possible brittle worm issues?????

[bbanks-bryant]

I have a 29 gal reef tank that's been set up for a year. Within the last week I have noticed that some of my LR seems to be crumbling. Yesterday I noticed worm-like creatures coming out of the rocks that are having problems. After looking around on here. I think bristle worms are the problem, but don't really know.
They are red with white hair-like stuff on the body and they hide in the rock. They are also VERY VERY fast moving. I could only get one with tweezers but there seems to be several. An infestation of sorts.
Do they eat rock? One of the LFS said yes the other said no. Any ideas? How do I rid my tank of them?
If anyone can tell me how to upload a pic on here, perhaps that will help. Everytime I try it tells me my files are too big.

 

[wangotango]

Welcome.
To upload a pic you need to use some sort of photo-editing software like photobucket to reduce the size to 500x500.
How often are you feeding? Usually they become a problem if the tank is being overfed.
-Justin

 

[bbanks-bryant]

There seems to be lots of them. I am feeding way to much as it turns out. So, I will cut back on that. However, how do I control these worms so my rock doesn't suffer any more?
Thanks for the pic info Wango-tango

 

[triggerfre]

Yep bristle worm problem.Get a sixline wrasse.They will eat them.

 

[bbanks-bryant]

Originally Posted by triggerfre
Yep bristle worm problem.Get a sixline wrasse.They will eat them.

Will a sixline wrasse bother anything else in the tank other than the bristle worms? What about other fish? I have a purple-spotted lobster, a couple of serpent starfish, 3 clown fish, a blue tang, and a couple of green chromis swimming around. I see that the sixline wrasse is reef safe, so I'm guessing it won't bother any of my corals or anemones...is that correct?

 

[alix2.0]

Originally Posted by bbanks-bryant
Will a sixline wrasse bother anything else in the tank other than the bristle worms? What about other fish? I have a purple-spotted lobster, a couple of serpent starfish, 3 clown fish, a blue tang, and a couple of green chromis swimming around. I see that the sixline wrasse is reef safe, so I'm guessing it won't bother any of my corals or anemones...is that correct?

please stop listening to your lfs!
you cannot have a purple spotted lobster or ANY tangs in a 29! 3 clown fish will grow to be a problem. they can only be kept in pairs of one species per tank or they will fight to the death. the green chromis would be OK if you only had a few and the 2 clowns. also the anemone (plural!?) what kind? what kind of lights are you running? your tank is established so thats ok, but anemones need pristine water quality, and strong lighting. sorry, not flaming, but a LFS will tell you anything to get a dollar, i would return the tang, lobster, a clown, and exactly how many chromis do you have?
believe me, i have a 29gallon tank, and i have been through the whole "nope i cant have that or that or that or that either" thing MANY times.

 

[bbanks-bryant]

Originally Posted by alix2.0

please stop listening to your lfs!
So what do I do then? The LFS just aren't helping me much on this. I guess that's the price you pay for being in a small town

 

[alix2.0]

sorry, i added more.
as for the bristle worms, a few arent a problem. you probably have a lot more. i have about 5 that i see during the day, but look at the tank with a flashlight at 4am and there are about 50 just on the sandbed! they are actually beneficial to have in the tank as long as you dont have too many, but if you really want to get rid of them heres what you can do- get a clean plastic cup, and cut it so the bottom cup part is the same depth as your sand bed. sink the cup in the sand and drop a little bit of fish food in the bottom. in the morning the cup will be full of worms you can toss! just dont touch them with bare hands!
hold off on getting the sixline wrasse until after you have gotten rid of the tang and a clown (at least) and i dont know how many chromis you have, but if you had pristine water like the 2 clowns, the sixline, and like 3 chromis would probably be OK. you should probably only have 2 chromis, but you really should keep them in odd numbered groups. even that sounds a little overstocked, but if you keep up on water changes & maintenence, (and do you have a protein skimmer?) you could make it work. right now i only have 3 small fish in my tank.

 

[mie]

Alix is 110% correct. Also a coral banded shrimp is a natural predator to the bistleworm, And you actually want some bristle worms as they are beneficial. To many however can be bad.

 

[bbanks-bryant]

Originally Posted by alix2.0

please stop listening to your lfs! you cannot have a purple spotted lobster or ANY tangs in a 29! 3 clown fish will grow to be a problem. they can only be kept in pairs of one species per tank or they will fight to the death. the green chromis would be OK if you only had a few and the 2 clowns. also the anemone (plural!?) what kind? what kind of lights are you running? your tank is established so thats ok, but anemones need pristine water quality, and strong lighting. sorry, not flaming, but a LFS will tell you anything to get a dollar, i would return the tang, lobster, a clown, and exactly how many chromis do you have?
I have 2 green chromis. I started my tank with them. The lobster and tang were brought in together in month 4. I actually started out with 4 clowns (mini) but lost one within the first week. (which explains the odd #) They were added in about month 7. They have been in the tank for about 5 months and haven't bothered anything thus far.
I have a purple tip anemone and a flower anemone. Both were added in months 7 & 8. The water seems to be stable and working well for them. I haven't had issues with them yet anyway.
I have a purple serpent starfish that I purchased. Plus, I have 2 others that were hitchhikers on a couple of large rocks I bought.
I am running a Current 'satellite' lighting system for Reef tanks. It has 4 settings.
I am well aware that the LFS here are simply trying to make a $. I'm in too far now and they can't help me at all. As I'm sure you can tell, I am very new at this and have lots to learn.

 

[bbanks-bryant]

Originally Posted by mie
Alix is 110% correct. Also a coral banded shrimp is a natural predator to the bistleworm, And you actually want some bristle worms as they are beneficial. To many however can be bad.
Are the bristle worms the ones hurting my rock? In the top pic, all the dark stuff on the sand is actually crumbling rock where it appears the worms are moving about.

 

[mie]

Yes they are hurting your rock. There is an older thread around here somewhere about that. Also you can do what alix said about catching them with a little cup and food.
You should be feeding your tank maybe every other day. I feed mine three times a week. And what are the watts of your lighting?
What type of water are you useing? Tap or Ro. I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that if your lighting is insuficent and your water quality is not good enough your anenomes will die. They may look ok now, but the longevity of there live's will lose.

 

[alix2.0]

its probably just bits of rocks that was already loose, and the worms pushed it out the of the rock while they were making tunnels. i dont think they eat rock (theyre detrivores), they just use the existing nooks & crannies, and move stuff out of the way.

 

[alix2.0]

mie could be right about them hurting the rock. but i have never heard about it.

 

[bbanks-bryant]

This is a pic of the whole tank

The left side of tank with the leather coral and flower anemone

My clam

 

[alix2.0]

im sorry, the clam's gonna have to go too. they need metal halide lighting to photosynthesize. also, what kind of anemone is that? you might have said and i missed it...

 

[bbanks-bryant]

not planning on adding much more to the tank. I think I'm at my cap. However, I don't want things to destroy what I have and that seems to be what the worms are doing right now. I've been feeding WAY TOO MUCH! like at least once if not twice daily. I'm starting to cut back but I guess I'll have to watch the aggression and probably rid the tank of a few hungry fish according to what I've learned here the last few days.

 

[bbanks-bryant]

flower and a purple tip anemones are both in the tank on opposite sides...someone said they thought my flower anemone was a carpet anemone but it isn't; it's just not standing upright now.

 

[alix2.0]

oh, i missed the other one. well i dont know much about them but if you keep different species of anemone in the same tank they will release chemicals "chemical warfare" into the water until one of them dies. also most anemones need really strong lighting like strong T5s or metal halides. plus in such a small tank with such a heavy bioload, water conditions are likely not good enough to keep them happy for long.

 

[mie]

The tank looks nice, But there are a few no no's, I would recomend upgrading your filtration to a sump or a decent canister filter at the very least. And alix i am tyring to find that thread about the rocks and bristle worms, I can't find it

. I know it is not massivly detrimental to your rock, but they are doing somthing to it in there process of moving around and eating. Argh cant find it.