Wow..

j. crow

Member
Wow.. I've only added one piece of actual liferock to my tank once like a year ago.. and JUST now saw a bristleworm, I know their good for your tank but I've been trying to avoid having them.. I guess you never know whats in your tank, I was 100% sure I avoided almost every hitchhiker
 

browniebuck

Active Member
unless you watch your tank in the middle of the night, you really won't see them very often...or after feeding time. I found a way to determine whether or not we had them in our 29...I took our mag-float and put it right at about sand level...let it sit there for a couple days...take the outside piece off and watch the inside piece as you take it away...we had dozens of baby ones that had wound their way into the velcro.
 

j. crow

Member
I just actually took my tank completely apart last month to move out of state ..So I'm a little disgusted that I have them lol, I'm not a fan
 

j. crow

Member
I have a Coral Banded Shrimp and more docile fish ..Do you think a Secretive Wrasse would be fine with those and take care of the worm problem?
 
lol you're so funny sorry, it's just what you said about being sure you avoided hitchhikers. It's pretty common knowledge that although a person might be able to tell you exactly what they intentionally put in their aquarium not a single person will ever be able to tell you what all is in their aquarium. But that's part of the joy of keeping a saltwater aquarium, the vivid colors are only part of it. Another part is examining your tank one day and being surprised to find a striking little creature alive all on it's own in the little world you created. You're just like "Whoa look at that!" because isn't that what makes saltwater so magical and mysterious and beautifully captivating? Because every aspect of it is teeming with life! Okay sry I got a little carried away there but I think I made a point in there somewhere
 

j. crow

Member
I know it's almost impossible to avoid all hitchhikers with live rock.. It's just that it's the first I've seen in over a year of adding the rock, very surprising..
 
lol yes I can agree there. I was quite horrified to find a 3" bristleworm in my tank. I flushed him of course but you have to admit, they are quite pretty for worms. Lol
 

beazalbob69

Member
Friend of mine nuked his tank awile back(shut off the elec 3 days before we were able to move the tank to his new house) You would be amazed how many bristle worms came out of the rocks before they died! They were everywhere.
I did save some of his corals including a very nice hammer coral with about 10 heads on it. Sadly all of the fish died
 

btldreef

Moderator
Why exactly are you so against bristleworms in your tank? I'm just curious, I know they can hurt if you touch them, but they are quite beneficial as well.
What stock list did you end up going with?
 

j. crow

Member
Oh.. Thanks for asking
What I've put in my tank ..on purpose lol:
2 Clownfish
1 PJ Cardinal
1 Pygmy Angelfish
1 Yellowheaded Jawfish
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
1 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Little Bear Conch
10-13 Hermit Crabs
1 Nas. Snail (I've had it for awhile)
 

9supratt4

Active Member
Still curious on why you hate and don't want bristle worms....You don't see them except at night and they are beneficial scavangers.
 

mr.clownfish

Active Member
i have a million in my little 12gal nano. and i found this one day....

thats my finger next to it. i regret giving it to my LFS cause it was very beneficial but i was afraid of having coral, i herd that they eat coral at this size. also the bristles where HUGE. they where like cactus needles. LOL
 

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by J. Crow
http:///forum/post/3189296
Oh.. Thanks for asking
What I've put in my tank ..on purpose lol:
2 Clownfish
1 PJ Cardinal
1 Pygmy Angelfish
1 Yellowheaded Jawfish
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
1 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Little Bear Conch
10-13 Hermit Crabs
1 Nas. Snail (I've had it for awhile)
Nice list.
I still think you should rethink the bristleworm thing. They eat leftover food and detritus in your tank. They're really a good thing to have. I only ever pluck out the HUGE ones which I rarely ever see. The risk of being stung by one is not that great.
 

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by Mr.clownfish
http:///forum/post/3189325
i have a million in my little 12gal nano. and i found this one day....

thats my finger next to it. i regret giving it to my LFS cause it was very beneficial but i was afraid of having coral, i herd that they eat coral at this size. also the bristles where HUGE. they where like cactus needles. LOL
A species of worm that eats detritus when small is not going to suddenly begin eating corals just because it has grown. There are a dozen or so Bristleworm species than can eat coral and they will eat coral wether they are 1/2 inch long or 10 feet long. The other 10,000+ species of Polychaete cannot eat live healthy coral no matter how large they get.
 
wow creeptacular critter u got there. So at what point/size can they actually sting you? Cuz I can pick babies up all day long and they're harmless. Even the 2-3" one I caught didn't do anything. Call me stupid or morbidly curious but I even rubbed my fingers along the tufts but nothing.
A second thing about the benefits of at least small bristle worms. Think about it, usually everybody overfeeds because it's impossible to control every aspect so the bristle worms eat the rest. If they didn't you'd probably have high nitrates (or something) and have to do water changes a lot more often.
 
OH another question, does your cleaner shrimp ever scare your jawfish???
I have a completely sealed nano and my OCD cleaner shrimp scared my jawfish so bad he jumped into my filtration! (he didn't make it of course)
 
R

rcreations

Guest
I've never seen one of these worms in my 150g FOWLR, I'm sure they get eaten by my fish, if they're there in the first place. But my wife's nano tank is full of them. Just curious... what's your nitrate level in the tank?
 

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by Psychic_Alice http:///forum/post/3189225
lol yes I can agree there. I was quite horrified to find a 3" bristleworm in my tank. I flushed him of course but you have to admit, they are quite pretty for worms. Lol
I was surprised to find a 2+ foot Eunicid worm in my 180 gallon. Was set up for under a year. 200+ lb of live rockin the DT, live rock is 6+ years old.(got it from locals)
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/370114/id-this-huge-worm
Link to my 180 gallon.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/355514/coral-keepers-180-gallon-reef-diary
 

j. crow

Member
Originally Posted by Psychic_Alice http:///forum/post/3189450
OH another question, does your cleaner shrimp ever scare your jawfish???
I have a completely sealed nano and my OCD cleaner shrimp scared my jawfish so bad he jumped into my filtration! (he didn't make it of course)
Not that I've seen, everything ignores the Jawfish lol.. But then again it burrowed in the front corner of the tank which is kind of the Coral Banded's territory so the cleaner doesn't go around it much
Originally Posted by Coral Keeper
http:///forum/post/3189467
I was surprised to find a 2+ foot Eunicid worm in my 180 gallon. Was set up for under a year. 200+ lb of live rockin the DT, live rock is 6+ years old.(got it from locals)
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/370114/id-this-huge-worm
Link to my 180 gallon.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/355514/coral-keepers-180-gallon-reef-diary
Oh man.. That's one of the reasons I hate Bristle Worms, small ones are OKAY but once they get big.. I could imagine if I found that thing instead of the surprising 3-5 inch worm I saw.
Saltwater worms, serious business.
 

small triggers

Active Member
lol someone asked when they can hurt you,,,, it just depends on how sensitive you are... i now wear gloves to do anything near the sandbed in my tank cause a bristleworm less than an inch long just crawled across my finger and it blew up lke a balloon and i had to get an epi shot, lol. But i am allergic to ant bites and bee stings so i may have a prepensity (sp?)to be allergic, lol
 
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