bristle worms

[diablo]

I never realized that I had a problem with these guys before. I have set up a 55 gallon for my girlfriend to have a reef. I pulled some rock out of my fish only (never saw one bristle worm in the tank ever) now in her 55 there are about 100 or so counted 25 at one time and that was just in front. I threw a six line in there. Still see quite a few. any other things I could try such as fresh water dip the rock till they fall out like a mantis shrimp. super hot saltwater fry them ( that will cause decay like starting a cycle over again wont it )
Does anything else prey on these worms.
a few is diversity alot is a pain

anybody got some good suggestions to rid them

 

[ScottT1980]

You could try wrapping some food in pantyhose and then putting it in your tank. The pantyhose can trap the worms, but supposedly it only has varying success. Personally, I just let them do their thing in my tank, but I don't think I have ever counted numbers in excess of 25 at one time...

Take er easy
Scott T.

 

[brianblack]

I also let them be. They don't seem to hurt anything and I have never seen one in my tank over an inch but I have heard other people have had quite large ones. There are a few that are bad but I have not had any exp with them. I never counted them - I will have to look next feeding seems they pop out then.

 

[jsmkmavity]

most people would be amazed how many bristle worms are actually in their tank. if you use a dim flashlight or a red one an hour or so after lites-out look all over the rock and substrate. the only problem i know of with bristle worms is their bristles hurt a bit if you are cleaning your substrate with no gloves. i no longer believe they cause the deaths of so many animals that they are accused of. they will take advantage of an untimely death though and are usually the first on the scene which may be why they get blamed. since we are trying to recreate the sea in our homes i think we should have as much of the normal life as possible in our closed system. some things need to be removed due to space restrictions and some need to be removed to prevent warfare or pollution but the worms are part of the clean-up and only a few types- not bristle worms- are a problem IMO/IME. i have been up late at night watching my tank A LOT and see what different worms do, and never seen a bristle attack a living creature. some others here with more experience than me will say the same thing. others dissagree but i dont think its from personal experience.

 

[Sk8r]

Until I get a brush to scrub the insides of the holey rock, I think I'll stick with worms. Besides, some research I have read suggests that without then to break down the fish poo into useable size particles, there would be no acroporas. I have a couple that exceed 6 inches, and uncounted little ones. I'm also from Oklahoma, where we had an initial infestation of the bad kind, out of the Caribbean, but I've now joined the pro-bristleworm faction. They're a good thing.

 

[gman0526]

If you have "too many" bristleworms you're feeding too much. Their population is relative to available food. Take a look into how much you're feeding.

 

[diablo]

Ill ask her how much the tank is actually getting fed.

If you have "too many" bristleworms you're feeding too much. Their population is relative to available food. Take a look into how much you're feeding.

 

[Elmo18]

What is wrong with bristle worms?

just my opinion.

Best,
Ilham

 

[diablo]

a couple is cool but a army scares me alittle

 

[Spartan007]

Neon Dottybacks will eat more small bristle worms than a 6 line. Thats just my 2 cents.

Spartan

 

[Apple5150]

I think Copperbands eat them, or least mine does. I have one rock that I have seen a few in and I find my copperband picking on that rock all the time, right in the corner they hide.

 

[sihaya]

Oh no! Please don't hurt the bristle worms! They're good guys!

They're great detrivores. And contrary to popular belief, the little ones found in most reef tanks are completly harmless. (Well, unless you try to pick them up with your fingers... then they can sting you. Not real bad though...just enough to make you not want to pick one up again. )

 

[BJTenn]

When I thought they were bad (more advise from lfs, who we don't like) I got an arrowcrab and that bad boy had one munching on it every morning. Then I thought I was eating the legs off my ornamental brittle star (confusing it with the bristle worm) and I put the crab in the back FOWLR. Then I got one of those simple plastic green tubes, traps, and caught 10-12 everynight with a piece of shrimp or something.

Then......I heard they were beneficial and still have some survivors.....thank goodness I guess...:lol:

 

[MikeS]

Like Gman said....they limit themselves to available food, and generally, they are harmless, benefical scavengers...

MikeS

 

[burning2nd]

ya everyone says there good to have, i dont think i have any anymore. my arrow crab is a assasin of worms

you could get a arrow crab, or borrow one from someone.

 

[tamarindthai]

green wrease will take care your problem,,but be aware with another problem what wrease can create.

 

[BJTenn]

Hey, finally found my picture to upload. Its the arrow crab with his typical breakfast. I don't know how to get it into my message, but its in my photos.

I think they're fine. I stopped the war after deciding they were okay, about 6 mos ago. The population hasn't seemed to change???

good luck

 

[tasos]

Don't harm the bristtle worms in my opinion !!

 

[steven11]

I had a quite large one maybe 3-4 inches. My Diadema Pseudo was not any where close to being big enough to eat the worm but a two days after i put the pseudo in my tank i found the worm dead on the sand. But he also eat the sniffer tubes of my nasarius snails. I guess you have to take the good with the bad. They are cool looking too. Good luck!

Steven

 

[steven11]

There is a pic in my photo gal. I dont know how to get it from there to here.
Sorry!