Bristle worm eating fish!!! i think..

[Davidnano]

So I have a 34 gallon solana, pretty well established. poylps to monti cap...
The tank is infested with bristle worms. they are everywhere. I keep everything well fed so they dont go after anything. I was told that they will eat clams, chalice, brains, and other coral. Well i have those coral minus the brian and theyre all doing fine. So i dont know if the coral eating thing is true. NOw....Last week I bought a multi-color fairy wrasse. I love it. But about tuesday this week I noticed a little bit of almost rott type of infection on the top of the fish between the eyes. almost like hole in the head how african cichlids get. tonight i came home, lights were off and the wrasse is between rocks but it seems like its almost being attacked by the worms... Am I seeing things or are they really eating him alive? has anyone ever seen this? They arenet literatly on the fish but they are extending trying to reach him, or so it seems. Can anyone help me with this as well of some comfort knowing that coral and bristle worms can co-exist or is my tank a ticking time bomb??? thanks guys!

 

[Davidnano]

BREAKING NEWS!

Authorities say last night a juvenile fairy wrasse was found dead on the 15300 block of GPS lane. Reports say there is no evidence of foul play. LOL. okay well this morning I found the same little guy dead. Any ideas? only thing I noticed was i little cut on his dead..

 

[KingwoodMarcia]

What?

 

[clownaround2]

...suicide or homicide, that's the question. My guess, he was weak from his cut and the bristle worms though, he is an easy target; but there are many unsolved/cold cases in the aquarium field.

 

[Beblebe]

That sucks. Call FSI (Fish Scene investigations LOL)

 

[LeslieH]

The worms were attracted to the scent of wounded tissue around the head lesion. They didn't kill it but I'm sure they would have liked to snack on the dead body.

 

[Davidnano]

So whats to worry about these bristle worms and my coral?

 

[clownaround2]

There are mixed feelings about them. They are good to have, because they act like a clean up crew in the sand. It gets bad, when they attack your corals. Some get really big. I always try to get those suckers out. As I started out, I had one bristleworm that was the size of the bottom circle of a bucket! I was so scared - got him out with tongs from the grill. Never thought that they could be that big.

 

[LeslieH]

What you guys call bristle worms are better known as fireworms. There are a lot of different species. Just one, Hermodice carunculata (you can google for pics & info or search here on RC) to known to actually eats healthy coral & it specializes in gorgonians. Some of the big oval ones that are shaped like footballs with extremely long setae (= bristles) are predators on other worms. All of them, even the predators, are scavengers & will eat detritus. Probably 99% of the ones that show up in tanks are harmless. If your tank is infested David that's a sign you're overfeeding & causing a population explosion.