Bristleworms

[bamalatino98]

So my wife and i just got in to the salt water hobbie and I had send a message that I was looking for new additions to my tank, well I did not expect to find bristleworms in my tank anyways does anybody know how to get rid of them? or are they good for the reef? Please help me out! CAM

 

[gmneil]

they are supposed to be good, they eat uneaten food and are a good part of your clean up crew, personally i dont like them though,

arrow crabs and coral banded shrimp eat them i have had good success keeping them in check using either of the two.

 

[JR's Reef]

There fine. Many wrasses and some other fish will eat them

 

[wareagle35031]

Unless there are a lot of them I would not worry, not over feeding will help keep them in line.

 

[bamalatino98]

thanks every one for your input.

 

[kg4izw]

They have not hurt anything in my tank either, YET.
And I have one that stretches over a foot long!

 

[wfrost]

I have heard both versions they are good and bad, I have pulled some out of my tanks that were in excess of 12 inches. I have never seen them harm anything, but a few years ago, I had a predator and the only thing I ever found was a couple of very large bristle worms. And yes an Arrow crab worked well untill the morning, when all I found was pieces of Arrow crab shell scattered all over. I believe they become a nuisance when they grow very large. I also believe they are beneficial when they are small.

 

[bamalatino98]

well I pull mine out the tank an now its on is own small tank, should I put it back on my reef tank its only about 4inc max? thanks for the feedback , I am really new with the hobbie and have lots QA

 

[hla]

I have some in my tank w/ lots of coral and have never had a problem either. Wetwebmedia.com is a great place to find info on anything you need.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

As long as they are regular bristleworms, you have nothing to worry. However, you must remove any Eunicid worms since they are coral and fish eaters. I recall hearing about a couple of NARC members having to kill small ones that were eating their corals. They can get really large as you can see in the picture.

Tomoko

 

[mltmtascp]

Those worm are disgusting. The only problem we have every had with a bristleworm was that one got on our long tenacle plate coral. It got into the coral's mouth and a day later the coral died. Don removes any of the longer bristle worms that he can caught.

 

[atlantisaquari]

sometimes they can get up under clams and eat on them. eventually the clam will die if they are not removed