Found a Bristle

[John99]

I found a bristle worm expelling some waste out of its burrow the other day. I would very much appreciate it if you gave me a tutorial on making a fool-proof hommade trap for it.

 

[John99]

Oh and i can't find the worm anywhere. I checked under the rock it was under.

 

[tangyreefer05]

Why not leave it in?

 

[dixonba]

Bristleworms are your friends. They consume excess food and will save your tank from a crash if something dies by eating it. Seriously, they don't harm anything....

 

[Sk8r]

WHat you saw was probably a peanut worm, not a bristleworm. And bristleworms are good. THe only bad worm you really need to worry about [that you're likely to meet] is the eunicid worm, which has 4 tentacles around his mouth parts: if you spot one of those, get it out. Otherwise, value them. If you didn't have them you'd have to buy some, or risk a nitrate spike if you have something die in your tank. Bristleworms cannot harm corals or fish, physically cannot, give or take a faceful of harmless spines that fall off after a couple of days, if a fish tries to eat one: the only thing in danger is your fingers if you touch one.

 

[John99]

Oh strange this website says they are bad http://www.netpets.com/fish/reference/reefref/bristle.html thanks everyone thats a plus for my CC

 

[invertaman]

enucide

enucide

i think i have a very small enucide its very tin has some spines, has very small feathery tentecles around its head and it only comes out at night. every time i try to get a good look at it it retracts bac k into its bourough...what to do?

 

[John99]

I managed to get a pic of the worm. As you can see, half is black and half is orange.

 

[John99]

bump?

 

[redvipe2010]

its a bristle worm, it will be fine in your tank

 

[LockeOak]

Leave them, they're some of the best cleanup members you can have since they can burrow through the holes in the rocks and clean very thoroughly. Just don't touch them with your bare hands and wear gloves if you start moving rocks around so you don't grab one you don't see. If you do touch one it's a bit painful and irritating but not dangerous (kind of like fiberglass). I've heard a decent remedy is to soak the sting in vinegar to dissolve the spines, haven't had the opportunity to try it though.

 

[matter1331]

even if you wanted to trap "it", there's more than likely a lot more in there than you're seeing.

 

[dragonforce]

As others have said, leave em. They are one of the best things to have in a tank. I like adding a CBS to my aquariums so they keep the populations in check without killing them all off like a wrasse sometimes will do.

 

[John99]

Why isnt my pic showing up? Anyways i just wasnt sure if it was a bristle worm because bristles are usually all orange it seems like but the other half of mine was black