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CtlApe
01/13/2014, 10:18 AM
Has anyone had success with the arrow crab keeping bristle worms in check. I don't want to whipe them out for they do help with eating poop and extra food. Just don't want them to spread to quickly.

higorc
01/13/2014, 11:00 AM
Do you have a Reef Tank? I always thought of Arrow Crabs not being Reef safe. Just something to think about if you have other inverts and Corals in the tank...

Good luck
Higor

billdogg
01/13/2014, 11:29 AM
Bristle worms will self limit their own population. If you provide less food for them their numbers will magically decrease.

slowjazz
01/13/2014, 12:59 PM
Has anyone had success with the arrow crab keeping bristle worms in check. I don't want to whipe them out for they do help with eating poop and extra food. Just don't want them to spread to quickly.

I have one and it did not wipe them out. I do see him eat one now and then. I have also seen him eating junk off the rocks/sand with a worm crawling near by and he did not bother the worm.

It also has not bothered my coral.

CtlApe
01/13/2014, 04:56 PM
I do have a reef tank. So I'll have to research some more to see if any luck with them. As I said I just want to keep them at a minimum.

billdogg
01/13/2014, 05:31 PM
My fairy wrasse loves to eat them and is an otherwise very nice addition to my tank

CtlApe
01/13/2014, 06:55 PM
I saw a six line wrasse I was liking may go that route.

chrisfont23
01/13/2014, 07:00 PM
I would keep the arrow crab far from corals. A LFS / friend of mine had a bad experience.

CtlApe
01/13/2014, 09:02 PM
Arrow crab is out wrasse is in.

MARINECRITTERS
01/13/2014, 09:23 PM
Bristle worms are harmless.

CtlApe
01/13/2014, 11:14 PM
Ive heard they will attack corals is why I'm trying to contain.

robotman
01/13/2014, 11:41 PM
Ive heard they will attack corals is why I'm trying to contain.

would not get a 6 line, they are bullies.

xrayjeeper83
01/13/2014, 11:53 PM
Ive heard they will attack corals is why I'm trying to contain.

Bristle worms only eat dead stuff. They do not attack anything at all. IMO they are great for a tank, just ugly looking, but mainly come out at night so you won't seem much.

eatbreakfast
01/14/2014, 07:37 AM
I have had arrow crabs in reef tanks on multiple occasions. They never bother healthy coral, but are opportunists, so if they come upon sick/dying/dead coral or fish they may take advantage.

As far as bristleworm control goes, arrow crabs will eat small to medium sized bristleworms, but this depends on whether the tank is being overfed or not. Being an opportunist an arrow crab would much rather eat leftover fish food(an easy meal) than hunt and kill a bristleworm(difficult meal).

Adding a sixline is more of a problem than adding an arrow crab, as sixlines are aggressive and dont hunt bristleworms as nearly as effectively as an arrow crab IME.

CtlApe
01/14/2014, 08:04 AM
I have read that if you put the six line in last he will not be aggressive towards my other fish.Is this bologna?

geckoejon
02/21/2014, 05:23 AM
I have read that if you put the six line in last he will not be aggressive towards my other fish.Is this bologna?

ime, that is far from true! i put a 6 line in last. he was fine for a couple of months. then he started harassing other fish to an unhealthy extent, and stealing food from my lps. he learned that if he bit at the lps repeatedly, they would open their mouth and he would steal the food they had already swallowed!!! worst part was, i saw the 6 line do this to 6 coral in a row, but he wasn't even eating the food!!! he just seemed to like stealing it!!!:angryfire:
i made a fish trap and ejected him from my tank. no more six lines for me....

snorvich
02/21/2014, 05:50 AM
Bristle worms will self limit their own population. If you provide less food for them their numbers will magically decrease.

This. Also, arrow crabs are not reef safe.

snorvich
02/21/2014, 05:51 AM
I have read that if you put the six line in last he will not be aggressive towards my other fish.Is this bologna?

A polite way of putting it.

faithenfire
02/21/2014, 07:22 AM
i had an arrow crab and he left all my corals alone. then my psuedo killed it. just ime

CtlApe
02/21/2014, 07:50 AM
My six line has been great so far been a month no problems so far.

snorvich
02/21/2014, 09:26 AM
My six line has been great so far been a month no problems so far.

Good luck with that. A month is not an indicator of success.

lostintheocean
02/21/2014, 10:14 AM
bristle worms are good for your tank for the most part. the population ebbs and flows in accordance with feeding levels. I have at least one larger one, a bit bigger then a pencil and 8 inches or so long. I have only seen it a couple times in the past year when I was moving some stuff, its is really pretty iridescent rainbow with thick rows of spines. i wouldn't mind seeing it more. there are many different types though, i have seem pictures of 6 footers coming out of some tanks plumbing.

eatbreakfast
02/21/2014, 02:15 PM
This. Also, arrow crabs are not reef safe.

They are if livestock is healthy and alive. If livestock is sick and dying they are on the menu. But that is true of many reef safe critters when things are sick/ dying.

MondoBongo
02/21/2014, 03:09 PM
My six line has been great so far been a month no problems so far.

i had my six line for about 6 months before he started being hyper-aggressive.

it got so bad he bullied one of my clowns in to jumping right out of the tank.

he was summarily evicted and taken back to the LFS. bad purchase. i loved watching him swim and he had great colors, but he was a total jerk.

i recently got a McCosker's Flasher Wrasse though and he has so far gotten along well with everyone. one thing i did notice, and granted this is anecdotal, is that after introducing i don't see as many bristle worms now. i don't know if he is eating them, if he scares them, or if their population just diminished on their own as a result of something else i changed, but it is an interesting point to note.

snorvich
02/21/2014, 04:29 PM
They are if livestock is healthy and alive. If livestock is sick and dying they are on the menu. But that is true of many reef safe critters when things are sick/ dying.

We will have to agree to disagree. Various published descriptions such as that from Dr. Foster and Smith say: It is a hardy, long-lived invertebrate, that can be housed in the reef aquarium. This crab has been known to attack crustaceans such as Banded Coral Shrimp, and may even attack small slow moving fish