Fireworm Removal Help

[UmpaLumpa]

I knew I had a fireworm in my tank and I've been hunting him with tweezers for the past few weeks. But Wow i just glanced over at my tank and he is a LONG mofo!!! 6+ inches!! I still couldn't get him but does anyone know how to get them out?

I want this thing out now!!! I've heard of people useing nylon stockings for a trap but I can't find out how its made? I'll take any advise or help your willing to give!! Thanks

[Sk8r]

You really don't need to. They're assets. I have about a hundred or so, 4 of them 10 inches long, and I'd have had big trouble the time a major snail died, if not for them, because I couldn't access that stinking snail except by taking the rockwork apart. Trust the worms. The only common worm you really need worry about is the Eunicid, which is something totally different.

[UmpaLumpa]

I'm not sure if you understand what I'm talking about. This is a pic of what it looks like.

http://marinebio.org/upload/_04/Hermodice_carunculata1.jpg

And according to the same site I got that pic from it says:

"Feeding Behavior (Ecology)
Fireworms are voracious predators that feed on soft and hard corals, anemones, and small crustaceans. It will engulf the last few centimeters of the tip of a branching coral, such as Acropora cervicornis (Staghorn coral), in its inflated pharynx and remove the coral tissue from that portion of the skeleton. The worm will remain 5-10 minutes at each branch tip, visiting several, and the branches attacked are apparent by their white ends."

[Sk8r]

That's a very pretty worm, and it's not the common bristleworm...you may be one of the few to actually turn up with the non-safe pest, and it's one I've never seen. They make a bristleworm trap that should work, if you can bait it with something you want. I'd just keep storing the bristleworms in a qt tank until you get that guy, then put all the bristleworms back in.

We do have a worm expert in the forum, and perhaps we may hear more info.

THanks for the clarification. Too bad that pretty thing has bad habits!

[Swanwillow]

go to walmart, or your nearest quivalent.

get pantyhose, or nylon socks. put some _____ in it, bait, in other words. mysis shrimp, krill, something nice and juicy. put a small rock in it too. bunch it up a bit

drop it in the tank overnight, until that sucker gets tangled up in it trying to eat it.

then send it to me!!! or, keep it in a ten gallon and feed it 'junk' til ya find out what it really eats.

[flfirefighter13]

swanwillow holds the key! another trap ive had work was a small pepsi bottle, cut the lid of and silicone it in upside down so it makes a funnel into the bottle. drop some bait in there and check it in the morning, may have some crabs and such but most likely will have the bristleworm to. FYI Ive heard taht one is bad but ive got a tank with bunches and have yet to have a problem. its got soft corral and clown fish and noone has damage. The works look just like your pic and there's enough to have them out and about during the day

[Sk8r]

Also, forgot to mention, Foster Smith sells a worm trap, which is interlocking cylinders with bait in the middle. They can't navigate out because of the bristles.