!!Power Just went Bristle worms in reef tank!!

[Ram2003]

Please am I ****ed or not my power just went out amd I saw four bristle worms in my 100gal new reef tank and I am scared ****less becase I want to have clams. I have already lost 4 clams to what I belive are bristle worms in my nano 24 gal. Should I just giove up or what should I do. Please help!!!!!!! 12:15 us central time.....

[z_rivers]

bristle worms are good creatures to have in a reef tank, they are constantly cleaning up stuff. i would not worry at all.

bristle worms are scavengers and eat decaying flesh. if you saw them around your clams i would look towards other causes of the death. the bristle worms were just eating the dead/dieing flesh.

[Ram2003]

So if I lost cla,s in my 24gal nano the clams were already dying and would have died even if i didn't have bristle worms... Would you do clams if you were me in my 100 gal reef if you knew you had bristle worms. I am just scared to death.... Should I pick them out when i can or just leavre them....

[wliang]

I would be worried because if you have too many or big bristleworms they might kill the clams.

Take them out.

[jjackson]

I would send this over to the correct forum if you dont believe us here... I have never heard of a problem with clams and bristle worms... this isnt a tank ending emergency... I think the majority of the problem with the clams death was the 24 gallon tank....

[jjackson]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7618749#post7618749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wliang
I would be worried because if you have too many or big bristleworms they might kill the clams.

Take them out.

Seriously??? I cant tell you how many bristle worms I have seen and have never seen them or had them cause problems to anything...

also might want to post that in here... because honestly I dont see a problem
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=41

[Ram2003]

Ok thank yall very much they are not big bristle worms. Would and can a bristle worm big or small attack a clam or anything else?? Do yall have bristle worms in your tanks. Are they as common as copapods, to where they are just a part of having any salt water tank??? what makes a bristle worm grow to porportions that might cause problems???

[jjackson]

I know I have some but my sixline keeps them in check... You never mentioned the size of your tank but I think it would take far longer than I will have my current tank set up to ever see one be so large it cause a problem....

[jjackson]

also you say new tank... how new are we talking... clams arent tough to keep I have had one for several years with 3 or 4 tank changes... but I wouldnt suggest just throwing him in a new tank.

[Ram2003]

what is six line? I just moved this problem over to the clam and mollusk forum.....

[Ram2003]

No my new tank 7 months I don't have any clams in yet.. I am scared to add them now this why i started this tank. I also have 2 green carpet anenomes very healthy and a seabae very healthy. I wanted to add clams but now I am scared...

[Ram2003]

100gal is what I have. I see you are in college station I am a grad of Sam Houston State.. Right down the street.

[jjackson]

cool... sixline is a reef safe wrasse.... are you still local?

[Ram2003]

no I am in san antonio. Will a six line wrasse save a clam from a bristle worm. and do you have them in your tanks?

[jjackson]

I still wouldnt worry about the bristleworm and clam... and yes a sixline will eat one if it finds it and they are good hunters... also yes I have one, one of my favorite fish.

[Sk8r]

Bristleworms don't attack. ;) They're simply undertakers. I have a crocea in a reef tank with four 10-12 inch worms and about two cups full of generic bristleworms, and it thrives and grows.

The greater danger to the clam is focusing on the worms and not fixing what really got it, be it a parasite like the pyramid snail, or a water quality or lighting issue. Something got the clam, and it should have lived for a very long time.

[wliang]

I'm talking through experience. I had clams before and let me just say that if a clam is injured for example and the foot was torn off the bristleworms will enter through the foot and eat the clam inside out. Remember bristleworms are savengers and opportunistic eaters.

Yes, I have heard all the positive things about bristleworms when you have a sandbed and detritus and left over food, etc. I also read things in reef books that are absolutely not truth.

[TOURKID]

when i was overfeeding ... really overfeeding.. bristle worms seemed to rule my tank. they never harmed anything healthy. and its been about 2 months since i learned the right way to feed and to be honest.. i havent seen a bristle worm in a few weeks

[sarahkucera]

Bristleworms are not bad.

Most tanks have them, but a lot of people don't notice them because they generally come out at night and a lot of people don't stare at their tanks after lights out.
Iv'e got bristleworms in my tank, they've never hurt anything. They only eat things that are dead or dying. They also eat extra food that hits the bottom of the tank, so consider them a part of your clean up crew.

I think that more of your problem with your clams could have been related to the fact that you had 4 clams in your nano tank. I don't have clams or anything, but 4 of them in a nano seems like they would have been really crowded and most likely not getting enough food.

If your tank is over run with bristleworms than you've got a bigger problem going on.

[Hunter21]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7618921#post7618921 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ram2003
no I am in san antonio. Will a six line wrasse save a clam from a bristle worm. and do you have them in your tanks?

I'm from San Antonio!!! :D what side do you live on?

Erin

[hrdneglcry]

What color are your Bristleworms. White one are not to be fretted over. Red ones can be dangerous. I have one large freshwater tanks standing in the midst of my saltwater tanks. After I purchased live rock some Red Bristleworms came in with them. I scoped them out, an netted gravel while scooping them up. I handled them with tweezers, and fed the to my Buttekoferi. No use wasting them (grin).