Bristle Worms?

[DrMusik]

Hi! I'm new to this forum and, well, to saltwater fish in general. Just moved to NYC and got rid of all my freshwater fish and needed something to do that was a little more compact so I decided to start a saltwater Nano Tank. After tons of research (and measurements) I went with a 10 gallon tank. I know its small but it's all I can afford and I'm a medical student so I thought dealing with all the chemistry would be kinda fun.

I bought my Live Rock from a guy on craigslist for a steep discount from what the LFS was offering. Just two days into my cycle now and I've noticed a lot (5 or so) of brown-orange worms crawling through the live rock at night. I've read a bunch of stuff online saying they were bristle worms. About half the people say they are terrible and the other half say they are the best thing for your tank. Any advice? Thanks.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Bristleworms are good- how ever many you see times that by many- they are good to have as long as they dont get too big. If they get real big then you want to remove them, but they will help clean the tank. Not to worry I was nervous about them too when I first saw them- another good worm not to worry about if you see any is the spaghetti worm youll see reddish hairs coming from your rock and/or sand they are good filter feeders and are harmless. Good luck with your saltwater endeveur and welcome to MR- a lot of great people on here to help out and to chat with.....Jimmy

 

[SevTT]

I've read a bunch of stuff online saying they were bristle worms. About half the people say they are terrible and the other half say they are the best thing for your tank. Any advice? Thanks.

Practically all bristle worms are good. They're excellent detrivores and generally don't bother anything that's not dead or so close to death it doesn't have a chance anyway.

 

[fcamargo6thave]

very good scavengers dont touch them with your bare hands as they have really sharp bristles

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

I seen my six line wrasse eat they in my tank. if get to many think about buying a fish that eats them because I seen people tanks with way to many of them and looks pretty ugly to me.

 

[SevTT]

I seen my six line wrasse eat they in my tank. if get to many think about buying a fish that eats them because I seen people tanks with way to many of them and looks pretty ugly to me.

Yep. Fish won't eliminate 'em, though -- just get the dumb ones that come out when the lights are on.

 

[SIReefer]

Welcome to MR, Doc.... Keep reading. Lots of worthwhile information on this forum.

 

[cisco1717]

ive had a thread on this topic. those worms help on cleaning but not worth having. crabs, shrimps and all types of snails will do all the cleaning you need. those worms will grow and multiply.they are ugly and can sting, get rid of them.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

ive had a thread on this topic. those worms help on cleaning but not worth having. crabs, shrimps and all types of snails will do all the cleaning you need. those worms will grow and multiply.they are ugly and can sting, get rid of them.

That would be way more of a headache than it would be worth. As with all creatures if you se 1 theres 50 or so more that you dont see. Hed never get them all out. If he sees one out and its big then ok take it out but to rid the tank of his bristleworms? Would take forever if he even gets them all, which he probably wouldn't.

 

[JonnyIce]

I think there is an untold danger with them as if there is a ton of them and something happens in your tank that only kills those on the lower level of the biomass pyramid...a large number of bristle worms dying could crash your tank...something similar happened to me when I had a nudibranch nuke the tank...a lot of things survived, but the sheer numbers of bristleworms (many in places you couldnt see) dying really made the water ridiculously toxic!

 

[OGGISPORTS]

welcome gl

 

[Imbarrie]

I grab the ones I can with some very long tweezers.
For the most part I am ok with them but the larger ones bother me. So I take those out.


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[ReefFan]

I was just about to ask this question. Ive known of a large bristle worm in one of the 5-6 large rocks I have in my 25 gallon nano fuge. I didnt realize just how frikkin big this thing was til the other day when i dropped a small clam on the half shell in there about 10 inches from his rock. After the lights went out, this thing came out so far I could barely believe it. He was stretched out across almost the entore floor with no end in sight. god knows how long this sucker is but i reluctantly tried to grab him out with my fingers lol. He retracted and impaled me with about 20 bristles. I have a pic of my finger with all the quills sticking in it lol.

Anyway, im not sure what to do with the guy. He seems to only eat the dead food i put in there, which is good. Next door to this rock/feather duster fuge is the Macro/Mud fuge (same size, 25-30 gallons). If I put him in there with the mud he might do a good job in helping to break down organics but I dont want him messing up what seems to be a thriving and ideal balance of various pods n such.

Will they only eat dead things or is it possible he could eat coral, amphipods, mini brittles and other common fuge life?

In the end ill probably lure him out with another clam and snatch the nasty bugger with tweezers. I wanna know just how long this thing is. It seriously could be over a foot long lol. After that Ill either give him away or let him lose in the rocks at the beach? Maybe Ill go Striper fishing with him lol. Live-line it and try to nail a Keeper.

-Jay

 

[basiab]

Anyone that has a ton of bristle worms has a problem and it is not the worms. They are just the symptoms resulting from your problem. If you have a well maintained tank then the bristle worms are a good part of your cleanup crew. I would rather have them than any kind of crab, hermit or otherwise.

 

[ReefFan]

Yeah i just got one. One huge one. But glad to hear they are favorable to have. I have heard that really big ones should be removed though.

All i need ta know is do they exclusively feed on dead organic matter, or is there a chance a big one will try to take living things down, including corals..

-Jay