Bristleworms

[amphibianboy528]

I am wondering about bristleworms.I don't have one in my system but I saw an article about them.As from I read they are very bad and attack anemones and corals.But it never said how to get rid of them.So how do you get rid of them???

 

[jamal-188]

Where did you read that they are bad?

They are beneficial creatures that eat left over food/junk in your tank and sift through the sand eating junk as they go.

If you really want to get rid of them try a arrow crab or 6 line wrasse, but I wouldn't remove them as they do far more good than harm IMO.

 

[SoylentGrundy]

The only bad thing i've heard about with them is that they can irritate your skin if you root around in the substrate with bare hands. If you really want rid of them, I heard of a trap involving pantyhose and meat. Anyone have the specifics of that trap?

 

[jamal-188]

Yes, belive me tey do hurt if you happen grab one...I get about 2-3 spines a week at work.

The panty hose trick is to take a little piece of meat and place it inside the pantyhose. The prob the end open with a little stick. The bristle worm will enter to get the food and get all tangled up in the pantyhose.

There is a company that makes traps but I forget who it is...I'll check at work tomorrow.

 

[PatM]

Bristleworms have such a bad reputation. Even my LFS tried to sell me some crazy worm trap and seemed really panicked that they were all over my tank. I have never seen them do anything but eat leftover food and junk. Also, watch out for those arrow crabs, I had to return one due to the fact that when he couldn't find anything to eat he would attack snails, shrimp, and finally a green chromis.

 

[Fuvibo1]

if you do see a bristleworm you will properly have about 2000 of them, they reproduce so fast and you will never know about it, anyways imo, i think they do more goods than harm, as patm said, they eat away all the left over and sometime dead fish that are inside the hole of a live rock and they move the sand bed around.

 

[amphibianboy528]

well it was some sort of worm as you guys say.It can come in live rock and will drain the nutrients from your tank.Its was a brownish tan color and the fuzzy spine stuff was a kinda dark red.But the faq said that they WILL attack and KILL anemones and corals.

 

[steve-s]

But the faq said that they WILL attack and KILL anemones and corals.

What FAQ was that? Link?

Some worms are predaceous but the key is getting the correct ID. Most of what you will see in general will be comepletely harmless. It would be quite a few years before your typical bristleworm could get large enough to become a concern. Even then, they are controlable as long as the tank is not overfed.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Jason]

I've got a bristol worm in my tank that is as big around as a pencil. I see it all the time and it's not skiddish at all, I've seen is physically touch an lps coral (a frogspawn) and it didn't even close when it touched it. So, I highly doubt that bristol worms are going to do anything to your corals.

 

[clowninround]

The bristol fire worms do though! There is a picture of one in my gallery chewing on my colt coral. Looks just like a hairy caterpillar (not sure how the spell that ) I had two that I took out of my tank, they were so large that I had to catch them with the largest fish net I have 8O

 

[steve-s]

Common bristleworms are actually a "type" of fireworm really. There are many many different species though. The "hairy caterpillar" ones mentioned by clowninround (Hermodice carunculata) are typically the most destructive. There are in fact many of the more intimidating looking species that are completely harmless. Same goes for the ones that don't look like much, they can be very destructive to soft corals.

The more common ones (Eurythoe complanata) really aren't a concern unless very very large and that is quite rare.

Cheers
Steve

 

[amphibianboy528]

yeah,iguess it is a fire bristle worm i saw in the faq.The faq i saw it in was in a catalog from drs.foster and smith.

 

[amphibianboy528]

well it was like a catalog I got from the mail.I requested one from liveaquaria.com at catalog request.

 

[echoplex]

Not saying they're good or bad, but here's a trap if you want one.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19251;category_id=1537;pcid1=;pcid2=

Coralife Trap-Em $5.99

 

[midiman]

I don't get it

If bristleworms are ok, why do live rock web sites brag about their removal of bristleworms (along with mantis shrimp) during the precuring process?


Why is there so much conflicting info out there?

 

[quarryshark]

If bristleworms are ok, why do live rock web sites brag about their removal of bristleworms (along with mantis shrimp) during the precuring process?

If one person has a bad experence with an animal, words spreads fast and before you know it, a reputation has started. Like SteveS stated, there are a few undesirable species, the key is IDing them.
I have a few monster (6" or so) Eurythoe complanata and they are no trouble at all. Sometimes a couple of them come out at feeding time with the rest and I enjoy watching them.
As for the mantis shrimp, they are pretty cool is a species tank, just not in a community tank. There are a lot of people who seek them.

 

[AR15 guy]

I just saw what appears to be a bristle worm on my rock.

Looks almost identical to a millipeed. Its pretty much clear and looked like it had some black stuff in its stomach maybe.

But they will not hurt anything?

He must be a real trooper. I was real stupid and went out and bought the rock..came home and THEN started setting my tank up. Finally got the salt right after searching for my SG meter for an hour and thought I had the SG right. Dunked the rock in...only to remember I didn't dechlorinate the water. Then come to find out my salinity was way to low. Killed a couple damsels...now I have ammonia so my cycle is starting.

And now I see him. Tough little guy.

 

[copi]

This has been an informative thread -- my LFS has signs up on some of the tanks advertising that certain fish are "GOOD BRISTLEWORM EATERS!" I've been very confused because people here at AA have indicated that they're a good thing.

 

[MarineFlake]

For what its worth..I wish I had taken a photo of the 'standard' bristle in my tank sucking out the goodness in one of my open brain corals. I think for most people however, it isn't so much the damage they can cause as it is the amount of worms. As previously mentioned they can breed quickly. They are opportunistic feeders and I *personally* don't want them in my tank. However, if you have LR you have bristle worms. I bought a 6 line wrasse for the sole purpose of 'controlling' the worm population in my tank and do not regret it. As for 'fire' bristle, never seen one but I would suppose its reputation would prod me into constructing some type of trap. Doubtful you can completely erradicate worms even if you wanted to, but you can control them and probably should to prevent you tank from being over run.

GL!

 

[Phyl]

I had 2 bristle worms in my tank. A 2" guy and one that was closer to 8". The 8"er was chewing on my frilly mushroom when he was ripped from the tank! The shroom was spewing so I know it wasn't just a friendly visit with the shroom. I was sad to have had to remove him because he was a really cool critter. My favorite pasttime was trying to get a good picture of him because he was sooooo cool. Oh well. I guess it all depends on your tank, inhabitants, etc.