Bristle worm trying to kill my fish

[boardsurfer]

Bristleworm taking down a dead fish. Nasty!

 

[boardsurfer]

One last thing- here's a good way to trap 'em:

 

[Gvillboy]

Bristleworm taking down a dead fish. Nasty!

Omg.....I never knew they got this big to eat fish!

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[Gregcoyote]

The problem is there are many varieties, some more aggressive than others.


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[Amitas]

What are your water parameters?

 

[Gvillboy]

I kill everyone I find....I flip rocks weekly lol

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[Amitas]

You are basically killing one of the main consumers of detritus within your aquarium, based on a pure hunch, that is not based on any scientific observation or ecological theory. I very strongly advise against this.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I agree. They probably do far more good than bad. There are a few types that munch on coral, but the vast majority are part of the CUC.
They still creep me out. Carnivorous worms. Sounds like a 3D movie title.

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[DI68]

Boardsurfer that is crazy!!! Check out the one we just caught as I was feeding shrimp to my fish! I don't know how to load YouTube videos otherwise would have put it on. Reinforces what I have been saying about my fish disappearing but these don't even wait til they are dead, they sneak up on them while they are sleeping!


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[Swicicki]

It's been a long time since I have studied them but There are some polyceats that are quite nasty.

Some have a proboscis that they shoot out of their mouth...think about the movie aliens when the queen had a little mouth that shot out of her regular mouth

I've seen half foot long stripped bass in aquaculture system destroyed by worms we were trying to feed them

You will need a good field guide or taxonomic key if you want identify them. But it may not be easy to nail down the species. The things in our tanks can be from anywhere in the world.

Id kill anything bigger than my thumb




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[Amitas]

Based on that logic Some species fish eat coral, there for when your coral is dying you should kill every fish in your aquarium, Large enough to eat coral.

 

[Swicicki]

Based on that logic Some species fish eat coral, there for when your coral is dying you should kill every fish in your aquarium, Large enough to eat coral.

That's a flawed analogy. I can tell by looking at them which fish eat coral and which don't. There are very few among us who can ID worms without a scope and a very good reference

Plus most people don't find fish disgusting to look at. That's why they call them fish tanks.

How many worm tanks have you seen?

IMO there are are nicer CUC members to fill their roll


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[Amitas]

My point is that you should identify them before killing them. My ability was suppose to highlight the flaw within the previous statement.
Yes their may be some other CUC that are more effective individually at cleaning specific things, but how many of the can get into the center of a rock?

 

[mr_X]

I've never killed a worm in any of my tanks, and never lost a fish to them. That said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I don't find anything wrong with these worms, nor do I find their earthworm cousins to be hard to look at. If you have large worms, you are overfeeding. Just cut back on feeding, and the worms will disappear.

 

[jeffaquarius]

The question is, if worms don't do any harm why worry by making them disappear?

 

[Amitas]

Well said mr. X. In my honest opinion there are a lot of organisms that get a very bad rap (bristles, emerald crabs, hermits, etc) for doing exactly what they do and nature, and fulfilling their purpose in the aquarium, to eat detritus. These animals have evolved to sense and consume decaying matter as soon as it dies. So often times as soon as a fish dies we see these organisms consuming what looks to be an other whys healthy fish, and assume they killed the fish. When in real life they are just doing what you put them into the aquarium to do, eat detritus.

 

[mr_X]

Yes, but I believe it was the OP that stated they witnessed it grab a healthy fish. I've never seen this though, and The common worms we usually see are far too slow for this.

 

[Amitas]

The mind has a tendency to jump to conclusions and fill in details. Eye witnesses are completely Fallible.

 

[Gvillboy]

I don't want worms in my tank! I personally don't like them. I find them crawling on my corals from time to time and don't like it. I mean how big of a dent do they put in the detritus in my tank anyway?

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[DI68]

Yes, but I believe it was the OP that stated they witnessed it grab a healthy fish. I've never seen this though, and The common worms we usually see are far too slow for this.

I have personally witnessed one totally pursuing a number of my sleeping fish, actually latching on to one's tail until shaken off. It went under the rock to the front of the tank and back again, after each fish- that was the only food he was looking for. My hubby was the one who saved the blenny- I was at work. I have no reason to dispute him, especially after what I saw and knowing I have had fish disappear overnight.