Huge Bristle Worms...any ideas on how to get them out??

[donato]

Hi Guys,
I just wanted to know if any of you have a smart way of catching and trapping bristle worms. I just setup my 110 gal tank a couple of months ago and the other night during a feeding I came across them smelling the water and searching for food. I'm hoping there's a way to do this without having to take the peace of live rock out of the water. Is there anything out there that I can trap them with...I've tried reaching them with tweezers, but as soon as my hand reaches down into the tank...they start to pull back into the rock!!
Thanks for your help!
BTW - Thanks for the countless hours of reading and useful information I've found on here!

 

[fixitdude2001]

I would say if you cant get them with twezzers you might have to do a hyper salinaty dip of that paticular rock. And how big are they and what is the reason for getting rid of them? I have all kinds of small ones in my sand bed and see no reason to remove them. also welcome to the board,cya

[ May 07, 2001: Message edited by: fixitdude2001 ]

 

[captain hook]

I've had people recommend the tweezer technique, but come on let's be realistic. I think I remember reading that coral banded shrimp like to feed on bristle worms. Anyone else here of this? Hope this helps and LOL.

 

[donato]

Thanks for the quick response. Fixitdude, I was under the impression that these guys like to eat off coral. I know I'm still a few months away from getting any coral in my tank, but these guys are easily over 5" and 6" longs.....and thick! I don't have any CBS in the tank yet, lfs sold out and waiting for another shipment to arrive.
Thanks for the welcome!

 

[fixitdude2001]

Hi , they are big ones, I too have heard they will munch corals, but have not had that big of ones, I think they make a trap like for a mantis shrimp that would probly work, but I would try either a coral banded shrimp, triggers also like these guys, I myself If it wasnt too big of a problem I would go with the hyper salinaty, This works GREAT, Mix up enough saltwater in a seperate container to cover the rock, Make the salinaty about 30ppm, dip the rock in and watch them crawl out...also if you do this make the water close to tank temp and, in a few minutes they will come a squiggling out

 

[sbustobante]

I've heard the panty hose method, but never tried it. At night, you tie up a piece of shrimp or whatnot in a square of panty hose. Leave it there overnight. The worms eat it and supposedly their bristles get caught in the fabric. Remove the whole thing in the morning.
If you try this, tell me if it works.

 

[johnnysalt]

Lots of techniques...do a search for bristle and trap. you'll probably find a couple tricks about using bait in nylon. the worm's bristles get caught in the nylon and they can't get out I'm told. I have about three worms, but only one that is over 3" long. I tried putting bait in a plastic container with a "one-way" opening (that had some rock in it for weight) but it didn't work....gonna try that nylon trap when my hunny forks over some hose!

 

[adrian]

Is there a massive population of bristles in your tank? Most bristles are harmless, and actually very benificial to your tank. They are great scavengers and they do a good job working your sandbed. CBS work great, I had one for about 6 months, all it did was hunt and eat bristles, then one day it decided to eat one of my fish, and tried to eat another. Just a warning, like arrow crabs when they get a certain size they may become aggresive towards smaller fish. Some species of Pseudochromis will feed on bristles, ex. springeri, as will arrow crabs, and many wrasses. If they are in great numbers I would put something in to control them rather than making a trap, youll never catch them all. If there are only a few, then leave them in there. HTH

 

[donato]

Thanks for all the input guys!

 

[twoods71]

I had 1 of those 5 - 6" suckers in my tank also. I heard when they get that big they can actually kill and eat small fish while they are sleeping.
What I did was take out the rock and dip it in fresh water. The big guy let go of his hold on the rock after about five minutes.

 

[gnelson]

I had a huge one a few months ago. It was about 6" and seemed very aggressive so I removed it. Small ones seem okay, but when they get that big you might want to think about removing them, especially if you are going to put coral in the tank at one point. My LFS sold a trap, it was about $4 and so easy to use. It was a small piece of plastic tube with holes in each end, and you would put a small piece of frozen brine in the center, in an area so that nothing could pull the shrimp out. The trap had a system so that when the worm went in it could not get out. I put the trap on a piece of LR where I saw him alot and two mornings later I woke to find one giant worm trapped.
Worth a shot, alot easier than removing pieces of LR
Graham

 

[angelspot]

The pantyhose trap works great, I had a worm that was 6" and I took a piece of pantyhose
placed a piece of brine shrimp in the middled made a knot on both end left in at night and in the mornning there he was caught in the pantyhose. Don't make the piece to small because you want him to be able to crawl on it. Good Luck