The great bristle debate

[biggdriver]

Ok now I hope some of you can clear this one up.For yrs bristle worms were thought to do more harm than good to a reef setup. Now they are being sold in detrivore kits and are supposed to be totally reef safe?? what gives
Quote from a site that sells them
Bristle Worms are completely reef safe. In fact, for the money, they are the best detritivore in the kit!
What gives.I thought any coral or clam placed on the sand bottom was subject to bristle attack. Does this mean that if the coral is not placed on the sand bed that it is gonna be safe..
I would be kind of leary actually purchasing something that was deemed a coral/clam killer..
Anying Oppinions???
Would you recommend buying them?
This also goes back to the previous post about the small stars,and brittle stars .this is part of that sites detrivore kit.I always thought not all stars were safe, why would you want a "mixed bag" of stars if you don't really know what your buying?

 

[jakob4001]

as is the case, and will continue to be, it will depend on whom you chose to believe; inverts are some of the most difficult of creatures to figure ou fully, yet they have some of the most simple biology; there are many many variancs on them of;& like most debates on this hobby, beliefs will reflect the current most fad; chances are, if you have LR, you probably have at least a few bristleworms; possibly have not seen them yet; a few species are specilized to eat corals and clams, but most are harmless to otther reef inhabitants; HOWEVER, most can inflict a strong sting w/ those bristly; just dont touch or moved substrate around w/ bare hands; we happen to have one that is about 1.5' long currently;it has done no harm to anything; they do make great scavengers & tend to stir the sand bed though; I would not buy them being you can get them as hitchikers on LR sometimes anyways

 

[beachbaby]

QUOTE
"I thought any coral or clam placed on the sand bottom was subject to bristle attack. Does this mean that if the coral is not placed on the sand bed that it is gonna be safe.."
Our bristle worms aren't only in the sand but in and out of the live rock, too. I see them at night clear up to the top. I was wondering how to get rid of some of them. I know a few are good but we have some BIG ones. I have heard that arrow crabs eat them but can also eat small fish. Anyone have any luck with anything else?

 

[beachbaby]

By the way, Biggdriver, do you already have bristle worms? Or are you really thinking of ordering them?

 

[jakob4001]

yes, I have seen one of my arrow crabs munching on 1 or 2 here & there; the newest arow crab has almost nothing to do w/ the 1.5' one we have of course;well, they will fight over food sometimes;
crabs are scavengers and will go for an easy meal;like food that comes in reach of it;we have had 2 arrows and never saw that they bothered any of the tank inhabitants; now perhaps if it has developed a taste for small fish or is underfed it might attack inverts & small fish; a 6 line wrasse may eat bristles worms as well; or you could try making your own worm trap out of 20 oz soda bottle baited w/ food

 

[biggdriver]

I saw a detrivor kit on another site and included in it was a few bristle worms..Just wondering if purchasing them was such a good idea