Removing bristle worms in live rock

[purpfish]

I am re-newing a very old tank and I was wondering if there is a way to get rid of some of the bristle worms that are living in my rock without killing everything else on it??

 

[bigarn]

Why do you want to get rid of them?

 

[purpfish]

The tank is over-run with them. I know I cannot get them all out of the rock but the rock is full of them too.

 

[alyssia]

I have heard of people submerging the rock in water with a high salinity to make everything come out of the rock, then you can keep what you want. I've never tried it though.

 

[bigarn]

They sell traps for them ... or take a piece of pantyhose put some meaty food in it and put it in the bottom of the tank. The bristles get stuck in the mesh and you can remove the whole thing. You can also cut back on feeding ... the less excess nutrients in the tank the less bristleworms you'll have.

 

[purpfish]

Many years of my overfeeding has afforded me an impressive collection of thousands of these critters!

 

[bigarn]

Originally Posted by Purpfish
Many years of my overfeeding has afforded me an impressive collection of thousands of these critters!
gotcha!

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by bigarn
They sell traps for them ... or take a piece of pantyhose put some meaty food in it and put it in the bottom of the tank. The bristles get stuck in the mesh and you can remove the whole thing. You can also cut back on feeding ... the less excess nutrients in the tank the less bristleworms you'll have.

I like that idea.

 

[xdave]

The traps suck because they are usually too small, but the pantyhose thing works. You nedd to make sure you're not wearing them at the time.