Enormous bristleworm in my Nano 20. Attacking things

[phishin06]

Hi all,

I have a monster BW in my nano and cannot catch him. Hes pushing 18-24 inches and usually only shows 12 inches or so. Today he showed easily 18 inches and was going after my yellow watchman goby. I had tongs and grabbed him about 12 inches away from the rock and he pulled right through them and didnt blink, slowly making his way back in the rock. Last week I saw him raveling around my white brittle star, thankfully he pulled away.

I cannot take out the rock he is in bc it is covered in corals and Ive sent multiple traps with ZERO luck.

Not sure what else to do except hope he doesnt cause casualties in the tank. My girlfriend wont go near the tank bc it makes her want to throw up when she sees it, lol.

Any ideas??

 

[CSmooth2009]

Try turning off all the lights and if u have small pellet food.. drop a few in... my bristle worms come out that way and I us needle nose pliers to grab them.. I grab them as close to the hiding spot as I can


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[homer1475]

since actual bristle worms only eat dead and decaying matter, I highly doubt its hurting anything except maybe detritus.

Fireworms which look very similiar to bristle worms, will go after fish and such.

I personally would never own a tank if it didn't have bristle worms in it. They are an awesome part of the CUC. Unsightly, maybe, but definitely needed in a tank.

 

[homer1475]

A picture would help ID it for sure.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Homer, did you notice the part where he said it is 18-24" long? I don't think this is a common detrivore worm.

There have been occasional reports on here of gigantic worms that are predatory. I would do whatever it takes to get it out. Lure it with pellet or frozen food. Get some other tongs if the ones you have aren't strong enough. It might be worth taking the rock out and putting it in a temporary tank, or even just a 5 gallon bucket of saltwater, for a day or two to help you capture it.

 

[phishin06]

Its def a BW. Its whitish with very light pink, not red like a fire worm. I have tons of BW's in the tank and dont mind them when they dont look like a rattlesnake in my tank, lol. This thing has no place in a 20gal. He was all over my brittlestar and thankfully it got the hell out of its grasp. Hes hungry for sure....

 

[phishin06]

The other thing is, alot of people dont see a BW's full length potential until they stretch out searching for things while keeping its body in the rock. When I grabbed him he shrunk to a 10th of its size in seconds. Even a fat 3-5 inch worm, when stretched out can look extremely long. Just what Ive observed with this worm

 

[homer1475]

Homer, did you notice the part where he said it is 18-24" long? I don't think this is a common detrivore worm.

Fireworms which look very similar to bristle worms, will go after fish and such.

Guess you glossed over that part of my post?

True Bristle worms are only detrivores. Their mouths are like straws, they can't eat anything thats not a gelatinous mass(IE detritus, dying coral, etc).

I will say though I have seen some in my tank reach out and grab a tiny pellet, but never anything larger then the smallest NLS pellet.

And yes I know how large they can get(ever see the vid on youtube of the guy who had them plugging up his plumbing?). I have some in my tank that are as thick as my finger and probably close to 2 foot in length.

 

[phishin06]

Thanks Homer. Seems so big for my little reef but I will keep my eyes peeled and just wait it out. I just ordered some 16 inch long needle nose pliers

 

[homer1475]

Yes probably to big for your tank, no doubt.

Long tongs always work for me when they get that big. Just make sure you grip it good, they are slippery little buggers.

 

[Sk8r]

Fireworms aren't red.
If it has grippers or tentacles about the head, it's a eunicid, bad news.
99% of worms we commonly see are bristleworms, peanut worms (small, like an elephant trunk in shape, out of rockwork) and spaghetti worms (tangled nest of tiny worms), all harmless.

 

[davocean]

Actually very large bristle worms WILL bother some slow moving, or low lying fish, and I had them bother one of my anemone's once, the only time it started to move(malu in sand)

So I got a bristleworm trap from marine depot, think it was $8 or $9, caught 2x 2 footers the first night, 2 more same size the next, and my problem was solved.

 

[pfan151]

I use hemostats. Much easier to get a good grip with them.

 

[Fredfish]

Homer, did you notice the part where he said it is 18-24" long? I don't think this is a common detrivore worm.

...

I've had one that large in a seahorse tank that was a herbivore. Size is not an indicator of diet.

They are very creepy looking.

 

[Deleted member 336650]

Are you going to move it to another tank or sump? Or are you trying to kill it?