getting rid of bristleworms?

[amethyst212]

oh my tank has cycled for quie some time just to be on the safe side i waited another month so it has been 4 months in total, well i decided the first thing to add was some snails, and that will be the only thing im adding for quite some time. just in case if anyone would like to know i am taking my sweet time adding things to my tank, but anyways i noticed this huge bristleworm in my tank, i guess since i had nothing going into the tank except for new water and light it must have been hungry and started attacking one of my snails,

it was a fight the snail was moving forward and the bristleworm was trying to wrap itself, so i started fighting it with a tweezer and got him out.

since i know i saw this one worm there must be more, from what i have read they can be killed by coral banded shrimp and arrow crab, i dont want to go with an arrow crab approach because the 2 tank that i have right now are a 6 and 10 gallon and i read that arrows need to be in bigger tanks.

so will the coral banded shrimp do good?

the reason why i dont want to keep these worms is because with my tanks previously i had bad luck with them, they would eat anything that they can get themselves on, especially on things that were still living.


i did some research on the coral banded shrimp and only one website mentioned them in reference to eating bristleworms. so i dont want to base my decision on just one website.

thanks evelyn

 

[DonCisco]

Coral banded are pretty aggressive towards other inverts in the tanks. My tank (a 12G) has a bunch of bristle worms, and IMO they are great as detrivores. Any food that is not eaten by the fish and crabs, completely dissapear by the morning, courtesy of the bristle worms. Me, I am leaving them there. Just be careful when you move rock, etc, you might get stung.

 

[amethyst212]

it better not sting me becuase ill smack the crap out of it lol

 

[meschaefer]

I have never seen a bristleworm go after a healthy animal, perhaps the snail was dead/dying.

 

[bergerd]

What I Did

Since you have a relatively small tank with I presume not much LR, it should be easy. Take you LR out and further cure it by running it under cold water and let it sit sumbmerged for 5-10 minutes. All the bristleworms will come out. Some may require tweezing out. Good Luck.

 

[amethyst212]

okie dokie i will try that on my 6 since thats where i saw the bristle
ill let u know how it goes hopefully i dont get stung

 

[MO~IDOL]

I have coral banded shrimp in my tank for a year...
I still see a lot of bristleworms at night

 

[heuerfan]

I have never seen a bristleworm go after a healthy animal, perhaps the snail was dead/dying.

You are fortunate, there are worms that look like bristleworms that hunt and kill snails and clams. I battled them for 3 years and had to get rid of all the rock and started new.

Close up pic.


Here it is in action.


amethyst212- when you caught the worm, did it slime up?

 

[scarf_ace1981]

i would leave the bristleworms in the tank(great detrivores) just feed your tank a little something and the bristleworms will have something to feed on hence they might not attack your clean up crew.

oh snap steven, you had a platypus in your tank? LOL

 

[heuerfan]

i would leave the bristleworms in the tank(great detrivores) just feed your tank a little something and the bristleworms will have something to feed on hence they might not attack your clean up crew.

oh snap steven, you had a platypus in your tank? LOL

LOL, killer platypus! The biggest one i caugt was over a foot long!

Its called "Oenone fulgida".

 

[stingnyc]

i have a trap for bristles, you can borrow it if you want.

 

[SaltWaterN00b]

I have coral banded shrimp in my tank for a year...
I still see a lot of bristleworms at night

Same here, I read up on them and says "they love to eats bristle worms and be out in the open so its a great show addition to the tank"

I must have a retarded one because the worms are like sausages and the only time i see him is when he's running from me when I turn the light on in the morning! I think I'll call him Corky.

 

[ellebelle]

I'm very new at all of this myself, but I've read that arrow crabs will happily eat bristle worms, though they can grow to be pretty big.

 

[amethyst212]

Ok to answer your questions, yes it did leak a clear gooey substance. and they look pink with the dark clackish color middle with the white,cream colored bristles,

i did the dip of coldwater and my sink was filled with them. i even killed a peanut worm but that thing was huge anyways, also something came out looked like a mantis. but small though never noticed it before but probably thats becuase my rocks are porous.

i also noticed that i have a lot of asterina starfish.

if ever i get these things back i would like to borrow the trap or where can i buy one.

i saved my snail though he is right now grazing the rocks.

now for a shrimp will they be a bit too big for a 6 and how about for ten and will the banded shrimp be nice with the other invertebrates and coral.

 

[heuerfan]

Did the goo look like this?


If it was the worm i posted, no trap or creature is going to kill it or catch it. Manual removal is the only way.

Good luck!

 

[amethyst212]

yeah thats it, i thought it was a bitsleworm and it did the same sliming thing.

what is it then?

 

[heuerfan]

yeah thats it, i thought it was a bitsleworm and it did the same sliming thing.

what is it then?

Oenone Fulgida
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php

Hopefully that was the only one you have, but most likely you will have more. They will eat all your snails and clams if you have any, if not they will scavage for food like regular bristleworms.

If you don't care for snails or clams, then no worries.

 

[bergerd]

Glad it Worked

Yes, always cure your new rock with a cold water treatment, even if it is said to be cured already. If anything comes out that you want to keep, just put it back in the tank. In the past I too have tried traps but was not satisfied with catching one or two a night when I had dozens to hundreds. Good Luck in the future.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

i did the dip of coldwater and my sink was filled with them. i even killed a peanut worm but that thing was huge anyways, also something came out looked like a mantis. but small though never noticed it before but probably thats becuase my rocks are porous.

the only thing i think you should have removed from the tank was the worm heuerfan posted. everything else should have been put back in.

btw i hope your coldwater dip was saltwater or RODI water w/ the same ph as your tank.

 

[amethyst212]

yes i did