bristle worms

[joe kirner]

all i have in my tank rite now is live rock and a bunch of bristtle worms. I sent my fish to the babysitter while my tank is cycleing because i drained it so i could build a ne w stand anyways im hearing bristtle worms are bad so how do i get rid of all of them

 

[rayjay]

First off, ignore what you were told about bristle worms being bad.
I've had them in my tanks for over seventeen years now and not removed any deliberately although some have been sucked up when doing cleaning chores.
I have many that appear to be well over 8 inches long.
They feed off detritus and any other dying material, and as far as I can tell, get a bad name from some people because they can be seen feeding on corals. In fact, I've also seen them feeding on the corals, but they were only eating dead material that was caused by something else, and possibly were the salvation of some of the corals by removing the affected dead flesh, making recovery easier for the coral.
Usually I hadn't noticed a problem with the coral until the bristle worms called attention to the matter as the part they were feeding on was usually quite small, so then by putting the coral in direct flow of a power head, the coral usually survived the ordeal, even with the bristle worms still eating the dead flesh.

 

[joe kirner]

thanks for the reply .makes me feel better about putting stuff back in my tank

 

[Scampy]

I have hundreds in my nano. Never seen them bother anything other than the tips of my fingers. I think they are a benaficial part of the CUC. Here is a couple pics of mine.

 

[WABlonde]

At any point is it beyond beneficial and more of an infestation?

 

[Scampy]

The word "infestation" is subject to interpretation. Would it be bad if your pockets were infested with 100 dollar bills..lol. Seriously though...they are only there to do 2 things. Eat and reproduce. I'm guilty of overfeeding and the population shows it. I'd rather see them and know leftovers are being consumed before it has the chance to break down. I've also had algae and bacteria outbreaks where light and food got cut way back and the population dwindles accordingly. They are controlable and trapable if you dont like them...but if they aren't hurting anything why bother.

 

[schadiest1]

I second what rayjay said.

My biggest problem with bristle worms was getting pricked by them when picking up live rock when rearranging my tank.

 

[tat2z_21]

Hey SCHADIEST didn't know there was another Oak Harbor guy on here. You should go and check out the North Sound Reefers page. But back to the bristles, leave them in there and they will reproduce when the tank requires it and deminish when the tank does not. So let them be. Keep in mind though that they do sting so when reaching into the tank look before you grab.

 

[Faciosity]

Bristleworms are great for your tank, they eat all the nasty stuff that gets left behind. I've only had 2 problems with them: Bigger ones stealing food right out of a corals mouth, and being poked by them! Just don't touch them! Here is a thread from a while back: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f224/ouch-bristleworms-58144/

 

[NWDiver]

Hi Joe,
+1 to all the other posts. The population will go down when there is no food for them to eat. I see no harm in sucking some of them out when doing a water change, it is just another way to export nutrients.

 

[Nana Chloropsis]

I agree with everyone about the benefits of bristleworms in a reef tank. When I saw my first one, I was totally grossed out and sought immediate eradication of every one of them. How could something so hideous be, in-fact, good? I have heard tales of the 12 incher, stalking and eating small fish at night, but I wonder if that was some tall tale. It even made me devise a trap to get rid of them, I was scared! I trapped them for a week, then realized that although I was getting 4-5 a night, they were all fairly small and harmless. I now let them be and regard them as a valuable addition to my CUC. ( I still don't like how they LOOK though!)