any way to kill/control bristle worms?

BrassMonkey

New member
i have some large 8-12'' bristle worms in my tank and noticed tonight one chewing on my sps.

what methods//tools do you use to grab em?


they always have half there bodies in the rock, do you just break off what you can or can you coach them out?
 
I made a DIY trap one time to c how many i could get,i watched them with a red LED during lights out,& in 15min i had like 4 8"ers in the tube i used.
 
Trap the larger ones, have a pseudochromis or hawkfish for smaller ones. Generally they're beneficial and it's usually a bad idea to remove them. The more gunk you have in your tank / sand, the more bristles you'll have -- and that's a good thing. Big ones though chewing on sps -- I'd be trapping them as well, immediately.
 
i no this is probably not wat you want to hear but i think you should just leave them in there for the reason BLKTANG said unless there hurting something. but yer get rid of the big ones
 
I keep a gold banded coral shrimp in my reef, and he keeps the population to a minimum. I do agree that they won't hurt anything, but some people just get really bothered by them. Avoid the larger banded shrimp if you keep small fish though, incuding the red and white ones. They get too big to be trusted with little fish.
 
Sixline or Arrow Crab. Coral banded Shrimps will also hunt them to extinction. I would get a crab because it is very effective and you don't have to worry about the sixline having ich. If you get the sixline you should quarantine him for 6 weeks before putting him in the tank.. The arrow crab can go in right now. If you have small fish though I would not suggest using the crab or cbs.
 
i think theres different species of bristle worm. i see the little guys and leave them alone. its the huge blueish ones im trying to get out.

out of laziness im leaving them alone unless i see big chunks of coral missing.

i only have one six line in a 40b so maybe thats why there so hungry.
 
Bristleworms are a HUGE group. Although most species we commonly see ae harmless detritovores if there is one eating SPS it needs to come out. I would trap it or coax it out with food. You will be hard pressed to find a predator that eats the big one and the little ones are probably not doing any harm
 
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