Little polyp eating B@$!!!!!

[dustintx]

Found what has been eating my gsp and psp. Little fkn bastards!!!!!! Gave them a fresh revive after spotting what i though was a nudi this morning and these things came out super fast.

 

[jay0705]

Bristle worms

 

[dustintx]

Yes,but are these the fire type or regular bristle worms?
Also,I found one in my sump when I first set up my tank and I was told they were good for cuc,so I left him in sump.
I'm starting to believe that no bristle worms are ok for any reef tanks.

 

[jay0705]

Lol hard to tell. But they shouldn't eat live coral

 

[dustintx]

Well there were eating because I noticed my 2 polyp colonies had some bare spots,so over the last week these spots became bigger and bigger,so I decided to check with lights off and then under my blues this morning and low and behold!!!! Bristles on my starrys!

 

[jay0705]

Hmm

 

[dustintx]

I have trust issues with bristles now,lol.

 

[jay0705]

Lol mine to my knowledge don't bother anything. They are great for a cuc tho

 

[2quills]

I've never known bristle worms to eat polyps, they are detrivours. I've had them in all of my tanks and never ran into that issue.

You sure they weren't just crawling around the polyps in search of other food?

 

[beaslbob]

http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

 

[2quills]

The infamous bobit worm lol.

 

[dustintx]

Well there you have it folks! Just because many have not caught them in action,does not mean they do not eat corals. Mine were clearly not of this length,however I do believe they have been if nothing else, irritating my corals and causing them to retract and die off.

 

[Jesterrace]

What do you have in your tank? There are fish that love eating them.

 

[dustintx]

What do you have in your tank? There are fish that love eating them.

Only a pair of clowns and a cleaner shrimp other than CUC.

 

[Jesterrace]

What size is your tank? There are wrasses you can get that will definitely help eat those. Just be aware that you will likely lose a few snails and crabs as well.

 

[MrReefkprZ]

no they don't eat polyps. They may be scavenging dead tissue off corals that are already receding for other reasons, though this in fact is a beneficial behavior. By removing necrotic tissue they are decreasing the chance of the rotting flesh causing further infection of the colony I would look to other problems.