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View Full Version : Bristle worms good or bad?


pinkskunk14
01/08/2012, 06:14 PM
Ive always heard if i see a bristle worm kill on the spot, now i've read there good for your reef is a there a specific kind that wont attack your corals? If so how quickly do they reproduce? I've heard that orange fireworm is good is there ant truth to that?

phyber
01/08/2012, 06:26 PM
Good for cleaning up the tank, bad for looking very creepy

Indymann99
01/08/2012, 06:28 PM
Bristleworms are good scavengers. Their populations are self limiting to the amount off excess food available. Over feeding = LOTS of Bristleworms.

The bad kind is rare in the hobby. The good ones are common.

data_loss
01/08/2012, 06:38 PM
I'm convinced that a larger bristle worm in my tank ate 3 peppermint shrimp. Sure it is possible they died and he was just scavenging, but nothing else in my tank has died lately.

I usually keep an eye out for larger ones at night and if I see one I just suck it up with a turkey baster type fish feeder I have and flush it.

I came home to find this guy munching on a peppermint shrimp and sucked him up,

http://stevebaker.net/r/worm1_small.jpg
http://stevebaker.net/r/worm2_small.jpg

ecdragonz
01/08/2012, 06:41 PM
I would take them out.

deanearp
01/08/2012, 06:51 PM
Good for cleaning up the tank, bad for looking very creepy

+1. My understanding is that they are nothing to worry about, especially if they are small. There seems to be widely varying opinion on this. A wrasse would help take care of them.

pinkskunk14
01/08/2012, 07:18 PM
i like to feed my fish alot my philosophy is a fat fish is a happy fish so i guess bristle worms will overtake my tank...sucks but if i were to put a bristle worm trap will i remove them all?

pinkskunk14
01/08/2012, 07:19 PM
I'm convinced that a larger bristle worm in my tank ate 3 peppermint shrimp. Sure it is possible they died and he was just scavenging, but nothing else in my tank has died lately.

I usually keep an eye out for larger ones at night and if I see one I just suck it up with a turkey baster type fish feeder I have and flush it.

I came home to find this guy munching on a peppermint shrimp and sucked him up,

http://stevebaker.net/r/worm1_small.jpg
http://stevebaker.net/r/worm2_small.jpg


He is kinda cute he doesnt look as bad as others

pinkskunk14
01/08/2012, 07:20 PM
What type of wrasse?

Mike_Noren
01/08/2012, 07:26 PM
I'm not an expert on those guys, but I think that's not just any old polychaete, I think that's a caribbean fireworm, Hermodice carunculata (http://weblog.greenpeace.org/defendingourmediterranean/images/180polychaete_worm_hermodice_carunculata__whole_worm_for_hibsy.html). Treat it with respect, it's called fireworm and carries those conspicuous white tufts for a reason. And yeah, you probably don't want H. carunculata in your tank - they eat corals and (as you've noticed) crustaceans.

SushiGirl
01/08/2012, 08:05 PM
Yeah, those pics aren't a typical, everyday bristleworm found in home aquaria.
I overfeed, so I have a lot, and some big ones (not the biggest I've had, but big enough). When they get annoying & start stealing food from the inhabitants I paid good money for, I catch them with a long pair of non-locking hemostats (giant tweezers) and pull them out. I'm a darn good bristleworm hunter LOL. I have 2 right now living with my tiny pistol shrimp, and if I can get them to come out far enough they're goners. They won't let the poor little shrimp eat, I have to stand there for a long time to make sure the pistol gets fed. Today, he was so hungry he came half out of his burrow, pushing past the 2 bristleworms, grabbed the turkey baster with one claw & reached in & grabbed a piece of food with the other...twice! :lmao:

psteeleb
01/08/2012, 08:14 PM
like a lot of things in our reef tanks - too much of one thing can cause a problem.

though usually harmless they can just be eyesores and when they get real big will compete for the food

If my population gets to large I'll usually add some more hermits as they compete for the same types of food and will help keep the numbers in check

if they get to big and numerous where the hermits wont help I'll add a preditor. Some wrasses will go for smaller worms but usually not the larger ones. Other known preditors that will go for the larger ones include the arrow crab and banded coral shrimp.

that's a great story sushigirl

capschamp
01/08/2012, 08:17 PM
http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

Not a bristle worm, but scary none the less.

psteeleb
01/08/2012, 08:21 PM
http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

Not a bristle worm, but scary none the less.

that darn link gives me the heebeegeebees every time I see it :uhoh3:

DanEnglish
01/08/2012, 08:21 PM
I just rearranged some rocks in my tanks tonight and saw about 10 that were as thick as my pinky finger and about 6 inches long. They have not harmed anything for years, including clams, LPS, zoas, numerous fish, shrimp, etc.

SushiGirl
01/08/2012, 09:02 PM
Dan, that's the size of the ones I have.

jamey1015
01/08/2012, 10:23 PM
I had a Sand Perch from the Pinguipedidae family and he loved bristle worms except he also will eat small shrimp, feather dusters, Christmas tree worms, and other small invertebrates and small fish. Nevertheless, they would also eat bristleworms and mantis shrimps, and is coral safe.

Cleaned my tank up in no time and I passed him along to a fellow reefer!

DanEnglish
01/08/2012, 11:22 PM
I assume they clean up for me, as my shark and lionfish make a mess sometimes!

pinkskunk14
01/09/2012, 01:22 AM
so let me get this right as long as i dont over feed my tank wont be populated with bristle worms? ive fished them out before but its a mission nonetheless if they start starving all my pets i should put mor blue legs to control them? will the coral banded actively hunt bristle worms?

divewsharks
01/09/2012, 01:55 AM
You are going to have bristleworms, how many depends on how much you feed. Blue legs just eat the same food, so it can help keep the population smaller. CBS will hunt them, as do arrow crabs and some wrasses.
While not the prettiest things, they are an important member if your cleanup crew.

capschamp
01/09/2012, 06:32 AM
You are going to have bristleworms, how many depends on how much you feed. Blue legs just eat the same food, so it can help keep the population smaller. CBS will hunt them, as do arrow crabs and some wrasses.
While not the prettiest things, they are an important member if your cleanup crew.

This^

I wouldnt worry about them unless you see them eating something you dont want hem to eat. If thats the case, remove on sight.

pinkskunk14
01/12/2012, 04:37 PM
thanks guys and girls i got a CBS and before i got him i saw him eat a bristle worm he ripped in half it was too crazy i need to record it its too funny

carnold
01/12/2012, 04:56 PM
they are a good part of the clean up crew just be careful if you ever move rock or take down you tank. when I took my 125 down i had a bunch of bristle worms and end up getting stung and my hand swelled up like a balloon and took a couple days for it to finally go down. but while the system was up they took care of the uneaten food and pretty much stayed out of sight till the lights went off.

pinkskunk14
01/12/2012, 11:41 PM
Thanks im actually going to wear scuba gloves

Jenzifer
01/13/2012, 12:48 PM
they are good

salty72
03/15/2012, 03:27 PM
I'm very glad to have read this thread - I found one last night and almost had a heart attack, not because it was big or anything but because I just wasn't expecting something like that in my tank. I JUST got used to the fact that I have spaghetti worms!!!! I wanted fish not worms. But atlas I'm learning they are good. Just down right ugly!!!

Canadian125
03/15/2012, 03:58 PM
So whats the difference between a bristle worm and eunicid worm? Just the heads? And is it true you shouldnt touch them?

kellerexpress
03/15/2012, 09:49 PM
I know they are beneficial but they just gross me out. I always remove them.

Reefahholic
03/15/2012, 10:47 PM
Yeah, those pics aren't a typical, everyday bristleworm found in home aquaria.
I overfeed, so I have a lot, and some big ones (not the biggest I've had, but big enough). When they get annoying & start stealing food from the inhabitants I paid good money for, I catch them with a long pair of non-locking hemostats (giant tweezers) and pull them out. I'm a darn good bristleworm hunter LOL. I have 2 right now living with my tiny pistol shrimp, and if I can get them to come out far enough they're goners. They won't let the poor little shrimp eat, I have to stand there for a long time to make sure the pistol gets fed. Today, he was so hungry he came half out of his burrow, pushing past the 2 bristleworms, grabbed the turkey baster with one claw & reached in & grabbed a piece of food with the other...twice! :lmao:

ha ha....that's funny!

SushiGirl
03/16/2012, 07:02 PM
LOL. Sadly they're too smart for me, and too big for a trap. There are 3 in there now, and 2 in the back of the same rock. Once in a while you can hear the shrimp keeping them in line under there.

Canadian, at the most minor it's like having fiberglass in your fingers. At the worst it also causes a reaction AND is like having fiberglass in your fingers.

darkhorizon
02/19/2015, 09:17 PM
Bristle worms will only eat something dead or dying, my six line wrasse and coral banded shrimp keep them in check

wrott
02/19/2015, 10:14 PM
good,
Population density is directly related to available nutrients--like any other living creature.

Jeremy1988
05/22/2016, 10:07 PM
+1. My understanding is that they are nothing to worry about, especially if they are small. There seems to be widely varying opinion on this. A wrasse would help take care of them.


Do you think that would include a Tanaka's pygmy wrasse?