klepto
New member
How big of an issue are these worms?
What methods can you recommend to help remove them? I'm leaning towards a trap because they are very responsive to movement, but want some ideas about the design.
They seem to be proliferating in my tank and I have noticed a few strange snail losses recently. All were in the same area of the tank- where I first remember seeing these nasty polychaetes. I remember thinking... wait, those don't look like regular bristleworms... I wish I would have been more objective about identifying them at that point. I just spotted another on the opposite side of my tank going after a leftover piece of mysis.
Shimek writes; "They have been seen infrequently in reef aquaria, but reports of their presence seem to be increasing. Some species reach lengths of a couple of feet, but most are a few inches long. As with the scale worms, they don't seem to persist in reef aquaria, presumably as such aquaria cannot support the diversity of prey necessary to maintain them."
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php
They seem to be persisting in my small, moderately fed and stocked 55 gallon tank. I don't have any sophisticated refugia, sump or other prey source for them. I don't even have a sand bed any more (gasp), so I'm confident that they have been surviving off of detritus and left over food just like most of the fireworms. Still, I think that I need to start removing them before they get too opportunistic.
What methods can you recommend to help remove them? I'm leaning towards a trap because they are very responsive to movement, but want some ideas about the design.
They seem to be proliferating in my tank and I have noticed a few strange snail losses recently. All were in the same area of the tank- where I first remember seeing these nasty polychaetes. I remember thinking... wait, those don't look like regular bristleworms... I wish I would have been more objective about identifying them at that point. I just spotted another on the opposite side of my tank going after a leftover piece of mysis.
Shimek writes; "They have been seen infrequently in reef aquaria, but reports of their presence seem to be increasing. Some species reach lengths of a couple of feet, but most are a few inches long. As with the scale worms, they don't seem to persist in reef aquaria, presumably as such aquaria cannot support the diversity of prey necessary to maintain them."
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php
They seem to be persisting in my small, moderately fed and stocked 55 gallon tank. I don't have any sophisticated refugia, sump or other prey source for them. I don't even have a sand bed any more (gasp), so I'm confident that they have been surviving off of detritus and left over food just like most of the fireworms. Still, I think that I need to start removing them before they get too opportunistic.
