Bristle worms on the loose!!!

[sexyshrimp101]

Ok, so I found a bright red bristle worm a couple of days ago and researched on the forums about them and found out they aren't bad in small quantities. Well, I came home from class tonight and my fiance had the LED moonlights on, so we decided to take a peak inside the tank and see if there was anything fun (our tank is cycling and we are excited about anything that moves

) and we saw two seperate bristle worms...one hanging from a rock going to another rock, and another one on the opposite side of the tank wrapped around something that looks like maybe a hitchhiker coral of some sort (it's a very light pinkish color, very small, looks like a slender cup with extremely short bristles around the rim). I know neither of those were the original one I saw since one was a pinkish shade and the other was kind of brown. So now there are at least three...should I be panicking? Do you think he will eat the hitchhiker it was wrapped around?

 

[sexyshrimp101]

Oh yeah, the hitchhiker coral thingy extends and shortens, and also opens and closes the mouth or opening if that helps a little with a possible id...

 

[grumpygils]

Just don't overfeed you tank or they will explode in reproduction. I just pluck them out when I see them. The red bristle worms are generally harmless and good scavengers. There are brown ones that will go after corals. I personnally have not witnessed that. Some claim that a six line will eat small ones but mine never did. About every established tank will have some.
Mc

 

[sexyshrimp101]

Would you suggest leaving them in there or plucking them out? Or does it not really matter one way or the other? Also, do you or anyone else for that matter have any idea what the hitchhiker coral thingy may be?

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by sexyshrimp101
Would you suggest leaving them in there or plucking them out? Or does it not really matter one way or the other? Also, do you or anyone else for that matter have any idea what the hitchhiker coral thingy may be?
I pluck them out if it is easy.
Mc

 

[sexyshrimp101]

Thanks for your help!!! I will try and pluck them out :scared: Wish me luck!!!

 

[ric maniac]

or you could take a turkey baster and suck them up. then sell them to people who want to boost their clean up crew.

 

[groupergenius]

Originally Posted by sexyshrimp101
Would you suggest leaving them in there or plucking them out? Or does it not really matter one way or the other? Also, do you or anyone else for that matter have any idea what the hitchhiker coral thingy may be?
Get us a pic of the hitchhiker coral thingy. The ocean hosts a whole lot of critters.

 

[sexyshrimp101]

Maybe if I suck enough bristle worms up in the turkey baster I can start a bristle worm business, because from the looks of it I am going to have a bristle worm invasion

I will try and get a pic of the hitchiker coral thingy, but between my camera that sucks at close-ups, and how tiny the thing is...

 

[miaheatlvr]

I think they get a bad rap, harmless scavengers for me so far, My arrow crab loves to pick them out and munch on them..

 

[mikeyjer]

I used to have a bunch in my 90bowfront, but I haven't seen any lately. Either the coralbanded shrimp, sally lightfoot crab, or the Velvet Wrasse is wiping them out??? All of them ganging up on them perhaps....

 

[sexyshrimp101]

Knowing my luck I would get one that had the munchies for corals, a very expensive snack

Would emerald crabs eat them?

 

[puffy_fish]

Coralife makes a bristleworm trap for saltwater tanks. It is specially designed so that bristleworms can get in, but they cannot get out. All you do is place the bait inside the trap to attract the bristleworms. From what I hear they work pretty well.

 

[rykna]

Use the seahorse trap thought up by Koi lady

We feed our horses in a plastic dish, submergered by a fresh water rock so the bristles can't hide in it. After the worms climb in to eat the mysis, simply remove the food dish and the bristles inside

 

[theappe3]

that hitchhiker coral that you have sounds like a zoa.
the bristleworm trap should be a good choice.... try the turkey baster first. you are gonna find out that a turkey baster in a saltwater aquarium is the most versatile tool that you will ever use!!!

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by theappe3
that hitchhiker coral that you have sounds like a zoa.
the bristleworm trap should be a good choice.... try the turkey baster first. you are gonna find out that a turkey baster in a saltwater aquarium is the most versatile tool that you will ever use!!!
OH YEAH

Great for catching baby Dwarf seahorses too!!!

 

[sexyshrimp101]

I will try the turkey baster, and if that doesn't work then i'm settin' a trap

I just don't want to risk one eating a coral once I get them...
When I got home a little bit ago for my lunch break, I looked inside the tank to see how the hitchhiker coral thingy was doing and the top of it is spread open a lot more than it was, and I originally thought it was hollow in the middle like a tube, but now that it is so open, I can see that it isn't, and it has a little pinpoint opening in the center. The whole thing is such a light color and it's seems like you can almost see through it...

 

[dischirm]

You need to post a picture. It may be aptasia and if so, you want to get rid of it right away before it becomes many!

 

[sexyshrimp101]

I looked up a pic of aptasia just to make sure I knew what it looked like, and it is definitely not aptasia...and it is so small that I can't seem to get a decent pic of it.

 

[miaheatlvr]

So many people are so excited to get Chaetomorpha algae full of pods, mini brittlestars and bristle worms and you are getting so preoccupied with getting one out.. leave it for now.. since you have nothing in there yet,, its just gonna eat the left over detrius..