Best Recommended way to rid of Bristleworms

[tkmak]

OK, in my previous few questions, I admitted to being a old but new reefkeeper. Kept reef aquariums 15 years ago, just built my first one in 15 years.

Bought 3 year old Indonesian Live Rock off a fella, got the aquarium built and put three small fish in there. After a small brown algae bloom (the consensus was Phosphate bloom due to no use of RO/DI water) that has pretty much gone away, now I get a good look at my rock.

Bristleworms!!! I don't know if I have an infestation, I have spotted a dozen or so on about 80lbs of rock. But, I figure they're like cockroaches in the wall, you see one, you got a crapload more you don't see.

Tried getting them out manually w/ tweezers. Got two of the buggers, but the rest were too fast for me.

I've read mixed reviews on traps, some say they work some say they are worthless. And, I don't see them venturing too far from their holes.

I also read about 6 line wrasses, but got a leopard wrasse in there already.

Eventually want to introduce SPS, LPS, and Zoas. the Bristleworms gonna do me in there?


Any ideas?

 

[returnofsid]

Bristleworms have a very bad rap...and I'm not sure why. They're great detrivore feeders and aren't hazardous a tall in a reef tank. Ok, there's a very few species that are bad...but those species are also quite rare in our tanks. For the most part, bristleworms are great to have in our tanks. Just don't touch them....lol. They don't call them "fireworms" for nothing. I've personally watched my 6 lined wrasse gobble them up. My population of them isn't all that large, except in my fuge. I assume since there's lots in my fuge, and not nearly as much in my tank, my wrasse is eating quite a few.

 

[lizardarm]

I agree, for the most part and with a few exceptions bristleworms aren't a bad thing; they come out at night and clean the nooks and crannies in that Indonesian rock.

 

[NaH2O]

I wouldn't worry too much about them. Their populations will wax and wan based on food supply. I've even seen a population grow in my own system, only to disappear to nearly nothing and I didn't even do anything different. The only change was the mini brittle star population grew, and likely removed the food source (or took over the food source when the worms died down). Enjoy them as part of your tanks diversity. Watch your food inputs, blast off the detritus in your live rock, and you should see them die down in time.

 

[jagwire]

bristtles

they do seem to have there benifits and if you have what you think is to many of them then it is likley that you are feeding to much or have to large of a bioload. if would really like to get rid of them wait until lights off and then use a turkey baster to suck them up when they come out to feed.

 

[returnofsid]

A good way to trap a lot of them is to use some mesh netting, like "wedding veil" or even panty hose. Wrap a piece of veil around a frozen prawn, tie a knot in it, tie a string to it that's fairly long, and drop it in the tank at night. You want the string to be long enough to drop the "trap" in the tank, while still leaving the other end of the string outside the tank. During the night, the worms will crawl through the veil and chow down on the prawn. In the morning, pull it out and you'll have caught a lot of worms.

 

[kirkland]

I used to see tons of bristleworms at night, then I saw none for a while, and now I see a few here and there. If I remember right, the bright red ones are bad, the brown ones are ok. I agree that they are detrivores and benefit the tank, not harm.

 

[OldFishMan]

Hello;

My Banded Coral Shrimp keeps Bristle Worms under control --- I haven't seen one for a couple of years.

http://www.divegallery.com/banded_shrimp.htm

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[burning2nd]

my arrow crab loves em

they arnt bad... but they will effect other macro life, by staveing or just altering the food chain in some way...

 

[eliterecon14]

Coral banded shrimp and "false gramma" psuedochromis' eat them. I had a single worm that just happened to be red all over the front half and it died the next day, so I'm kinda a bored no plagues to kill or infestations..........................................................................................................

 

[MikeS]

I wouldn't worry about them unless you have some of those nasty Caribbean fire worms...like Nikki pointed out they will limit their population to the available food supply....

 

[jnarowe]

well, the ones you really need to watch out for are flat and appear segmented. They have nasty mandibles and can grow to several feet long. They are usually grey or brown and are mostly nocturnal. There's a lot of reading available regarding bristleworms.

 

[bjonesjr1]

Here's a good site on Marine flatworms;

http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~bu6/index.html

hope this might help...

 

[jnarowe]

I didn't know google had a program like that...