brsitle worms

[schippy]

I just did a large water change. I wound up moveing my LR aroud because there was cool stuff growing on the side faceing the back of the tank. Anyway when i was moveing all the rock i noticed lot's of small bristle worms comeing out of the rocks. How can you get rid of them, are they bad for a tank?
Thanks for all the help. Could not have gotten my Tank where it is today without all your help

 

[ajroc31]

I like bristle worms. They are really good at eating the unused food, as well as sifting throught the sb.

 

[thomas712]

They are not bad for a tank, in fact they are excellent detruis eaters and part of a healthy aquarium, think of them as just another part of the cleanup crew.
Thomas

 

[themaxx7]

they can become a trouble some group if left unchecked, its nearly imposssible to eliminate them , but i have a coral banded shrimp that keeps them under control. a six line wrasse will do a tremendous job as well......also adds a lil extra color.

 

[spsfreak100]

Originally posted by themaxx7
they can become a trouble some group if left unchecked, its nearly imposssible to eliminate them , but i have a coral banded shrimp that keeps them under control. a six line wrasse will do a tremendous job as well......also adds a lil extra color.
What makes you say that? Any evidence of them eating or harming anything?
I have 2, 24" bristol worms in my tank. Both have never harmed anything are are great detritus eaters. Their diet doesn't include eating any corals (healthy or undamaged corals), invertibrates, or fish (unless the fish/invert has died). They're perfectly harmless.
Graham

 

[steven the fish]

I have heard that if they get too big and do not get enough to eat they will prey upon resting fish, however brisle worms are part of a healthy tank.

 

[wrassecal]

I actually grow them in a stand alone 20 gallon (along with other things) so that I can keep the population up in my main tank since my sixline likes to eat them. So put me down for good for the tank

 

[lopeyc]

read in different places that there are a gazillion different kinds of bristles, so I wonder about all these generalizations...

 

[nm reef]

The vast majority of bristle worms are a positive addition to the micro infauna of a healthy/stable reef. They tend to be scavengers and will not pose problems to healthy corals and/or fish.
I encourage them to flourish in my reef system and have virtually no concerns about them causing problems.There are very few instances where these worms have been a source of problems. Personally I plan to keep them alive and thriving!

 

[themaxx7]

i do agree they are a healthy part of the system but i have seen many tanks over run with them. i have seen them multiply to incredible numbers in a short period of time. in my small tank(20gal.) the began to attack turbo snails near the bottom. they have in fact been known to consume ananomes as well, but as mentioned above, there are many differnt species of worms. it is by tank to tank cases that they actually become a danger, but it can happen.

 

[spsfreak100]

Originally posted by themaxx7
my small tank(20gal.) the began to attack turbo snails near the bottom. they have in fact been known to consume ananomes as well, but as mentioned above, there are many differnt species of worms.
I do agree with the fact that there are many species of bristol worms, but none have the ability to attack and kill their prey. The anemone was most likely sick/dead by the time the bristol worms got to it. The worms were cleaning up the mess that the anemone made after it died (or dying). Snails would be almost immpossible to kill by the bristol worm with the snails method of defense. They shell will keep most creatures out. One thing that could have happened was that the snail got fliped on its back after getting blasted by a powerhead, knocked over by a fish, etc. and died in that position. The worms would come over to clean up the snail after it died. Unless you actually saw the worm come over, crawl over to a snail, attack and kill it and eat it, then we have another story.
Take Care,
Graham