little tube all floppy. I opened the bag and lifted the tube out, felt it was a bit floppy leh. So i went back to the uncle and told him the worm wasn't there. He was a bit insistent that the worm was in the bag but finally agreed to check the tank. After digging around in the rather deep gravel he finally found the bare worm. Apparently it shot right out of the other end of the tube when he picked it up to package

[jOO]

lost my second tube worm due to rescaping today.. wah.. and like the other time.. i suspect its the pistol shrimp who has kidnapped the worms.. that b*tch... the worm must haf dropped between the rocks and before i can retrieve it to plant somewhere else.. the pistol shrimp must haf dragged it into its tunnels...

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

You can just make a small slit to widen the opening. That way, the worm can join together the bits of mud tubing with the mucus it secretes to enlarge its tube when it grows

Sorry, i do not quite get what u are trying to say here.

Do u suggest that i further widen the side opening so that the tube worm will join the tubing together again?

[hongqixian]

Sorry, i do not quite get what u are trying to say here.

Do u suggest that i further widen the side opening so that the tube worm will join the tubing together again?

That is technically correct but not quite what i meant, sry, explanation not clear

I actually meant that you can cut the tube open so that the worm can open properly, but not completely detach the cut tubing. When the worm grows, it will use the bits to strengthen its tube. It's also useful to leave some of the tubing partially attached so that the worm can easily join back its tube(in a different way that it can open properly) if it decides that you have cut too much of its tube open.

This is just to make sure that the worm is well protected against crabs/shrimp/fish that might attack its exposed body. It can survive without its tube in a safe, predator free environment (although it might waste some energy building a new one). The tube is the worm's form of protective clothing.