bristle worms

[sassyfrassy]

Is there a species of bristle that only grows to a couple of inches? I have lots of bristle worms - lots of babies, but I've never seen one larger than a couple of inches. Can you have too many?

[aarond21]

I had some in my biocube, that never got over a couple inches I never had problems with them. But this was the only tank Ive ever had them in.

[noahm]

You can't have too many unless it is too many for you to stomach looking at your tank. They will multiply in response to excess food. If you remove a bunch, something has to be done about the excess food... It is possible that you have a small species, and it is also possible that the population density favors slower growth, and that if there were fewer they might get larger. Only time will tell. There is no concern for size though. They are just as safe at 12" as at 2".

[billdogg]

^^^What he said^^^

All too often, people are in a great big hurry to rid their tanks of various "pests" What they fail to understand is that, in most cases, these critters are growing in number because of poor husbandry on the part of the aquarist. Correct the problem (usually excess nutrients), and the plague will die back to a reasonable level. No real reef system, using live rock as most do, will be without countless little critters, nor should it be.