catch or kill large bristol worms?

[jkable]

i have a few large bristol worms in my tank that i would like to dispose of. i have not seen any negative affects, but some of them are very large 4 to 5 inches. just looking for any advise to catch or kill them. thank you

 

[Sk8r]

4-6 inches is only proper wormsized. Big is 2' and more. I lost my 4 10"-ers and really, really miss them when it comes to cleaning the rock pile: a tank is much more stable with them in there. I've gotten a few who have only just hit 3" [and the stupid firefish has managed to nose into one, as per what firefish do---but he'll be fine in 2 days.] They will save your tank if you have something large die under the rockwork. Do as you please, of course, but it's a shame.

 

[johnski]

with you thinking about getting rid of bristleworms, i would ask you to consider some questions, why is there so many and why are they so big, have i been overfeeding the tank and they're eating the excess, if i remove the bristleworms what would perform this function

 

[bpd964]

I have 3 about 3 inches long and they are beneficial to tank cleaning.

 

[jkable]

has anyone seen negative affects of these worms when they get large? i definately agree they are benificial i have alot of them, but most are smaller. the reason for my concern is the guy at my lfs said the large ones can crawl into clams and eat them, anyone ever experience or hear of this, thanks alot.

 

[Sk8r]

Never---a bristleworm is sent into a world of steaks with only a straw: ie, all he can eat is what's liquified by rot or, in the case of a food pellet, watery dissolution that will take a long time. His mouth is so tiny he can only drink and slurp, not really chew or bite at all.

You will naturally see them where a clam or snail has died, because they've come to the soupy nastiness to clean it up, and they have to wait for rot to advance before they can have any: fish are usually much faster than they are.

They also live in the holes in rocks and keep those scrupulously clean instead of clogged with gunk. And their poo is the right size for corals to absorb as nutrient. So at every level they're a good bargain as a cleaner critter.

The only worm to pounce on is the Eunicid, which looks like a hardshelled centipede with 4 tentacles around what are, indeed jaws.

Though I read yesterday that one chap has had one for quite a while in a FOWLR and had no bad behavior out of him at all...while somebody else said that eunicids were bad news for zoas.

Everything is in a food chain...but the lowly bristleworm is at the end of the line and can't hurt your corals or fish or clams. You may see a fish get a faceful now and again: these drop off about 2 days later with no harm done. Firefish and clowns seem to take repeated lessons before they figure out this is not a creature to bite. Eventually they learn.

If you move rock, do it with latex gloves if you have a good population of bristleworms. You and the worms will both be happier. Their bristles don't stick to those.

 

[jkable]

thank you sk8r

 

[czieler]

I have to say latex gloves don't do much when moving rocks... after picking one or two rocks up... the rocks shred the gloves... and then you get stuck w/ a crap load of bristles in your fingers...

I've invested in some neoprene gloves for the next time I'm moving rocks around.

I've got some bristleworms in my 125 gallon that are 8inches or longer..they freak me out when I move something and they pop out... and I've gotten stuck w/ the bristles more than enough times..heh.

 

[Reefit]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10586660#post10586660 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
Never---a bristleworm is sent into a world of steaks with only a straw: ie, all he can eat is what's liquified by rot or, in the case of a food pellet, watery dissolution that will take a long time. His mouth is so tiny he can only drink and slurp, not really chew or bite at all.

You will naturally see them where a clam or snail has died, because they've come to the soupy nastiness to clean it up, and they have to wait for rot to advance before they can have any: fish are usually much faster than they are.

They also live in the holes in rocks and keep those scrupulously clean instead of clogged with gunk. And their poo is the right size for corals to absorb as nutrient. So at every level they're a good bargain as a cleaner critter.

The only worm to pounce on is the Eunicid, which looks like a hardshelled centipede with 4 tentacles around what are, indeed jaws.

Though I read yesterday that one chap has had one for quite a while in a FOWLR and had no bad behavior out of him at all...while somebody else said that eunicids were bad news for zoas.

Everything is in a food chain...but the lowly bristleworm is at the end of the line and can't hurt your corals or fish or clams. You may see a fish get a faceful now and again: these drop off about 2 days later with no harm done. Firefish and clowns seem to take repeated lessons before they figure out this is not a creature to bite. Eventually they learn.

If you move rock, do it with latex gloves if you have a good population of bristleworms. You and the worms will both be happier. Their bristles don't stick to those.

Sounds like you know a thing or two about these. I was told they can be a threat to snails, by stinging and killing them. What is your thought on this?

 

[romunov]

There are species that will eat mollusks, but they're rare. More on "bristol" worms here.