Bristle worms

[2455coop]

So..... I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the sand box( getting old is the pits)...I broke out my trusty flashlight and found that I have quite a few bristle worms in my tank...

I'm now looking for something to put in my tank to help eat them without destoying the tank or corals....:hammerhea

Any suggestions...

 

[dobejazz]

Bristle worms are a good scavenger and part of the clean up crew. If you have a lot of large ones try cutting back on feeding. the population should level off if the food source is cut

 

[blue_eyes53813]

How big are they? If they are little, I wouldnt worry about them... If they start to carry rocks around,,,, than run.. lol

 

[Jorgens]

This is a problem...

Oregonreef.com

 

[Woodstock]

If you want to control them then get a yellow watchman goby.

 

[lcstorc]

I am prett sure the six line wrasse eats them. I haven't seen any in my reef for a long time. Plenty in the seahorse tank but something in the reef keeps them under control there.

 

[Woodstock]

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

Conclusion
There are many other types of bristle worms found in marine aquaria, and I am sure the number of reported types will increase in the future as people start to use less toxic water mixes, and as shipping of live rock and live sand gets less traumatic for the animals in them. In this series of columns, I have given both the characteristics for identification, and some descriptions of the common polychaetes found in reef aquaria. Almost all of them are either beneficial or, at least, harmless, and should not be looked upon with dread and foreboding by any aquarist. They are supremely well-adapted for their way of life; that is as a crawling animal able to exploit small spaces between and among rocks.

 

[corrado007]

I recently found that I have bristle worms in my tank as well. I actually removed a few by baiting them out with mysis in a bristle worm trap. I then did a bit of research and created a poll to see what others thought of bristle worms in the tank. I found that they are actually beneficial except for one or two varieties which are usually red in color. Here's a link to the poll and discussion about how to handle them.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/polls/17014-what-should-done-bristle-worms.html

HTH

 

[Warnberg]

peppermint shrimp will eat the smaller ones as well and help to keep the population in check.

 

[Wooden Harpoon]

I was at a store yesterday and saw gigantic bristle worms in a tank. There was about 7 inches of sand and shell at the bottom of the tank with huge bristle worms roaming through it. The shop owner tld me that there was a really big one he had found earlier. It was in a bucket. 5 feet long. He said they are a natural part of the ocean's eco system. I thought to myself "that may be, but I don't want to recreate THE MOVIE DUNE in my tank man!" I won't be buying any nice things out of that tank until I get over the post traumatic stress of seeing that big fu#*^er.

 

[Triggerjay]

I heard arrow crabs will eat them as well...

Jason

 

[Woodstock]

Arrow crabs will eat ANYTHING

 

[Jorgens]

 

[BigAl07]

.... post traumatic stress of seeing that big fu#*^er.

:LOL:

That story reminds me of the movie "Tremors"!!! :LOL: