Bristleworm?

[SSalty]

Found this guy lastnight. I also found a baby starfish this morning. I had no idea that my live rock still had all these little creatures in it.
Bad or good? It was funny how fast the worm shrank after he saw the flash.

 

[Bifferwine]

Bristleworms are good. They are excellent scavengers and will keep your substrate clean and eat detritus. I have tons of them in my tank. There are some species that supposedly eat some corals, but those are red and/or silver. The pink or tan ones are nothing to worry about. If you leave the lights out for a couple hours and go back to your tank with a flashlight I guarantee you'll find a ton more bristleworms in there. I do try and catch them and remove them when they get really big (around 6 to 8 inches long) just because they get creepy looking... Then I move them to my refugium.

 

[SSalty]

Bristleworms are good. They are excellent scavengers and will keep your substrate clean and eat detritus. I have tons of them in my tank. There are some species that supposedly eat some corals, but those are red and/or silver. The pink or tan ones are nothing to worry about. If you leave the lights out for a couple hours and go back to your tank with a flashlight I guarantee you'll find a ton more bristleworms in there. I do try and catch them and remove them when they get really big (around 6 to 8 inches long) just because they get creepy looking... Then I move them to my refugium.

Ok, I don't want any more bristle worms in my tank after I hear they can up to 8" long. I am a wimp when it comes to worms/spiders/snakes:shock: Can I get anything that will eat them. Will my Peppermint or emerald crab eat bristleworms?

Thanks

 

[Bifferwine]

You don't want anything to eat them. Believe me, they are one of the best things you can have in your tank. Peppermint shrimp and emerald crabs will not eat them. If you insist on removing them (bad idea in my opinion) arrow crabs will eat them.

 

[reeffreak]

Salty,I'm like you and when they get big they are ugly as heck.I haven't seen any yet in my tank but when I do,they are GONE!!!Arrow crabs,tweezers,traps they are GONE!!!

 

[yote]

IM gonna agree with Biff on this one,bristle worms make great additions to your clean up crew.
Think of em as the bigger they get,,the more bad crap they can eat.

 

[fishbait]

i feel better now. i saw a small pink one a few weeks ago and was afraid he was going to wreak havov on corals. i was under the impression that all bristleworms were bad. nice to hear there not

 

[AndyB4784]

some bristleworms can get up to 18" although i'm sure i've seen bigger ones in my tank. the bigger they are the more poop they eat ;)

 

[reeffreak]

just to clarify,I know they are beneficial,just don't like them.

There are other organisms that feed on detritus.

 

[AndyB4784]

Reef - If you catch them in large enough numbers I will gladly pay for shipping if you would be willing to send them to me. I always buy big ones from the store i work at and would be happy to give them a good home.

 

[reeffreak]

Reef - If you catch them in large enough numbers I will gladly pay for shipping if you would be willing to send them to me. I always buy big ones from the store i work at and would be happy to give them a good home.

your kidding,right.
People actually buy bristleworms?

Andy.I haven't seen any so far but okay if you really want them.
I had huge(8")bristleworms that crawled out from under the rocks when I fed the fish on my last tank.Yeah they eat detritus but man they were some ugly :censored:

 

[JellyMan]

yes they are but they look better then the medussa worm I found one of those not to happy about that :grumble:

 

[SSalty]

Ok, I am totally freeked out now. Call my a wimp, I don't care. To me I could care less if they are good for the tank. Without them I will have a better peice of mind. I don't even want to dig around my liverock anymore.

What is the best way to get rid of them. I am kind of screwed here, because arrow crabs look like spiders, and I hate spiders, haha. Are there any traps that are effective.

Seriously this is the only thing that freaks me out about ANYTHING. Ever since I was a kid I hated anything that looks like a small snake.

Put it this way, you couldn't pay me to have a brittle star in my tank either.

 

[SSalty]

Oh, I also hear that Six Lines will eat bristle worms??

 

[reeffreak]

I think they sell traps but don't remember where?(sorry)

You don't like arrow crabs either?Put some food in the tank,then yank them suckers with a tweezer then.Get er done.:mrgreen:

Dip the rocks in a bucket with high salinity(1.032) may work.
But somehow I don't think you want to do that either.

 

[AndyB4784]

use a piece of PVC with a nylon pushed through it. stick a piece of food about 3/4 of the way into the nylon that is inside the pipe. The worm should get stuck inside the nylon when it goes into the pipe. and yes catch a lot of them and i'll pay shipping for them.:)

 

[Bifferwine]

Six lines will only eat the really small ones. They won't do anything for the big suckers. There are bristleworm traps that they sell (it looks like a long green tube) but in my experience, I have never caught any using it. I've always had good luck just waiting until the tank gets dark then using a flashlight and some tweezers. That's how I populated my refugium. It's like a bristleworm convention in there.

 

[SSalty]

So Six Lines aren't worth it? Won't they do a good job with keeping the population down?

 

[Bifferwine]

Only the little ones. I have a sixline and I still see tons of bristleworms.

 

[reeffreak]

Only the little ones. I have a sixline and I still see tons of bristleworms.

could they be reproducing in the refuge and the eggs or whatever returning to the main tank?