Hair worms

[ace 72]

What Fish or crab will eat these things? I understand they can be good, but they are overrunning the tank. I find it fun watching hermits steal the food they grab, but they don't eat the worm. I have a 75 gallon tank so over populated they are on the glass and floating in the current. I am about to move fish and crabs then copper the tank. Seriously considering getting rid of sand and starting it over. They are too much. I still have to copper the rocks though because they are dug into them also.
Any help is appreciated and thank you.
Have a Great Day!

 

[earlybird]

Bristleworms are beneficial members of the clean up crew. If they are present in large numbers it is usually having to do with excess nutrients and feeding. If you feed less their population will thin out to what your system can support. Reduce feeding and see if you can sell or trade them. I'd take some off your hand but not until after Christmas. Good luck.

 

[alix2.0]

if you copper your tank and rocks youll never be able to keep inverts (with the rocks) ever again. the tank can be cleaned, but you would only be able to use the rock in a FOWLR.

 

[ace 72]

Thanks fo rthe advice. My Bristle worms have died off, I think because the hair worms are faster to the food. I definately do not over feed. Sometimes I forget and they get fed once every two days.
If I only knew these things would populate like this I could have eliminated the first one I saw. My LFS told me it was beneficial and a good thing, like bristle worms. Which I like those worms. They don't stick to the glass and float around the tank. I can pull all snails and fish and crabs out. They can in the 46 gallon for now. I would like a hungry fish or invert for those hair worms. How does nature have an animal with no predator?
Couldn't I just re-clycle the tank to clean the rocks up from copper after I pull the sand out? If the rocks were cleaned off would that still affect the inverts?

 

[alix2.0]

Originally Posted by Ace 72
Thanks fo rthe advice. My Bristle worms have died off, I think because the hair worms are faster to the food. I definately do not over feed. Sometimes I forget and they get fed once every two days.
If I only knew these things would populate like this I could have eliminated the first one I saw. My LFS told me it was beneficial and a good thing, like bristle worms. Which I like those worms. They don't stick to the glass and float around the tank. I can pull all snails and fish and crabs out. They can in the 46 gallon for now. I would like a hungry fish or invert for those hair worms. How does nature have an animal with no predator?
Couldn't I just re-clycle the tank to clean the rocks up from copper after I pull the sand out? If the rocks were cleaned off would that still affect the inverts?
i bet a sixline wrasse you eat them, but im not sure about that.
you would have to bleach the tank to get it out, and it would probably still leach from the silicone. this amount is probably small enough not to be noticed though. and the rocks would definately be unuseable, theyre too porous to clean ALL the copper out of them.