Bristle Worm, how to get rid of them?

[papajt]

Well, my tank was doing great up until about 2 weeks ago when I picked up a little more live rock at my LFS. Suddenly all my little Peppermint Shrimp and my "Lawnmower Blenny" are gone.
So I got to watching the tank and sure enough I have a couple Bristle Worms in there. I'm not sure if its common but every time I get one things die in my tank..
Anyways, what is a good way to combat these little pests? I was wondering if an arrow crab or banded coral shrimp would do the trick. My tank is a 14g BioCube with 1 Maroon Clown, an anemone (with a little white crab that lives on it, several red and blue algae eating crabs, and several different kinds of snails that go down in the sand.

 

[usirchchris]

Originally Posted by PapaJT
http:///forum/post/2940653
Well, my tank was doing great up until about 2 weeks ago when I picked up a little more live rock at my LFS. Suddenly all my little Peppermint Shrimp and my "Lawnmower Blenny" are gone.
So I got to watching the tank and sure enough I have a couple Bristle Worms in there. I'm not sure if its common but every time I get one things die in my tank..
Anyways, what is a good way to combat these little pests? I was wondering if an arrow crab or banded coral shrimp would do the trick. My tank is a 14g BioCube with 1 Maroon Clown, an anemone (with a little white crab that lives on it, several red and blue algae eating crabs, and several different kinds of snails that go down in the sand.
They are not pests IME but rather beneficial scavengers. They most likely did not kill your shrimp or blenny...they are far to slow, but rather came in to clean up after they died. Bristle worms are your friend. Keep them

 

[[ronnie]]

exactly. They are there to clean up the mess your tank leaves behind. Maybe some params are off and the fish are dying?.. check your water.. do a water change and keep a close eye. Do not get rid of them as they are nothing but beneficial.

 

[mboswell1982]

bristleworms are actually beneficial, depending on the type, there is one type that is supposed to be bad, but im not sure which one.
and as for your clown, he could be the reason stuff is dieing in your tank, maroon clowns are very aggressive, and he's probably cramped in your tank, same with the nem, your 14g cube is too small for either the clown or the nem to be perfectly honest, maroons get 6" when full grown

 

[nycbob]

how mature is ur tank?

 

[rotarymagic]

My opinion: New cheap, uncured liverock=ammonia spike and it killed off the less hardy animals during the minicycle in the already overstocked tank.

 

[papajt]

Ahh I didn't know they were useful, just assumed they were pests. Will the harm anemones?
Originally Posted by nycbob
http:///forum/post/2940677
how mature is ur tank?
Its been running since Nov 2007, so a year and few months.
Originally Posted by Rotarymagic
http:///forum/post/2940680
My opinion: New cheap, uncured liverock=ammonia spike and it killed off the less hardy animals during the minicycle in the already overstocked tank.
Could be, never considered that.
I tested all the prams and they seem fine, however I will go over them again.

 

[subielover]

What light do you have on the tank? How long have you had the anemone for? Got any pics?

 

[papajt]

Originally Posted by subielover
http:///forum/post/2940831
What light do you have on the tank? How long have you had the anemone for? Got any pics?

The anemone has been in there for a month or so. As for pics, I've never taken a pic of it but I will take a few.
Only real issue I have with the take is the amount of algae that grows in it. Is there a good way to combat that with out hurting the algae eating critters? The back wall is covered in algae.
As for lighting, I just use the hood/light that came with the 14G Bio Cube. (That is what its all in.)

 

[mboswell1982]

your light is probably not enough for your nem, and honestly, a 29g cube isnt big enough for either the nem or the maroon, you may want to look into trading both of them, now, as for the algae, what color is this algae thats growing along your back wall? if its purple, its just coraline algae, which is a good thing

 

[papajt]

Originally Posted by mboswell1982
http:///forum/post/2940871
your light is probably not enough for your nem, and honestly, a 29g cube isnt big enough for either the nem or the maroon, you may want to look into trading both of them, now, as for the algae, what color is this algae thats growing along your back wall? if its purple, its just coraline algae, which is a good thing
Ahh well, the LFS I bought the maroon from breeds them there and they said he won't grow more than about 3 inches. So I'm not too worried about him.
As for the algae, its green. Kind looks like a field of grass on the back wall.

It also likes to grow everywhere else in the tank too.
Also how can I get that nice purple stuff to grow? I seen a post a while back that a person said they bought a bottle of something and put it in their tank to get it to grow?

 

[mboswell1982]

Originally Posted by PapaJT
http:///forum/post/2940878
Ahh well, the LFS I bought the maroon from breeds them there and they said he won't grow more than about 3 inches. So I'm not too worried about him.
As for the algae, its green. Kind looks like a field of grass on the back wall.

It also likes to grow everywhere else in the tank too.
Also how can I get that nice purple stuff to grow? I seen a post a while back that a person said they bought a bottle of something and put it in their tank to get it to grow?
it ust takes time, an you may need to upgrade your lighting, and do NOT believe what the lfs told you about your maroon clown, they do get over 6" in length, and are highly agressive, he is more than likely the reason that your blenny is dead, they belong in larger, more aggressive tanks, period

 

[star27624]

The algae sounds like a type of hair algae. It may have came in with the new rock and if you have an excess of nutrients in the tanks then it will continue to spread in your tank.
The loss of livestock probably was caused by a mini-cycle as a result of the addition of the new live rock. Bristleworms are good members of the CUC.
Since I have a 14g BC as well, I would not have the maroon clownfish in my tank, they get way too big for that size of a tank. They max out around 6". And the stock light is not sufficient to house an anemone.

 

[papajt]

Ahh the things you wish your LFS would know so they can tell you. lol.
Is there a light upgrade I can do inside of the hood it has? Also what does CUC stand for?

 

[nissan577]

Originally Posted by PapaJT
http:///forum/post/2941002
Ahh the things you wish your LFS would know so they can tell you. lol.
Is there a light upgrade I can do inside of the hood it has? Also what does CUC stand for?
cuc - clean up crew

 

[star27624]

CUC=clean up crew
the LFS are out to make the sale, so will not tell you everything.
My advice is to research every fish, invert, whatever before you buy it. Use several sources, trusting the LFS information the least. They are generally not going to care about the well being of your tank's inhabitants for the long haul.
There are plenty of people here and other places that will answer you questions.

 

[papajt]

Well, my first pic of my little 14G BioCube. As we call it, the Grass Field.

There is so much green algae that grows in it, we would really love to get rid of it all but have no clue how. We do have some algae eating crabs but those don't help all that much.
Anyone have any ideas?

 

[coastie5685]

 

[coastie5685]

wow. thats pretty bad. have you tested all water params? what are they? .... i would scrape all of it out of my tank... do 1-2 gallon water change every other day. and keep cleaning filter. place filter floss on the biocube filter it will give extra filtration. get rid of bioballs if you still have them in center chamber and pack with chemi pure elite. and fill rest up with more filter floss. something in your params must be off...

 

[coastie5685]

Originally Posted by PapaJT
http:///forum/post/2940878
Ahh well, the LFS I bought the maroon from breeds them there and they said he won't grow more than about 3 inches. So I'm not too worried about him.
As for the algae, its green. Kind looks like a field of grass on the back wall.

It also likes to grow everywhere else in the tank too.
Also how can I get that nice purple stuff to grow? I seen a post a while back that a person said they bought a bottle of something and put it in their tank to get it to grow?
let the " nice purple stuff" grow on its own. once you get the green algae reduced. then look into purple up if im correct? but nothing as of right now. leave the purple stuff for later lol.