Arrow crab w/ SH's???

[sloshesv]

Maybe a small one? I've got so many bristle worms in my SH tank right now it's starting to freak me out a little. I know they're not necessarily harmful, but when they all come out at feeding time it's a bit frightening. I thought maybe a little arrow crab to clean them up and then I could find it a new home.

 

[panmanmatt]

Why not just manually remove the worms with a pair of tweezers? If they are coming into the feeding dish it should be easy to catch them.

Or just use a small dish with some mysis. Once the worms go in after the food you can take them out bowl and all.

Arrow crabs are nasty critters no matter how big/small they are. Not to mention they can be a real PITA to get out once you put them in the tank.

 

[sloshesv]

Touch them????? Ewwwwwwwwwww! Thanks though.

 

[panmanmatt]

You don't have to touch the worms. You can use tongs or tweezers.

 

[sloshesv]

They look a little too much like those brainbugs from Wrath of Khan. So IYO, the arrow crab would be too dangerous to have in there with my girls? I'd just love to see what a crab could do to all those worms.

 

[pledosophy]

I kept an arrow crab with my seahorses back in the day. It loved mysis, never touched a bristle worm. JME

 

[ReefWidowed]

I would suggest maybe putting the horses into a QT tank for the day, and do some FW dips on the rocks to chase the majority of the worms out, and comb through the sand a bit. I think it would be less stressful then a crab.

 

[sloshesv]

Interesting. Thanks, everybody.

 

[daFrimpster]

The bristleworms are proliferating because their food is plentiful. Look at reducing theor food supply and the bristle's numbers will reduce.

 

[ReefNutPA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8956335#post8956335 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by daFrimpster
The bristleworms are proliferating because their food is plentiful. Look at reducing theor food supply and the bristle's numbers will reduce.

Agreed.

Tom

 

[sloshesv]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8957033#post8957033 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefNutPA
Agreed.

Tom

I don't know how I would do that. I don't think I'm overfeeding my SH's in any way, and when they come to feed out of their dish they blow shrimp all over the place.

 

[pledosophy]

IME giving the rock a bath in a 1.040 solution for 10 minutes with a powerhead will make many of the worms flee the rock. Got rid of a couple hundred in one of my tanks this way. Including a worm that was over 3'. Fun.

 

[Fredfish]

A pair of 14" tweezers and a bowl and you don't even have to come close to the ugly buggers. Thats what I do. Though, now that I am adding corals to the tank, I may just put the worms into the refugium and feed them there so they make more food for my corals.

Fred

 

[JIM260]

I would recommend keeping them in the tank (if they are the small harmless variety- which most are). They are very beneficial to your eco system by being efficient, non-competitve scavengers. Probably the best at cleaning up uneaten food and waste since they pose no danger like hermit crabs, shrimps or scavenger fish may to your horses. My tank is full of them. Yes they are "icky" but they add bio-diversity and thus make a tank more interesting IMO.

 

[JIM260]

I would not recommend an Arrow with Sea Horses. May work to start but at some point he will take a shot at one and because they are such slow swimmers and hang on stationary objects, he may get em. Might not kill it, but would cause damage.

 

[sloshesv]

It didn't work out with the arrow crab. I guess I'll have to learn to love the brain worms.