Catching/Killing large Bristleworm or Fireworm

[customdusty]

I recently lost one of the heads on my branched frogspawn, and spent a few days moving the frogspawn around and monitoring what was going on in the tank. What I found in the exact spot where the branch on the frogspawn was lost was that immediately adjacent to a large piece of LR, was a gigantic bristleworm which I think may be the culprit. From what I was able to see, which was only a portion of it coming out of the rock was about 6" long, and about as big around as a pencil when stretched. When it flattened out a bit and wasn't fully stretched, it was probably close to an inch wide or about the size of my thumb. I don't honestly know how big it may be, but I'm guessing it may be as big as 8-10", maybe more.

I made some traps, some 3/4" pvc with caps on each end, which I drilled out hole on one end, and then baited with some shrimp. No luck yet catching a single worm, let alone this big one.

Any thoughts on a better method for catching and removing this? Can I try and lure him out and then cut it in half or something? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[airinhere]

Where did your rock come from? I have seen some that big while diving in Florida, but I couldnt imagine one of those in my tank.

Maybe get some 1/4 inch netting and loosely wad it up around a piece of meat. rubberband the bundle together and leave it near the bristleworms lair overnight. While the worm needles its way through the netting at night, you just would have to check on it around 4am. Hopefully the worm would be hopelessly entangled and you could easily toss the whole bundle in your sump.

 

[frednwilma1999]

Sounds like something I went through about a year ago. Built the trap, drilled the holes bigger, No luck. The 250 's go off at 10 , And i usually feed around 9:30. Just by chance it was friday, And i was knocking a couple back. Fead heavy, Lights went off, The slimy little Sucker starts making his way accross the rocks. I tossed my drink, the hood flew open and the whole rock went into a 5 gal. bucket. I guess I was lucky.... It was as fat as a carpentrs pencil, And 10-12" long. I tossed him in the road and watched him wither

 

[customdusty]

I've considered trying to remove the rock, but I am not conviced that he is inside of it, he may be beneath it in the sand. The rock is on the bottom, and near the back of the tank. It would be a major ordeal to get that rock out, and not being sure that I would get him, I'm not going to re-aquascape the whole tank right now.

 

[plummike]

I had a big one and did pretty much like Fred and Wilma. Watched him go to a rock and pulled out the rock, got him in the sink.

 

[doubleduece]

I have tried to grab then when they are hanging out of the rock looking for food but they always break off. My local reef guru suggested to feed my inhabitants sparringly, so that there was no food floating around for it to feed on, or stop feeding for a day or two, then feed sparingly, the idea is to make it more hungry(obviously). Then try to trap it.\


If that doesnt work try a shot gun LOL

 

[wiscsaltwater]

Coral bandeds eat bristleworms if i remember correctly.

 

[customdusty]

If I do pull the suspect rock that may be housing him, do I put it in freshwater or just leave it out. Will the worm just crawl out?

 

[luke33]

I doubt your bristle was eating your frogspawn. Generally they go for sps if they are a eunicid. Its pry just a large harmless worm your trying to kill. If he was killing corals why aren't your others dead, or why didn't he finish off the rest of the frogspawn. What color is the worm? Is it feathery looking or is id shelled like a centipede with large antanae and eyes.

 

[thecichlidpleco]

Yea, I will go ahead and say that for some reason your frogspawn was in bad condition and then taken advantage of by the bristleworm. I know there are many types of them, but not likely that it just decided to eat your lps. I think they generally go after softies. They were irritating a toadstool to the point of where I thought they were eating it.

 

[chvynva916]

I agree w/ luke33. The vast majority of bristleworms won't eat your healthy corals. The fact that this one ate only one head of frogspawn provides good evidence of this.

Also, you have many more bristleworms in your tank than you could possibly hope to remove, so I really wouldn't worry about it unless more corals start disappearing.

 

[customdusty]

Well it took a little time, but I finally got this worm that I was after.

I tried making my own traps, which ultimately did not catch me a single worm. I used 3/4" pvc with caps on both ends. I drilled a small hole in one of the caps and then baited them. I made 3 traps in all which I tried for 3 days using mysis shrimp, 2 days rod's food, and then 2 days raw shrimp.

With no results with the traps, I opted for trying to get the suspected rock out, which required re-aquascaping the tank more or less. (I kind of had the need to do this to help with a tang that was becoming territorial with some new fish, which worked by the way). I got the rock out and put it in a bucket of fresh R/O water in the dark for about half an hour. I thought the fresh water might drive it out, but it didn't.

Now I'm thinking that maybe it wasn't in this particular rock now. I decided that while I got the rock out, and I had a pretty good hunch that this worm was still in there, I decided that I did not want to put it back in the tank, but I also didn't want to lose it as it is a nice piece of rock.

So my final conclusion, save the rock and put it in the sump. No food for the worm to eat down there and no risk for it getting back into the tank, why not. After just a few days in the sump, I discovered a huge, dead worm coming halfway out of the rock.

And let me tell you, this nasty thing gave me the chills just to see it. Wish I had a camera with macro for close up shots, but I don't. I'm not sure about the actual size because it didn't come out of the rock fully, but I estimate about a foot long.

Just thought I would share my experience.

 

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12515455#post12515455 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by customdusty
Well it took a little time, but I finally got this worm that I was after.

I tried making my own traps, which ultimately did not catch me a single worm. I used 3/4" pvc with caps on both ends. I drilled a small hole in one of the caps and then baited them. I made 3 traps in all which I tried for 3 days using mysis shrimp, 2 days rod's food, and then 2 days raw shrimp.

With no results with the traps, I opted for trying to get the suspected rock out, which required re-aquascaping the tank more or less. (I kind of had the need to do this to help with a tang that was becoming territorial with some new fish, which worked by the way). I got the rock out and put it in a bucket of fresh R/O water in the dark for about half an hour. I thought the fresh water might drive it out, but it didn't.

Now I'm thinking that maybe it wasn't in this particular rock now. I decided that while I got the rock out, and I had a pretty good hunch that this worm was still in there, I decided that I did not want to put it back in the tank, but I also didn't want to lose it as it is a nice piece of rock.

So my final conclusion, save the rock and put it in the sump. No food for the worm to eat down there and no risk for it getting back into the tank, why not. After just a few days in the sump, I discovered a huge, dead worm coming halfway out of the rock.

And let me tell you, this nasty thing gave me the chills just to see it. Wish I had a camera with macro for close up shots, but I don't. I'm not sure about the actual size because it didn't come out of the rock fully, but I estimate about a foot long.

Just thought I would share my experience.

In all likelyhood you just wasted a bunch of time removing something that is beneficial to your aquarium. Also, it would be nearly impossible for the worm to starve in a matter or days just from the rock being placed in the sump. Most likely the freshwater dip did him in days prior.

 

[RumLad]

+1 Peter.

What will it take for reefers to come to grips with the beneficial aspects of the worm family?

Yes, they may not be the prettiest creature, and they do have a high creepiness factor for some folks, but beyond doing your water changes for you, the worms are your reefs best friend.