bristle worms

[acrylic_300]

I like em...I have a few that are over 6 inches. My Maroon clown must have got into one the other day...he had bristles stuck all over his face....looked like a little goatee.

 

[returnofsid]

GMan makes the comment that if you have too many bristleworms, it's because you're feeding too much. From a recent experience, I beg to differ. I've got a 10 gallon tank set up with about 7 lbs of live rock, maybe 1-1 1/2" of live sand and a lil' HOB powerfilter. I have NEVER fed this tank anything at all. It's been set up now for about 3 months. I'm using it to grow chaeto and pods. There's TONS of bristle worms in there and I see new tiny ones all the time. I know they're breeding and I also know there were not very many in there when I set it up. There's also tons of bristle stars (a few came with a small clump of chaeto). As I said...I've never, not once, fed this tank anything. There's no fish in it at all so the amount of detritus is very minimal. The only coral in there is a few polyps of GSP that showed up on a piece of LR that's in there. The only other animal in the tank is a few nassarius snails I've recently introduced to QT before putting them in another tank. I do regular water changes of 2 gallons a week and top it off about every 3 days. The Chaeto has grown from about half the size of my fist to over half the size of the tank....lol.

 

[redrooster]

I had heard that they kill clams, but I am guessing this is just another bad rumor. I used to have a couple but haven't seen any in over 2 years. I think my six line wrasse along with my starving crab overpopulation wiped them out.

 

[sryder]

I pulled a 12 incher out the morning and put him in the fuge for clean up there. these things can grow pretty large and you never even know they were there. sometimes they will grow many feet long like over 10 feet. great detrivores

 

[IAP Brian]

The only bristle worms I have actually seen attack healthy specimens is the fire bristle worm ( usually flat, wide, red and very fuzzy) they are called fire worms for a reason! That annoying feeling of having a bunch of little needles in your finger from regular worms goes to something much more like a wasp sting. But I think the fire worms are pretty rare. I have only had a few show up in my tanks and after helping unload rock at the Shark Reef, I have only seen one in every 2000- 3000 lbs of rock. Pretty rare I think. All the other bristle worms I think are quite beneficial. I don't personally like the sight of the large ones but my 6 lines keep them down to a minimum. I also have a neon dottyback in my cube reef and he is an awesome assassin of all things pest wise (and quite a few things otherwise). I have named him Osama bin Fishy. He chased the 6 line into the sump 3 times, chased the diamond goby out of the water (found him dry on the floor), and chased the fire fish goby out as well (dry on the floor too ). I was ready to send him to a penalty tank but I saw him dragging a large (quarter size) hairy crab out from the rock pile into the open. The Tangs bashed the crab into pieces and everyone picked at the remains until the hermits moved in. I haven't seen Osama picking on the snail tubes but he probably just hasn't gotten around to it yet.
Anyway, I think bristle worms are good for a tank overall but can easily be controlled with the right mix of occupants.

 

[gman0526]

returnofsid, how old is this tank? If it's fairly new and there were eggs that could've hatched then I would expect to see more BW pop up every now and then. If the tank has been setup for awhile they have to be eating something, i still have not read anything about self sustaining BW. I could see that if a couple of BW's die the smaller ones will feed on their corpses, but I just can't see a sustainable population breeding and growing into adults without any food source. Also the fact that the chaeto is growing so good in this tank relates to the fact that there's gotta be some source of nutrients in the tank.

 

[returnofsid]

Well, the tank has been set up for about 4 months now so still fairly new. When I set it up, I did use sand from another of my existing tanks. Still haven't ever fed the tank anything and I just pulled out a 5 gal bucket full of chaeto last night, leaving a ball about the size of a baseball to continue growing....lol. I'm sure there's some kind of food in the sand for them and probably some from whatever die off happens naturally in the tank.

 

[GSMguy]

i have a 29 gallon with tons of them never seen them do anything but clean my tank they are all fuzzy wide and red should i worry

 

[returnofsid]

nggrant, not at all. They're great detrivores. They do a great job of eating left overs, cleaning up the tank and even do a lil' sand stirring. Mine even make a great snack for my 6 line wrasse every now and then.

 

[GSMguy]

thanks return

 

[returnofsid]

You betcha. Out of all the species of bristle worms, there's only a very few that are hazardous to reef tanks. Those select few are also quite rare so it's nothing to lose sleep over. If you decide that your population of bristle worms is becoming unsightly, there's several cheap ways to kull the population. One easy way is to buy a pair of women's pantyhose....as apposed to men's pantyhose?? lol...cut off a section of it and tie a piece of shrimp into it. Also tie a string on it long enough to lower it to the bottom of the tank and still have access to the string. Put this in the tank at night and in the morning, pull it out. The bristle worms are able to "worm" their way through the pantyhose and feast away at the shrimp. What they don't realize is that this will be their last meal!! Good luck!! Oh and be careful not to grab ahold of them as you're pulling them out or throwing them away. May give you a lil' sting.

 

[IAP Brian]

nggrant: if they look like the ones in the picture on this link, get rid of them asap. http://www.thesea.org/reef_aquarium/pests/pests_bristleworms.php

These worms have been documented to consume flesh in both stony and soft coral by means of burrowing into the specimens and damaging tissue, and in other cases consuming the tissue itself. Some have preyed on snails and clams, and have the ability to bore into the shell and feed on the living food source. Small Fish can even become victim to this predator in the evenings if it's so motivated but this threat is not likely. The worms that occupy the substrate are actually bennefical, the larger ones like this Fireworm that live amongst the rocks may be a less welcome visitor to the tank.

 

[GSMguy]

ok now im freaking out thos are the ones i have they are not as brightly colored but they are a sort of grey orange what is the best way to eradicate them i have tons they dont mess with my coral as of yet

 

[mark peacock]

try a reef lobster they love them i have one doe's the trick.

 

[GSMguy]

reef lobsters eat bristleworms really!! i have always wanted one and i lost my sally lightfoot in the last move of the tank maybee now is the time problem is my girlfriend saw pink one and now i cant buy one unless its pink has anyone ever heard of a reef lobster eating bristleworms i want to know more

 

[mark peacock]

Yea bought mine about three years ago but do not see it that often but last time i sore it was eating a big bristle about an inche long seemed to love it.

 

[IAP Brian]

I would declare war on the fire worms if I was you. Get some latex gloves, stainless long tweezers and a bristle worm trap. Everytime you see one in the open yank it out. You can also go to the extreme and pull all your rock out of the tank and do a fresh water dip. Do what you have to, but I would eliminate those buggers asap. Good luck

 

[steve-s]

Just be sure what you are removing is the bearded fireworm (Hermodice carunculata) and not a simple bristleworm (Eurythoe complanata). The latter is harmelss besides the fact you'd be wasting your time anyway. For the most part where you might physically see 1, there's hundreds more you don't

FWIW, most fireworms are harmless with the exception of the one I mentioned and a few select others.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/index.php

 

[GSMguy]

i think i have the tolerable kind mafackers is scaring me

 

[returnofsid]

As I mentioned earlier, the bad kind isn't all that common. The beneficial kind still look evil though...lol. I've got some in my tanks that are huge. I'll go to move a piece of rock and one as big around as my finger will slither out of it. I've almost dropped a piece of rock in my tank (with the fear of breaking glass) to keep them away from me...lol.