My first bristleworm

[MrSquid]

When I got my rock and did the ole' dunk-n-rinse, I ended up dumping a few bristle worms with the "old" water. Hadn't seen any in the tank since.

...or not until last night... Lights were still on and I saw one coming out of a small hole in one of the main rocks holding up my aquascaping. He was about 1/4" - 3/8" wide and I saw about 4" of his length. Creeped my wife out. :)

[andygb54303]

i got them too, are these bad? do i need to do something to get rid of them?

[MrSquid]

Nope - not bad - just a bit creepy. :D They help to stir up your substrate and keep it from getting too compacted.

Just watch for them to get TOO big. ;)

[gooch]

When I took my tanks down it was bristleworm mania. They were everywhere. Now I am going to have to actually introduce a couple eventually to my tank.

[MrSquid]

It's still wierd for me to consider them "good". Last time I was elbow-deep in saltwater they were baddies. (early/mid 90's)

As big as this guy was, I may try to trap him. Don't want him munching anything good. I know I've probably got plenty of smaller ones that'll make up for his absence.

[mako56]

Some say they are actually good just don't touch them if you do don't rub the bristles into your skin I was told and have done it to put Elmers glue over the area and let it dry and peel it off real careful. After you have this experience you will know why. I have them all over in all my tanks and have never seen them do anything bad.

[jmkarcz]

Same here. There in every tank. I don't go hunting them, but If few get sucked up, oh well. They used to be called fire worms - I remember Adam from advanced once telling me that he an Mark used to have Bristle Worm fights and fling them at each other... the red burned areas looked like bee stings and he said they burned like several bee stings. My hands are so calused that I've never had a problem. Ane they don't attack... you just about have to put them on some delicate skin or go messing around looking for trouble.

There a sign of a diverse and health system. Someday we'll say the same about flat worms....

I think Gooch gets the award for the biggest locally, but I've heard that in Chicago they actually import some much larger... And to think I went rooting around in that muck in your tubs getting all that rock 2 years ago Gooch... Didn't come home with a one...

[MrSquid]

Vinegar will also work - it dissolves the barbs from your skin (or so I've been told - I've never been zinged by ANYTHING in a tank other than a broken heater :D )

[talath]

If you want to get rid of them all together, and enjoy a free episode of "Wild Kingdom", the arrow crab (Stenorhynchus seticornis) is a voracious predator of bristleworms....and small featherdusters. I do not know if they go after the small brittle stars though. Anyone have feedback on this?

Similarly, I have a couple of large featherdusters and some small aptaisa came in on their gravel-clad tubes. My peppermint shrimp pounced on them like a cats on a laser pointer. The effluent from this action reminded me of the old "Troy-Built" chipper/shredder commercials. It's great to see such a happy little tank homme go after these pests, yet leave alone the brittle stars, mysis shrimp and small snails.

[pntballgunz]

I have one (just saw one so far) and left it alone for awhile. Now I am trying to extract the 4"-6" worm from my tank. A few days ago, my purple firefish had a run-in with the worm sometime during the night and had bristles stuck all over the fish. It was nasty to see the fish with bristles on both sides of its body including the eye. It was like a mutant porcapine fish. So far the fish seems to be recovering somewhat and eating, but seems a little timid for now. As such, I would trap those worms if you don't want to chance it having those worms making a meal oout of your small fishes. I think it also ate two of my hermit crabs since the shell is there, but the body is MIA.

[Bri Guy]

[welcome]

first post in FVRC....welcome!!!!

[andygb54303]

i doubt that it was the worms that ate your hermits, hermits and fish are both allot faster. Hermits fight and kill eachother