Id help needed

[drfu]

I have found a couple of these in both of my reef tanks and they seem to multiply, first are they reef safe & second should i try to control their population?

 

[sellersmd]

Common bristle worm. They are a harmless detrivore. (Unless you're talking about the feather duster. Still harmless. haha)

 

[drfu]

Common bristle worm. They are a harmless detrivore. (Unless you're talking about the feather duster. Still harmless. haha)

Lol, no the bristol worm. Can i have too many?

 

[Calappidae]

Actually.. to be safe is there any way to get a closer image?

This is what a bristleworm looks like (and they can be paler in color)

To me those just don't look fuzzy enough but that's my opinion. Bristleworms are harmless scavengers (jsut don't touch them or you'll get "bristles" in you hand!)

 

[Betta132]

Those are stretched bristleworms. They appear to have sparser spines when they stretch a bit. They're good, but if you overfeed they can multiply out of control.
Definitely don't touch, they'll get bristles in your finger and that will hurt. Unless you're allergic, they aren't dangerous. I think it's bees and ants that can mean you might be allergic to bristleworms...
You can't have too many, not really, but they can be an eyesore when you have a few thousand. If you don't mind the look, they're fine. If you don't want too many, you could try a pistol shrimp... Mine eats them.

 

[DEFCLONE80]

I wish my pistol shrimp would eat some of mine.

 

[Calappidae]

My pistol shrimp lives with mine.

 

[TWISTER702]

my pistol shrimp lives with mine.

lmao

 

[Betta132]

I guess mine is unusual then... He tried to feed half of one to his goby once, but it balled up and the goby had to spit it out.

 

[DEFCLONE80]

I belive there are many inverts that will eat brittleworms.

 

[Betta132]

Coral banded shrimp are supposed to, large cleaner shrimp might, some wrasses will chomp them, and probably most larger hermits will be opportunistic and eat them.

 

[Xavibear]

I've seen my ywg eat bristleworms.

 

[Betta132]

Mine tried but wasn't quite large enough to swallow a balled-up one.

In your signature... What's an "emerald carb"? Some kind of weird bread coral?

 

[Xavibear]

It's a misspelled crab.

 

[Calappidae]

It's a misspelled crab.

Are misspelled crabs reef safe? :lol: all jokes aside


Arrow crabs are natural predators of bristleworms, but nearly everything that eats bristleworms get very large, some not reef safe, and can harm other things along with the worms. You can do more damage trying to get rid of them then keeping the harmless benefical worms.

Also there are bristleworms living in such deep crevices of the rock it'll take 1000 years before they are all found.. and that's just the current ones not including any newborns meanwhile!

Last night my peacock mantis caught and killed a bristleworm.. She eats bristleworms, guess I should throw her in my 125 reef too! Seems safe enough (in all serious most of the predators would do more damage than her..)

 

[Prankster11]

I wish i had a bristle worm:sad1:

 

[drfu]

I wish i had a bristle worm:sad1:

I have lots for you! Lol!