beneficial Bristleworm or not?

djhavoc

djhavoc

New Member
Just noticed these buggers tonight, I have 4 large rocks and noticed 3 worms coming out of 3 rocks.
i lost 2 clown fish about 4 weeks ago.. and when i saw lost i mean they are GONE! lol. when i noticed one clown was gone and had to move my tank into another room i felt it was a good time to look for him. i pulled all rocks out and he was no where in site. after the move a week later the other clown vanished.
please help! should i try to get rid of these guys or leave them?


 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
The bristleworms look fine to me. The clowns probably died from something unrelated (water quality) and the clean-up crew and hitchhikers made a meal of them overnight.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
They're not pretty to some (my wife) but they are beneficial to have and I know some place actually sells them. They eat left over food, fish waste and if a dead fish is nearby I would assume that as well. Lots of scavengers get a bad rap for killing fish as they are seen eating on the dead carcass.... but really they are just scavaging.
These are safe bristleworms -- if you don't want them however a coral banded or cleaner shrimp make quick work of them if they spot any.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
The one or two probably won't make a dent in the population as you probably have several dozen. They won't take over your tank unless there is enough food to support them so as long as you are feeding correctly and taking measure to prevent dietrus accumulation you won't have an issue.
 
sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
Originally Posted by jackri
http:///forum/post/2885634
These are safe bristleworms -- if you don't want them however a coral banded or cleaner shrimp make quick work of them if they spot any.
Will a cleaner shrimp really eat bristle worms? I haven't heard that before, but if its true then I'm ditching the trap and getting a shrimp (I bought rock from a grossly overfed tank and need to get rid of some before they become an ammonia issue etc..)
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
As long as there isn't enough food to support them they will begin to die off on their own and they won't become an ammonia issue if they start to starve to death, the other worms will consume them as they die. Unless something happens where every worm in the rock dies off all at once you won't even see a blip on the ammonia and even if they did I doubt you would see much.
Never heard of a cleaner shrimp eating bristle worms either, a sixline wrasse is usually the most common recommended choice
 
mantisman51

mantisman51

Active Member
I had several of those in my LR,too.I loved watching them.I put the fish back in after QT and haven't seen them since.I think the red spotted hawk got many of them, because he was busy scouring the LR the first week he was back in the tank.
 
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