Brissle Worm!!!!

mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
hi,
I have this bright orange brissle worm in my tank, and it killed my clam!!! i heard that clams are the brissle worm`s "favorite" and i really need to get him out of my tank.
please give me advice on what to do and how to get him out.
I already have a trap, and i have had it for 3 days.. but no success. :mad: Please help me,
Adam
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Most Bristle worms are only interested in dead animal flesh. Try a dead clam for bait. Dead clams are totally irresistable to them.
 
blk822

blk822

Member
I used a small baby food jar and cut a X in the top and pushed it down just enough to leave room for a worm to get in . I baited it with tuna and buried it in the sand with the top showing. It takes a few days for the tuna to get smelly enough for the bristles to get really interested but it works. Leave it in for two or three days. But when you take it out it will really smell so be ready for it. And I have many bristle's in my tank and they even come out in the light and they never touch my clam, they sometimes live under it and don't bother it. It may just be the type of worm you have. Good Luck and happy hunting. O' yea and if you use tuna for bait ,buy the stuff in water not oil. And only put int alittle bit. And make sandwiches with the rest.
 
R

royalshrimp

Guest
or maybe his clam was already dead and the bristle was just doing what he does best... eat dead stuff:notsure:
 
fender

fender

Active Member
I may be wrong but I don't think the bristle worm killed your clam. I have 2 clams and hundreds of bristles. No problems to date.
I would say the clam was already dead, but that's just me.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Hey Bang Guy - from the description of this worm I think he is talking about Eurythoe complanata - If this is the case then this fire worm has a particularly painfull sting to him. Now I can't say for sure that outright attacked his clam but if there was a bad spot on the clam and this worm was hunting, and stung it then I could understand why the clam died. This would be a stronger sting than your normal bristle worm.
Your thoughts ?
Thomas
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
The Fire worm mentioned could not have killed the Clam. The venom in the bristles works by firing neutrons that we perceive as pain. It would irritate the clam but there's no apparatus in a clam to register pain (no brain).
I suppose if this happened often for an extended period of time then the clam would fail to open and that could eventually kill the clam.
Another possibility would be an infection from the bristles penetrating the flesh. I suppose it could happen but I don't think it's likely.
In my opinion the clam was dead and the Fireworm(s) just cleaned up as much of the carcass as it could.
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
ya... but the brissle worm has killed my hatian anenome that i had. and.. since i have a reef tank and i am still going to add new things, i dont want the brissle worm to get a hold of them and kill them.
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
i have not seen the full size of its body,
but i have seen a good 2.5 inches. And it is bright orange in color rather then the common greyish color.
 
fearlessjim

fearlessjim

Member
bristle worms ussally don't kill things, they eat already dead matter...thats why we have them in our tanks.....I have hundreds of these things in my tank, and never had a problem with them..
So I don't think it was the worms that killed your livestock....they jsut cleaned up the mess
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
A 2.5 inch Bristle Worm killed your Anemone and your Clam?
Sorry, but I think you have other problems. Can you give us some specifics about your reef and perhaps another problem will surface so we can help.
Removing a 2.5" Bristle worm might make you feel better but it's not going to help out your reef tank.
 
skirrby

skirrby

Active Member
i agree with bag guy.. ive never had or seen proof of a bristle worm auctully killing something. i could use some in my 55.. if you are determined that you dont want yours... send them to me lol.
 
mr. tuna

mr. tuna

Active Member
ya..
* my tank is a 92 gallon corner reef
* i have a wet/dry, 178 watts of lighting(going to add another 440 watts).
... but i had problems when my ph was low, but i raised it back to 8.2
Also, my salinity at one point was 1.023. And now i got it up to 1.025.
But those were the 2 problems in my tank. the only one that i am facing now is the brisstle worm.
 
ryebread

ryebread

Active Member

Originally posted by skirrby
i agree with bag guy...
That's wierd.....I usually agree with with bag ladies.
 
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