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View Full Version : bristleworms infestation


aznnutty
11/18/2008, 05:25 PM
i have a LOT of bristle worms in my 75g and i don't care to keep them anylonger. i know that they are benificial to the tank but it's just too much to always becareful of what i touch or pull out of the tank. it seems like everything i pick up has a colony of worms on it. i don't want to do any traps so i'm looking for a natural solution. crabs shrimps fish? what has worked the best for you guys?

PiXieCath
11/18/2008, 05:33 PM
Arrow crab work well. But if you have so many of this worm, this is probably because they found what they need to reproduce. Maybe you overfeed a bit?

jamest0o0
11/18/2008, 05:39 PM
You probably shouldn't be sticking your bare hands in the tank anyway? Try gloves :)? Feed less and there will be less.

agreeive?fish
11/18/2008, 07:38 PM
more food = more bristle worms less food = less bristle worms.. they are self regulating in population by the anount of food avaliable to consume

icechimpee
11/18/2008, 08:05 PM
+1 on gloves

reefworm
11/18/2008, 08:48 PM
ditto to the advice to lower food input. what are you doing for nutrient transport? What fish do you have?

Tswifty
11/18/2008, 08:52 PM
You can probably siphon them out with some properly sized airline tubing and a mesh bag... like melev did with flatworms.

http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html

mikid
11/18/2008, 09:30 PM
ive only had 1,large he was,removed him because he was to large,but i have always liked predatory fish to some extent,so ive always had a neon dottyback,good hunter he is,look in changing your feeding if thats the issue or maybe a hunter that works for you,just like peppermint shrimp for aptasia!,mikid:rollface:

aznnutty
11/19/2008, 12:53 AM
i currently have a 75g tank with
2 med clowns, 2 scooter blenny, 1 green mandarin, 1 yellow eyed kole. a bunch of hermits, snails and micro brittle stars. not too many fish.
i have an auto feeder with the lowest setting on and it feeds sinking pellets. so only a few pellets twice a day. not sure what the worms are eatting but theres sure is alot of them.

aznnutty
11/19/2008, 12:54 AM
now i'm debating on getting an coral banded or arrow crab for the tank, and a copper banded butterfly for the aptasia

gsxr750
11/19/2008, 01:47 AM
+1 on the gloves as well

crvz
11/19/2008, 07:59 AM
I like my canary wrasse, he does a number on things like that. Though larger worms will require manual removal in most cases. I've heard reports of arrow crabs taking them out, but I've also seen arrow crabs attempt (if not succeed) to catch fish, and I don't really think they're reef safe. As a temporary solution, it may work.

reefworm
11/19/2008, 11:50 AM
nutrient transport? cheato, skimming, etc.?

WaterKeeper
11/19/2008, 12:07 PM
All of the above reefworm, plus regular water changes. The bristles outbreak, at the top of this thread, probably means there is solid food in abundance. A missing fish or clumps of uneaten food can be the cause. Water quality itself would not be the cause of mass worm breeding. Worms are meat and potato guys. ;)

reefworm
11/19/2008, 12:42 PM
good point - thanks as always :D

aznnutty
11/19/2008, 05:12 PM
nutrient transport by a large euro reef skimmer and chaeto. theres not much food going into the tank but there has been a missing fish tho, my purple fire fish is missing and didnt jump out so i'm not sure if that was the cause or not. but it's been two weeks now he's missing

Rae C.
11/19/2008, 05:22 PM
Give it another couple weeks and they'll probably disappear as well. They may have reproduced while taking care of the missing fish.