Reducing Tube Worms

[Peekaboo]

My tanks been up for a couple of years and slowly the few plain soft brown feather dusters (I'm assuming that is what they are) that hitchhiked in have reproduced and are covering a lot of the rock, especially in the highest flow areas. At first I liked them but now they are a bit out of hand.

Is there any way to reduce them in number? The only think I can think of is to turn off the waterflow when I feed the tank so that they don't get some of the food. Right now the food hits the water flow and some hits the rocks and the feather dusters grab it.

The tank is otherwise good.

 

[lux_06]

easy fix - get a butterfly, longnose or cobberband which are both reefsafe and the worms will be gone tommorow.....

but be careful cos these butterflys are a bit delicate and can be hard to feed other things then worms!

good luck.

 

[Peekaboo]

I forgot to mention the tank is only 55 gallons and I don't wish to add anymore fish (have 4 happy ones and no quarantine).

 

[dc]

Pull, pull, pull! That's about all I can suggest. Not sure stopping the flow will help.

 

[ophiuroid]

Like many other animals, these often "bloom" in relation to available nutrients. Whenever you have a bloom of creatures, be it bristelworms, featherdusters, Q-tip sponges, etc, my first question is always what are your parameters like? How much and how often do you feed?

That is where I would start...and it will help address other issues that may be developing as well. These animals need to eat, they are filter feeders, if they are in huge numbers then they have a lot to eat.

 

[Ryanqk]

you can send me some lol

 

[Peekaboo]

Yeh, I dont really want to pluck them. Hmm but I dont mind killing them indirectly....

In terms of feeding, I feed the tank frozen foods once per day, and one fish (only one who will eat them) gets two flakes in the morning. I suppose they also filter feed on the phytoplankton I feed the corals with.

The parameters are all perfect except nitrates are about 10 which some people list as high. I'll cut back on the shrimp I feed (which isn't much) and see. I am feeding more now than before but I want to be sure the fish and inverts get enough because the food gets to the rocks and no longer bounces off because some is captured by the worms (a catch twenty two). So I must be causing it, I agree.

 

[BWebb]

I had numerous worms growing out of control in my tank as well. I put a butterfly in for a few days and they were totally cleaned up. Then I scooped him up and took him back to the retailer. As long as you are up front with your intentions most retailers won't mind. Especially if you shop there often.

 

[dc]

There must be several kinds of fish that do eat them. Mine have all disappeared in my main tank, but I have tons of them in my refugium.

 

[Angel*Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8075424#post8075424 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dc
There must be several kinds of fish that do eat them. Mine have all disappeared in my main tank, but I have tons of them in my refugium.

Same here -

There also used to be lots in the main tank, but I think someone ate them

The suspects are the Singapore angel or the yellow fin fairy wrasse, if that helps

Edit: And the 5 peppermint shrimp - maybe they eat featherdusters (??????)

 

[Angel*Fish]

oops - double post

 

[Meisen]

Most of the duster/tube worm species eat phytoplankton and other like-sized particulates (different species use somewhat different sizes...they are quite size-specific). You feed them, they grow and multiply. Is your tank really dirty?Do you feed a lot of phyto or other filter-feeder type foods? Try using a micron sock on the overflows and rinse it frequently. Also try blasting your rocks to clean things up. This will initially produce more worms but ultimately it will cut off their food supply. Get your skimmer cranked and leave it going full blast.

That said, I really like dusters and worms and I do just the opposite to keep them going. I have had good luck with coco worms too which many folks can't seem to keep alive. My larger one has been in the tank 2+ years and grown nearly 6".