Attack of the Bristleworms

[tomtom14]

Hi everyone as the title suggest I have a bristle worm infestation. To boost Coraline algae growth i put my razors up to 100percent and overfed my tank. Doesn't matter to me as only have a foxface, maroon clown and bicolour blenny in the 140gallon tank.

Anyway this obviously meant there was a lot of leftover food and the Bristleworms bred and grew. The problem is one of them is slightly red like a fireworm. Considering I want this to be a reef tank that would be very bad. So please help with identification and could a medium sized bristleworm eat a small hermit crab? As mine are being eaten fast. Thanks for any responses and taking your time to read this.


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[tomtom14]

There are 3 in the pic and it's only a small part of the tank. If there are too many what would be the best way to remove them or any reef safe predators?


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[Sniperhank]

There are fish that eat them, but the problem was created by your overfeeding. Overfeeding your tank will not increase coraline growth, it will cause parameter issues and algae growth rampant through the tank.
As for the 'red' one, it is just another bristle worm. You don't have a fireworm. I've only ever seen one in all the years in the hobby and others with even more years than me have still seen just as few. The bristle worms will only eat the decaying matter, not live things...not to be confused with things we THINK are alive but are dying.
For removal, though I wouldn't want to remove any part of my clean up crew, you can simply use tweezers to get them out. There are fish that eat them, but adding more bioload to one you have already stressed out by the overfeeding is not a solution towards the problem as they are large fish that need large tanks.

 

[tomtom14]

Thanks. So was it the larger Bristleworms that ate my small hermit crabs or must it have been something else?


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[Sniperhank]

Doubtful. It is more likely the hermits killed each other for their shells.