One large bristleworm eating a snail-

cannonman

cannonman

Member
Just happened to walk by the tank and found out I have one huge bristle worm in my tank, it had it's mout end inside a snail shell eating away, I found an empty snail shell earlier this week also. This worm seems to secreate (sp?) a mucous coat in areas, I have seen this mucous a number of times before and couldn't figure out what was making it, now I know. Unless it was the Nass snail right before he died.. anyways, is this thing killing my snails or just cleaning up? I don't know how long it is, you can see some of it in the pictures but it goes into the little slits on the bottom of the over flow box. For referrence the tank is 75 gal. I could see about a foot of worm and don't know how much more there is. All tan in color. I know most of these critters are good but..... this is crazy- opinions welcome.

 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
thats pretty big. you might want to get rid of that one. The small ones are good, but when they get that big i take them out.
 
cannonman

cannonman

Member
I'll be honest with you all.... . I don't like it. I don't want to touch it and I don't want to get too close to it, it just creeps me out. The worse part is I really don't know how much longer it is.... I know of at least a foot...but it just kept going. Soooo....I'm gonna try and trap it... just to the pvc pipe with small holes, bait, and panty hose I heard? Is that the best way to trap one?
 
C

civileng68

Guest
Originally Posted by Cannonman
I'll be honest with you all.... . I don't like it. I don't want to touch it and I don't want to get too close to it, it just creeps me out. The worse part is I really don't know how much longer it is.... I know of at least a foot...but it just kept going. Soooo....I'm gonna try and trap it... just to the pvc pipe with small holes, bait, and panty hose I heard? Is that the best way to trap one?

I'd like to hear more about how to trap them as well because I'll be honest, I am like you, I'm not touching that thing! Even with gloves I'm not touching that thing! It's like a freaking snake.
 
cannonman

cannonman

Member
If I can/do trap it I will deal with it long enough to photograph and measure though.. :thinking: this is going to be interesting.
:help: I do need to know the best way to trap still though....
 
whitemike

whitemike

Member
That guy is cool. Im gonna name him Dr. Kevorkian cause those snails where probally deppressed of terminaly ill and he just did them a favor. The easy way out.
 
V

vicegrip

Guest
I got the pvc and end caps if you have the panties

When you catch him give me a call. I'll skin it and throw it on the grill. MMMM sea creature ***)
 
cannonman

cannonman

Member
You're a funny guy... I was thinking I would catch him and put him in your tank when you're gone to work... :hilarious No, seriously... do you have some spare pvc laying around? I need to build a trap.... this thing is scarry.
 
V

vicegrip

Guest
Yea I'll make it today. How long should we make it? I have 1" and 1 1/4 pvc. I was thinking 1" at 4" to 6" long.
P.S. I don't work and you do. And you're not home right now. I wonder what he would look like in your 30G?
 
cannonman

cannonman

Member
this think is Looooonnnng- your guess is as good as mine as to how long it would need to be... I need to find out what to bait it with to- raw shrimp maybe???? :notsure: And in those pics above..you don't see all of it, it kept going to the left and into the little slits on the bottom of the over flow box!!! If/when I catch it I'll have to take pics and post on here.. I would think the holes drilled in it should be relatively small... and probably only one or two holes?? I'm waiting for somebody with some experience to chime in here......
 
frankthetank

frankthetank

Active Member
Do they bite, sting or hurt if you touched it? I mean, even if they didn't I'm not sure I could bring myself to reach in and grab one of those things. That gives me the willies just thinking about it.
 
cannonman

cannonman

Member
Some of them do sting to the point of being dangerous (fire worms I think) this isn't one of those but I don't want to touch it none the less. (little hairs or spikes tell my sub concious: Don't touch) If I can trap it I will be removing it with a tweezers!!
 
kelly

kelly

Member
They do not bit or sting, but their spines are worse than a cactus. I would not recommend touching with the bare hands. I picked up a piece of live rock one time and there was a large one on the bottom. I had hundreds of little calcium spines in the fingers... They were sore for a few days, and the spines are almost impossible to remove. I hear that some times if you drag a nylon across the spines in a finger it may remove them.
Good luck removing it.
Kelly
 
V

vicegrip

Guest
I've been reading up on the trap on and off of the last week or so and fromm what I see in my tank some mytis and flake food is all you'll need. I'm going to try it out the trap right now.
 
V

vicegrip

Guest
Well my star fish came out and sat right on top of it as soon as it hit bottom. That was pretty cool.
 
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