Bristleworms and silicone

[goldeneyeretrie]

I have a bunch of small bristleworms that I have grown to appreciate.

Lately, however, I have been finding them buried in the silicone seams of the tank and overflows. I have inspected the silicone closely thinking that they must be feeding on matter that was trapped in the silicone but it is smooth, in tact and no detritus, debris or algae has accumulated there( except there are now a few tunnels). Several worms appear trapped as they have stayed put for several days. I can see they are still alive and wiggling.

Do bristleworms eat or burrow in silicone? Is this a problem ? Any solutions?

Thanks for the input.

 

[KDodds]

Never seen them get under the silicone. Climb up it yeah, but not under. I suspect it may have been a poor job (if a new tank) or already peeling (if an old tank). I'm not quite sure what to tell you, whether it's going to be potentially fatal (to the tank) or not. But, if they start burrowing through the silicone between the panes, that could be a major problem.

 

[Dubbin1]

I would see this as being a problem. Keep a good eye out on the seams that they are in.

 

[goldeneyeretrie]

Thanks for the responses.

As I said, the silicone appears to be sound. No peeling, pitting or blemishes. I will keep an eye on it. Maybe they already dug in the only bad areas. They do not appear to be trying to dig in between the panes, just through the bead along the glass seam.

Is there any way to re silicone these areas underwater?

Should I try to dig the worms out or let them be? Should I kill them in the silicone and let them die, or will that just attract more burrowers?

Thanmks for all the help!

 

[PDA]

I made my own sump and siliconed the baffles in place a while back. Since I'm not a master with glass, there were imperfections in the silicone. I noticed that I had tiny bristleworms in my sump when i saw several burrowing in the silicone beads I made during construction. I just put an arrow crab in the sump and it pulled the worms out for me. I hear that coral banded shrimp will do the same, but have no experience there.