Bristle Worms: out or in?

[lbiminiblue]

Well i noticed a little bristle worm in a rock, nothing big, maybe an inch, and he's a bright red. From what i've heard, they good CUC, but to make the best possible tank for bottom feeding fish (that would explain my multiple threads on dragonets) i was wondering if i should make a trap to remove him. I don't know the name of the worm, i know certain types kill corals and clams too, which i also want to keep. So anyway, do you keep bristleworms in your tank?

 

[dmatt88]

U have a pic? Bristleworms good. Fireworms bad.

........ disclaimer. this hobby empties wallets.

 

[lbiminiblue]

No he's really sneaky and fast. I tried to pinch him with graspers-he only comes out and night- hes super fast. now, i see trails of slime from rock to rock leading from his cave. I'm thinking of putting a trap.

 

[DesertOrchid]

I remove them whenever possible.

 

[lzrlvr]

hi i have a healthy population of bristle worms they are a great cleanup crew.when i feed my fish frozen brine shrimp they always come out for a meal.some of the worms i have are 3 to 4 inches long.i have a starry dragonet (synchiropus stellatus) that has been in my 12 gal nano for about 5 months and it is doing very well,besides picking at my rock and sand the dragonet will also eat the brine shrimp now and then along with my vermatid snails,yellow polyps,euphylia,ricordia and crabs.i say if you identify them by looking at books or the internet as a safe to keep i say by all means keep them

 

[StacyS]

I have seahorses so I have to get rid of the large ones. The smaller ones I don't mind. They do a fantastic job cleaning. The little bristle traps do a fantastic job of getting rid of them.

 

[cheeks69]

Bristle worms are great detritivores the one's you have to watch out for are Eunicid worms those are a threat to fish and corals !

Oregonreef.com

 

[BigAl07]

Ditto to Robert. Good info

 

[gbose]

I try to get rid of mine. I know they're useful... but yucky!

 

[Mayja]

I will take all the FREE help I can get with clean up! lsmile:

 

[Doogle]

Is this considered big?
About 10" long and as wide as my pinky finger. Its almost as long as my tank is wide! Last I seen it was climbing up the rockscape and was half the length of my tank's height with its tail still in the rock work! I feed it little chunks of raw shrimp. Its the largest critter in my tank.
Older pic.

 

[DianaKay]

Is this considered big?
About 10" long and as wide as my pinky finger. Its almost as long as my tank is wide! Last I seen it was climbing up the rockscape and was half the length of my tank's height with its tail still in the rock work! I feed it little chunks of raw shrimp. Its the largest critter in my tank.
Older pic.

TOTALLY YIKES!! I would so GET RID OF THAT HUMONGOUS THING!!
I can stand the little ones but that one has out lived my limits! WOW!

 

[Oxylebius]

I usually capture large worms and remove them when they have a diameter of a pencil (and as long or longer). All others I leave. I wouldn't use a any type of grasping mechanism to remove them, if parts of the worm break off, that part will still live and grow. There are many traps that can be used (some DIY, some you can buy).

About 4 years or so ago I got live rock from a lfs that was going out of business, the rock came from a large tank that housed a grouper and lionfish, no inverts. Unfortunately that rock had an Oenone worm, these are the worms that prey on snails and clams. And I found out that I had one by finding empty snail shells covered with slim in the mornings. After much reading, this was an indicator of a Oenone worm. It took awhile but I trapped it.

I found this video useful:
Good Worms vs Bad Worms - YouTube
And these articles:
The Worms Crawl In… by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com
Polychaete Annelid Identification, or “You Can Always Tell A Bristle Worm… by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

 

[chris wade]

Out!

 

[blackbeltmom]

That large, I would say out. They are beneficial because they are detritus eaters, but I would have concerns about one that large.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ddelozier]

Is this considered big?
About 10" long and as wide as my pinky finger. Its almost as long as my tank is wide! Last I seen it was climbing up the rockscape and was half the length of my tank's height with its tail still in the rock work! I feed it little chunks of raw shrimp. Its the largest critter in my tank.
Older pic.

I have a couple like that in my tanks, never caused any problem that im aware of.

 

[Bearjohnson]

In. however my wrasse seems to love them so I never really see any BIG ones in my tank.

 

[DianaKay]

I feel sure they are beneficial in keeping the interior of our LR cleaned but I'm always thinking about picking up a LR and getting my fingers on one That's the only reason I get the larger ones OUT if I can easily do it.
I don't see any in my tank these days but I bet they are there.

 

[jerry26]

ever since i removed my sixline ive seen more in my tank. i only remove the ones that come out into the open during the day since i view them as aggressive hunters. the ones that stay hidden i deem scavengers so i leave them. i used to kill them all but i dont really care anymore.

 

[DianaKay]

I saw a tank at a LFS in Tulsa, OK that was what I call "totally eaten up with bristle worms" ....made me think I didn't want to buy anything out of that tank. Wish I'd have taken a picture....never have seen such a concentration of them before. Made me wonder since then if they had them "for sale".