bristle worms?

[inestrinh]

A few months ago I noticed about 3 bristle worms that were hidden in a piece of live rock in my tank. I know little about thesecreatures but I have heard they are not the best to have in your tank.

What exactly are they? What do their eggs/larvae look like? And how do I get rid of them?

thanks!

 

[pr0teus]

bristleworms are bad in the sense that they can damage your corals or something.

i've also read that they can be good when they root around in the substrate eating detritus.

perhaps someone can post some more helpful info...

 

[Anonymous]

Most bristle worm are harmless scavengers. There are a couple that do eat soft corals, but they are not frequently encountered IFAIK. I would not worry about getting rid of them unless you suspect them for damaging somthing.

 

[Anonymous]

I have Bristleworms in all of my tanks. They're excellent detrivores and I wouldn't worry much about them. I personally have never witnessed any of them tearing up my corals. They prefer to go after any uneaten food and waste...generally. In fact, one bristleworm in my 72g is at least 10" in length!! I see the sucker from time to time especially during the evening. Most bristleworms make for excellent detrivores. Therefore, they can be quite beneficial to the overall health of your aquarium. Unless of course you have a Fireworm. Although I've never had one, I've heard that they can be bad news for other denizens within your tank.

However, if you really do want to get rid of them, I've heard that the Arrow Crab will take care of them...but I can't confirm that since I choose to keep these critters in my tank as opposed to eliminating them.

 

[Anonymous]

I can attest to the arrow crab eliminating them from your tank. I had many of the regular pink and black bristle worms, probably the ones you have, and that arrow crab ate every one. I was actually surprised to see them again when I got rid of the crab. Now they are back up to good numbers. I think they're good scavengers and they only eat dead material in my tank, so let them live.


As for coral munchers, I have those too. I have these very strange worms that live in a large rock that is half covered with pink star polyps. Nightly they stick their bodies out of thier holes and munch the the coral. I don't worry about it because they have been there for months and the coral grows faster than they can eat it, so I chose to let them be. The don't look like regular worms though...they are silverish with red irridecent reflections, spikes on the head with a large unicorn like central spike, and two eyes (or false eye spots) that shine red ina flashlight. Very illusive; I can just catch a glimps of them before they hide and it took months of looking at the tank at night before I even noticed them.

 

[reefworm]

Inestrinh,
Bristleworms are very desirable for a healthy tank - some of the best detrivores you could have. Take a look at the components of good sand bed starter kits or detirovre kits - bristleworms. Leave them be and let them do what they do. Most all anecdotal stories of bristleworms eating corals or clams are cases of the worms cleaning out dead and dying tissue. They will detect that long before we notice anything's wrong. No idea what the worms that are bothering Aragorn's corals, but he's right that they don't look like bristleworms. Here's some reading for you:
http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_frontiers/

from this link, go to Dr. Shimek's by-line "Without a backbone" and select articles dealing with sandbed infauna and worms.

hth,
-rw