Killer Bristleworm

[MarineFlake]

I witnessed a bristleworm with his head all up in a brain last night. That kinda peeved me. So, after doing some research, I have come up with a little homemaed trap. Looking for some input, specially if you have done this before. I took a baby bottle (don't worry, the baby has a TON of bottles) and made the nipple just a tad larger. The trick is to make the entrace as tight as possible so that its hard to get out. I used some marbles to hold the bait down. I think the only 'mod' I need to make is to actually turn the nipple over so that its concave rather than convex. This looks like the 'trap em' (coralife (tm)) trap entrance. Anyone else have luck with homemade bristle worm traps, and if so, what kind of bait did you use?

Thanks

 

[phases99]

Did you see any damage on the brain? Most likely just looking for food. My crabs, snails and shrimp are all over my corals, especially at night and have never seen any damage.

 

[MarineFlake]

Yes, the worm was in a hole that he had apparently made. It was very apparent that it had actually punctured the side of the coral. Bristleworms are opportunistic, so its not surprising. Seems like this guy is just getting too big for the usual food avenues.

 

[phases99]

Not good, get him!

 

[rayjay]

In my humble opinion, I believe it is more likely that the bristle was only cleaning up dead or decaying matter that was caused by something else.
They are very adept at detecting dying matter, and when cleaning this up they have very often been mistaken for the cause of the problem.
Very few bristles that will feed on live corals, will ever make it to the hobbyists tanks.

 

[MarineFlake]

Definitely the worms. I am perfecting my trap solution even as this is read! ; )