Fish that eat bristle worms?

[Jetmech2000]

Is there a fish that eats bristle worms?

[lbannie]

They say a sixline wrasse will.....but mine doesn't seem too!! I'm curious to see the other answers....

[Jetmech2000]

I was looking on liveaquaria.com and they say dottybacks do. Any info would be great. Thanks

[joy13]

What fish do you already have? A dottyback can get pretty aggressive and stress out the other fish to the point of stress related diseases. Do you want to decrease the numbers or totally get rid of them? To totally get rid of them you will have to start your tank over with all base rock and sand. I have had several hitchhike in on corals as well.

Personally I like the bristle worms in my tanks. I find my tanks stay a lot cleaner because they clean up any left over food to keep the nitrates down.

[melosu58]

I leave them in my tank too. They are great janitors. I have heard that Coris wrasse will take care of them also.

[PrettyFishies]

Bristleworms are not a threat until they get really big, like 4" which takes a LONG time. They are beneficial to your system

[Jetmech2000]

Just trying to cut down on the population. I have a naso tang, blue tang, malenorus wrasse, true percula, pink spotted watchman gobby, purple fire fish, and a scooter Blenny in a 200g with a lot of live rock, and an arrow crab

[Jetmech2000]

Originally Posted by PrettyFishies

Bristleworms are not a threat until they get really big, like 4" which takes a LONG time. They are beneficial to your system

I have a few that are around 4 inches if not bigger. The big ones stay in one rock on the right side of the tank. I took a few of those rocks out and let the dry out and some of the big ones came out of the rock. But I still have like 5 or 6 really big ones left

[Jetmech2000]

Originally Posted by PrettyFishies

Bristleworms are not a threat until they get really big, like 4" which takes a LONG time. They are beneficial to your system

Also, I had 4 true perculas and one by one they disappeared, no body or any remains left to be found. Now I only have 1 true perculas left. All the trues looked and acted healthy the day or night before they vanished!!

[boardsurfer]

Originally Posted by PrettyFishies

Bristleworms are not a threat until they get really big, like 4" which takes a LONG time. They are beneficial to your system

Lol, I had a couple 12" long in my 55gal. Never any issues with them. They are good for your cuc.

[joy13]

Your arrow crab should be the best bet to keep them under control. I have a few that is pretty good size in one of my tanks but no little ones in those tanks since they were probably starved out. I have a few that hang out in certain areas of my tanks I am just careful when I move things around. They do hurt if they get on the skin but vinegar soaks seems to dissolve the bristles.

[bighabeeb]

I have a couple that are very large...no idea how large as the most I've seen out is about 10 - 12", but with more going back into the rocks they hide under.

Like previous posters, I've honestly not seen any problems from them...they seem to keep any decaying matter under control (I lost several fish in one bulk with a power failure, and the bodies didn't stick around long enough to even pull out).

They are creepy to look at, but I'd say they're definitely a valuable part of my CUC....and thus far have not damaged anything alive in the tank.