Christmas tree rock care

Txag96 · Jan 18, 2019

I just bought one of these at my LFS.

They are neat to watch

IKD · May 31, 2020

r33fertank said:
Update, so its been about 2 months since i bought my christmas tree rock and it seems healthier than ever. Im sure there are new worms in it now that were not in it when i bought it. All 7 shrimp are still happy and healthy. They even take brine shrimp when i target feed.
Heres a pic of what it looks like now.

@r33fertank, I know this thread is old, but wondering if you had long term success with the Xmas tree rock. I’m curious if keeping these long term is more achievable today.

vetteguy53081 · May 31, 2020

These are filter feeders and under right conditions, easy to care for.

ca1ore · May 31, 2020

Agreed! The host porities coral (sometimes cyphastrea) is pretty easy in any tank that can support SPS. As long as you are feeding the tank well and it has feather duster worms growing then you know you have adequate food for the worms. The bigger problem is fish that nip. They will cause the worms to shed the frilly head. Have this happen a few times and the worm will starve. I have kept them for years in my frag tank; they don’t do so well in the main display.

IKD · Jun 1, 2020

Thanks! I’m surprised Live Aquaria still has these as Expert Only given your summaries.

Since you’ve had them for years, can you tell me how quickly the colonies (Porites, works) grow? Do they need certain types of rock that the worms can burrow into (man-made ok?). Any tricks in helping be successful would be great!

reefviper101 · Dec 22, 2020

taintstick said:
They range, ones I have seen are about baseball size, spherical shape, costing between $60-$80. Not a common coral as they can be finicky, depending where they were grown.

I just got me one from my lfs it's about the size of a nerf football cost me 90 the most beautiful rock I've seen and as a duster enthusiast raiser it's not as hard as the guy earlier tried to make it seem

West1 · Mar 12, 2021

Updates on anyone’s Christmas Tree Worms...

reefviper101 · Mar 13, 2021

Reefviper here mine is doing awsome

reefviper101 · Mar 13, 2021

r33fertank said:
Hey guys, just bought a christmas tree rock from my lfs and was wondering if anyone has one and what sort flow/light/feeding/tank placement etc they seem to do best in?
I know they need filter feeder food like phytoplankton and i am currently drip acclimating it with lights off. Any help appreciated. Thanks

Yes I've seen that one mine is close to that as far as care i put mine up half way modirate flow lighting is the challenge u won't enough to keep the pufonce growing but to strong the worms dye also keep flow devirted not direct they are hard to keep but gorgeous when they open

College_Reefer · Mar 16, 2021

I've had mine about 2 years now and they're doing great. New white growth on their tubes and have not lost a single one in 2 years even after traveling well over 2,000 miles with them in a 5 gal bucket.

N.Sreefer · Mar 16, 2021

Can these be propagated by fragging the host coral?

College_Reefer · Mar 16, 2021

N.Sreefer said:
Can these be propagated by fragging the host coral?

I guess theoretically if you wanted to separate them you could however I would say it is almost impossible to do without killing some of them. For reference, I have 18 worms in a rock the size of a fist. They have grown and developed their tubes so much that there is barely any actual rock left; it's all just interwoven tubes.

N.Sreefer · Mar 16, 2021

College_Reefer said:
I guess theoretically if you wanted to separate them you could however I would say it is almost impossible to do without killing some of them. For reference, I have 18 worms in a rock the size of a fist. They have grown and developed their tubes so much that there is barely any actual rock left; it's all just interwoven tubes.

It would be an interesting experiment to put a frag or small colony of Porites next to the christmas tree worm "rock" and see if the worms would colonize the other coral. Has anyone propagated these that way? From the way you describe your rock I'm guessing your right cutting into it like you said would kill some of them probably not worth it.

Sosuke · Mar 16, 2021

The worms don't move from their spot. I think these guys broadcast spawn and rarely reproduce in the reef aquarium. I do have juveniles in the rocks most likely landed on before being collected. A safer experiment is to try to get them to spawn and have a bare host coral for the new worms.

kimros1986 · Mar 24, 2021

College_Reefer said:
I guess theoretically if you wanted to separate them you could however I would say it is almost impossible to do without killing some of them. For reference, I have 18 worms in a rock the size of a fist. They have grown and developed their tubes so much that there is barely any actual rock left; it's all just interwoven tubes.

Hello!
I got a Christmas tree worm rock with porites for a few weeks ago. The porites were residing on one spot in the LFS but seems to be going in right direction now.
I've noticed though that all of the worms are not out. It's in around 350 par and partially in moderate/high flow. Nutrients etc in check by my mastertronic.
What conditions would be best flow/light? Is that even a problem? In the wild they live in quite heavy flow and high light, but guess aquarium is not comparable.

Why do your think some of the "trees" are not out?

shred5 · Mar 24, 2021

kimros1986 said:
Hello!
I got a Christmas tree worm rock with porites for a few weeks ago. The porites were residing on one spot in the LFS but seems to be going in right direction now.
I've noticed though that all of the worms are not out. It's in around 350 par and partially in moderate/high flow. Nutrients etc in check by my mastertronic.
What conditions would be best flow/light? Is that even a problem? In the wild they live in quite heavy flow and high light, but guess aquarium is not comparable.

Why do your think some of the "trees" are not out?

Were there ever worms in those holes? Are the worms dead? One theory is with out the coral the worms slowly die off but I am not so sure it is true though.
Porities is pretty easy to keep alive too as long as it does not get over grown with algae.

Sosuke · Mar 24, 2021

Porites coral are tough. Mine was moved to a separate tank during a tank breakdown and fully bleached out and got covered in algae. I thought it was dead but once moved to the next tank the coral took on some color and is slowly encrusting the rock again. These worms are light sensitive too so if a fish and or person is walking or swimming over the worms will close. If you can't see an operculum and just an empty hole there is no Christmas Tree worm there. If they just aren't coming out then I would assume something is harassing it or scaring it frequently.

College_Reefer · Mar 24, 2021

kimros1986 said:
Hello!
I got a Christmas tree worm rock with porites for a few weeks ago. The porites were residing on one spot in the LFS but seems to be going in right direction now.
I've noticed though that all of the worms are not out. It's in around 350 par and partially in moderate/high flow. Nutrients etc in check by my mastertronic.
What conditions would be best flow/light? Is that even a problem? In the wild they live in quite heavy flow and high light, but guess aquarium is not comparable.

Why do your think some of the "trees" are not out?

Have you been seeing all of them out at different times or are there a few that haven't come out at all? With mine, there is actually never a time I have seen all of them out at once. They are all their own and if they don't feel like being out, others will and vice versa. In terms of light, they won't be bothered at all by high or low light. I have mine in pretty high flow and they're happy. The only time they won't be happy is if they are literally being blown over by flow.

Ron Primas · Aug 23, 2022

r33fertank said:
Hey guys, just bought a christmas tree rock from my lfs and was wondering if anyone has one and what sort flow/light/feeding/tank placement etc they seem to do best in?
I know they need filter feeder food like phytoplankton and i am currently drip acclimating it with lights off. Any help appreciated. Thanks

Hi. Do you still have this amazing piece?