Brisitle worms Q's

Crusty Old Shellback

MASVC OG
Premium Member
Ok, I went and looked in the tank last night after the lights had been off for a while. I haven't looked in there in a long time.

What I saw concerns me some. I know that brisitle worms are supposed to be good for the tank, but I think I have an excessive amount. They are coming out of every nook and crany in my rocks. Seriously, when I turned on the flash light, my rocks all looked like they were moving there were so many worms.

My biggest concern is for my corals. Will the worms eat corals? I've lost a few of them lately and so I have a concern after what i saw. I also saw a ton of babby brittle stars. What rocks weren't covered in worms were covered in stars. They were even floating around in the water a lot. There were a ton of pods as well so that's good news. I also saw a bunch of small long flat white looking worms in the water colum. Not sure what they were but they seemed to be attracted to the light.

Anyways, any ideas on how to get rid of some of these bristile worms without tearing down the tank? I've got a couple of 6 line wrasses in the tank but they aren't working. I can't really add anymore fish as the tank is full right now with my larger fish. So anyideas of something I can use that won't affect my fish or corals? Thanks for any help.
 
out of the hundreds of subspecies of reef worms, very few actually cause damage. Usually people suggest overfeeding will raise the population, and try feeding less to see if it helps. Since I see you have a moorish idol, that may not be the easiest step. Usually the six lines do a good job of it, so maybe with slightly less feeding, it'll give them a chance to keep up. Other than that, I wouldn't be too concerned with them as they break down uneaten food and waste before it has a chance to bring down water quality
 
Yea I do feed a lot, but then again, I have some large fish which are pigs, ie 2 Naso's at 12", Blue tang at 8", Pink Tail Trigger at 8", MI at 6" etc.

I may try some more 6 lines if necessary. Right now I only feed once a day and it's eaten before it hits the bottom.
 
I've thought of that. I may still try it. The thing is, I've seen these guys crawl out of the rock and snatch up food and disappear back into the rock. They never come completely out of the rocks.

Maybe a bottle with a small hole in the lid might work?
 
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