Bristle Worms!!

[julest]

Having recently upgraded to a 150 gallon tank and sump I decided to put more live rock into my system.One piece of rock in particular is 'buzzing' with life.There are perhaps 20 baby brittle stars,however there are also anumber of bristle worms.My question is should I remove these from my tank? I have read a number of articles about these creatures and am concerned that they are not only poisonous but carniverous as well.If I do need to remove them has anyone any suggestions how I could do this?

On another point, I used the sponges etc from my original filter setup and placed then in my sump to help 'cycle' the new setup.Happily I have not had any major problems and the inhabitants are all doing well.How long should I wait before removing the sponges etc and should I only remoce one at a time? Ammonia and Nitrite read zero and Nitrates read 20ppm. My sump has a refugium consisting of L/R, Arrogonite and Caulerpa.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Julian

[BoomerD]

Nah, unless they get VERY large, (IMO, over 6") they are a valuable part of your tank's cleaning crew. They are NOT poisonous, nor are they truely carnivorious. They WILL occasionally attack something that is dying, but not yet dead, but even that is pretty rare.

How long has the tank been cycling? Depending on the tank, the ammonia source, and amounts of live rock, etc, a full cycle can take as little as a couple of weeks, to 6 to 8 weeks.

[julest]

Thanks for that! The tank has been 'cycling' for about 3 weeks,however I used 50 gallons of mature water from my original tank and also all the filter sponges etc.I did have a very small ammonia spike during the first couple of days but its now 0.All other water conditions are OK. Do you think I could start to remove the sponges yet,or should I leave it a while longer? Tank inhabitants are:

Yellow Tang
Percula Clowns x2
Clarkii Clown
Humbug damsel
Green Chromis x5(small)
Dancing Shrimp
Boxer Shrimp
couple of red leg hermits
Teddybear crab
Large brittle star
70-80lbs LR


Thanks

Julian

[BoomerD]

You have all those in a newly set-up tank? If nothing is dying, then I'd have to presume that either it is fully cycled by now, or (unlikely) hasn't started. That's a HUGE bioload for a new tank, but if added over time, wouldn't be bad for a large tank like yours. you MAY want to re-think the humbug damsel...they CAN get pretty nasty and aggressive as they grow, and I'll be surprised if you don't have some aggression from the clarkii clown against the percs. Mixing clownfish species can be difficult at best.

[julest]

Just to set the record straight!! I had a 50 gallon setup prior to upgrading to the 150 galllon and sump.The fish and other stock I already had and the clowns have lived together quite peacefully for over 6 months now.I agree about the humbug and will probably remove him over the next few months.

As you can see I had no option but to put my stock in the new tank and remember I used all the mature filters/rock/water and substrate from my other tank, which meant that if I did have a 'mini cycle' then they would not get too stressed.As luck would have it, other than a very short lived Ammonia spike, conditions have remained very stable.

I have taken advice from Reef Sanctuary members regarding the upgrade, so perhaps you misunderstood what I had done.!!

Anyway I would still like to hear your thoughts with regard to when I should start removing the old filter sponges which are currently sat in the bottom of the drain section of my sump?

Thanks

Julian

[Craig Lambert]

Bristle worms are a good thing. Indo Pacific Sea Farms actually sells them. Lile boomer sais, unless they become huge, don't worry about them. I think they get a bad rap because they will feed on things that are unhealthy and near death. Most threads that criticize bristle worms seem to be related to clams, and clams don't present any outword signs when they are unhealthy and near death.

[Yarr]

I have never realy heard that bristle worms are poisonous except for the fact that some species of them are distantly related to ring worms. Apart from that they are a harmless and mostly helpful (unless they get HUGE ) in your tank.