Bristle worms good or bad?

[pinkskunk14]

Ive always heard if i see a bristle worm kill on the spot, now i've read there good for your reef is a there a specific kind that wont attack your corals? If so how quickly do they reproduce? I've heard that orange fireworm is good is there ant truth to that?

 

[phyber]

Good for cleaning up the tank, bad for looking very creepy

 

[Indymann99]

Bristleworms are good scavengers. Their populations are self limiting to the amount off excess food available. Over feeding = LOTS of Bristleworms.

The bad kind is rare in the hobby. The good ones are common.

 

[data_loss]

I'm convinced that a larger bristle worm in my tank ate 3 peppermint shrimp. Sure it is possible they died and he was just scavenging, but nothing else in my tank has died lately.

I usually keep an eye out for larger ones at night and if I see one I just suck it up with a turkey baster type fish feeder I have and flush it.

I came home to find this guy munching on a peppermint shrimp and sucked him up,

 

[ecdragonz]

I would take them out.

 

[deanearp]

Good for cleaning up the tank, bad for looking very creepy

+1. My understanding is that they are nothing to worry about, especially if they are small. There seems to be widely varying opinion on this. A wrasse would help take care of them.

 

[pinkskunk14]

i like to feed my fish alot my philosophy is a fat fish is a happy fish so i guess bristle worms will overtake my tank...sucks but if i were to put a bristle worm trap will i remove them all?

 

[pinkskunk14]

I'm convinced that a larger bristle worm in my tank ate 3 peppermint shrimp. Sure it is possible they died and he was just scavenging, but nothing else in my tank has died lately.

I usually keep an eye out for larger ones at night and if I see one I just suck it up with a turkey baster type fish feeder I have and flush it.

I came home to find this guy munching on a peppermint shrimp and sucked him up,

He is kinda cute he doesnt look as bad as others

 

[pinkskunk14]

What type of wrasse?

 

[Mike_Noren]

I'm not an expert on those guys, but I think that's not just any old polychaete, I think that's a caribbean fireworm, Hermodice carunculata. Treat it with respect, it's called fireworm and carries those conspicuous white tufts for a reason. And yeah, you probably don't want H. carunculata in your tank - they eat corals and (as you've noticed) crustaceans.

 

[SushiGirl]

Yeah, those pics aren't a typical, everyday bristleworm found in home aquaria.
I overfeed, so I have a lot, and some big ones (not the biggest I've had, but big enough). When they get annoying & start stealing food from the inhabitants I paid good money for, I catch them with a long pair of non-locking hemostats (giant tweezers) and pull them out. I'm a darn good bristleworm hunter LOL. I have 2 right now living with my tiny pistol shrimp, and if I can get them to come out far enough they're goners. They won't let the poor little shrimp eat, I have to stand there for a long time to make sure the pistol gets fed. Today, he was so hungry he came half out of his burrow, pushing past the 2 bristleworms, grabbed the turkey baster with one claw & reached in & grabbed a piece of food with the other...twice! :lmao:

 

[psteeleb]

like a lot of things in our reef tanks - too much of one thing can cause a problem.

though usually harmless they can just be eyesores and when they get real big will compete for the food

If my population gets to large I'll usually add some more hermits as they compete for the same types of food and will help keep the numbers in check

if they get to big and numerous where the hermits wont help I'll add a preditor. Some wrasses will go for smaller worms but usually not the larger ones. Other known preditors that will go for the larger ones include the arrow crab and banded coral shrimp.

that's a great story sushigirl

 

[capschamp]

http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

Not a bristle worm, but scary none the less.

 

[psteeleb]

http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

Not a bristle worm, but scary none the less.

that darn link gives me the heebeegeebees every time I see it :uhoh3:

 

[DanEnglish]

I just rearranged some rocks in my tanks tonight and saw about 10 that were as thick as my pinky finger and about 6 inches long. They have not harmed anything for years, including clams, LPS, zoas, numerous fish, shrimp, etc.

 

[SushiGirl]

Dan, that's the size of the ones I have.

 

[jamey1015]

I had a Sand Perch from the Pinguipedidae family and he loved bristle worms except he also will eat small shrimp, feather dusters, Christmas tree worms, and other small invertebrates and small fish. Nevertheless, they would also eat bristleworms and mantis shrimps, and is coral safe.

Cleaned my tank up in no time and I passed him along to a fellow reefer!

 

[DanEnglish]

I assume they clean up for me, as my shark and lionfish make a mess sometimes!

 

[pinkskunk14]

so let me get this right as long as i dont over feed my tank wont be populated with bristle worms? ive fished them out before but its a mission nonetheless if they start starving all my pets i should put mor blue legs to control them? will the coral banded actively hunt bristle worms?

 

[divewsharks]

You are going to have bristleworms, how many depends on how much you feed. Blue legs just eat the same food, so it can help keep the population smaller. CBS will hunt them, as do arrow crabs and some wrasses.
While not the prettiest things, they are an important member if your cleanup crew.