bristle worm problem

[scoobasteve]

Hi, ive got a relatively new tank (7 months) with about 15 pounds of old live rock(16 months). Lately ive noticed alot of these little hairlike thinks all over the tank. They seem to be multiplying and are getting larger. At first i thought it meant my tank was maturing and healthy, but i saw something about bristleworms on another thread. Are they bad in a tank, and how do i get rid of them? I don't have any corals, but i do have a flame scallop, a horseshoe crab, an urchin, some hermits and a perc. Are there any easy to take care of fish that will eat these worms?

 

[toasty23]

they are ok as long as they dont get huge. they are very good at eating left overs or dead stuff. if you look at it at night with a small light you will see them at work.

 

[Illuminati]

Some people think they are a pest, especially the guy who had hundreds in his nano.

I have seen a few in mine but leave them, they are pretty harmless and I believe algae eaters and mine are always small.

Sixline Wrasses will do the trick. How big is the tank? You might not want to put that fish long term in a small tank.

 

[acrodave]

try putting food in pantyhose they get there bristles stuck in it

 

[scoobasteve]

Yeh, these things are getting large. They are stuck onto the back wall of the tank, coming from everywhere in the live rock and now they are in the sand. If you say they are benificial then i suppose it isn't a problem. It is a 12g aquapod. I'm not sure if they are bristleworms though, they kind of look like long thin strands of mucus with what looks like a long thin hair in the middle. ive never seen them ove across the sand, they pretty much just sway in the current and hang onto the rock.

 

[acrodave]

if thay are bristle worm cutting back on feeding fish will cut there numbers down