Bristleworm traps - Do they work?

[CD]

Saw a bristleworm trap at Austin Aquariums for $10.bucks, and was wondering if these actually work? It was a small plastic tube with an inverted funnel at each end, and a section inside to put the bait/food into. Has anyone ever actually used one of these? Good results? No results?
I've read that bristle worms are actually good for your sand bed, but I don't want to have *too* many in there. I've really been noticing them coming out to grab mysis morsels when I feed the sun coral (after lights out). Suggestions?

Wendy

[wkopplin]

Bristleworms are great. Do not remove them. If you do, I will take them.

[CD]

Well, most of them are pretty small, but we do seem to have one rather large one that I don't see very often. I've caught a glance of it every now and then, but it looked suspiciously like one of the more harmful polychaete worms (true fireworm) with the bristles being very dense and close together. I have a copy of "Reef Invertebrates -an essential Guide...." by A. Calfo and Bob Fenner which has pics of both. They *also* say bristleworms are benificial, except when they reach "plague" proportions. At what level would be too much? These worms we have in the tank don't seem to hang in the sand much either, but have bored holes into the rock at lower levels in the 'scape. :shock:

Wendy

[falcam7]

Wendy,

I'll take one too or three. :-D :-D :-D

Or better yet I'll go scuba diving in your tank an get my own :lol: :lol: :lol:


Thanks

[R_S_C]

what do you deem large... i just gave my 22" bristleworm to Prof. :-D He is a new addition to his sump. as long as they don't get more than 3 or so inches...i think they are GREAT scavengers.

[falcam7]

Wendy,

If they are this long http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm Never mind.

They would not fit in my tank. :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

[CD]

R S C - so far, the biggest one I've seen is about four and a half inches long. MAN those little buggers are hard to catch too!!! I've only managed to capture one with a long tweezer like contraption we have, and into the 'fuge he went...that one was really smally though...only about half an inch. TWENTY-TWO INCHES???? Yikes! :shock: :shock:
How did you catch the one you gave to Prof?

Carlos - OK, thanks dude...now I'm gonna have nightmares!!! Nothing like thinking about a 7 foot worm when I'm trying to catch some ZZZZZZzzzz's ... especially considering the tank is four feet away from the bed!!! :wtf: heheh...

Wendy

[beagleton]

you should be caerful catching them with tweezers, if you break them the broken peice can re-spawn. i have about a 10-15 incher, its hard to tell because he is always partialy in the rock, that i think is a fireworm. he's god a small lair with various crab shells strewn about. other that eating the occasional crab he doesnt seem to bother anything. i kind of like it, gives the tank personality, sort of like the dark side of the force.

[ratboy]

If you really want to remove bristleworms drop some shrimp into a rinsed pair of panty hose. The worms bristles will stick to the nylon and you can remove the worms easilly by pulling the whole thing out. Personally I would leave them...
-erik

[CD]

he's god a small lair with various crab shells strewn about


It's probably a fireworm then. The "good" bristleworms are only (supposedly) prone to eat detritus, dying coral tisse, and any food uneaten by the fish. I would think that having a fireworm in a species tank w/b very interesting to watch at night, but the bigger ones can also take down small fish. I wouldn't relish the thought of something grabbing my little false perc in the middle of the night - dark side of the force is fine, unless that "force" is in my display tank. Check out the link Carlos provided. That's the stuff nightmares are made of...and THAT thing was eating the guy's corals!! Grrrrrr :evil:

Wendy

[JimD]

The larger, creepier ones have been known to slither out of the tank at night looking for cookie remnants under the covers, seriously, Im not kidding!

[CD]

Personally I would leave them...
-erik


I probably will leave them for now. I am definitely going to keep an eye out for the suspected fireworm though. I had read about the panty hose trick, but didn't know for sure if it would work or not. Makes sense... Thank you for verifying that! Yeah, as I mentioned, it didn't seem to be much of a problem until I aquired the sun coral. I even caught one of the little rascals trying to steal a mysis out of the mouth of the sun coral!!! I had to intervene in that instance, as *nuttin' takes the food out of MY baby's mouths's's's*!!! :evil:



The larger, creepier ones have been known to slither out of the tank at night looking for cookie remnants under the covers, seriously, Im not kidding!


LOL...Hokaaay Jim - am I gonna hafta open a can of whoop@$$ on ya???!!! :moon: Heheheh....'sides, ain't no cookies under MY sheets...chocolate maybe... :oops:

Wendy

[falcam7]

Wendy,

Do not worry. As I said before let me go scuba diving in your tank. I will get the bristleworms out for you. :D :D :D :D

Here is a picture of me in another friends tank looking for bristleworms. I got them all out.

[CD]

LMAO :-D :-D

Heyyyyy...Now see, *that's* what you should've done in the koi pond a few weeks ago ;)

Wendy

[beagleton]

im beginning to re-think my fireworm policy. i watched tonight as my worm picked up a hermit crab by his shell. the crab was fairly large so the worm must be strong. somehow the crab got away at wich time the worm streched to about a foot long or so and made a move on my lawnmower blenny, who was curiously watching me by this time. this was more than i could bear. i used my maglite to save my blenny (the worm's preaty scared of light) and have decided to remove the offender. i was thinking of removing his rock and pouring club soda into his home, i have read that this works well, but can't confirm until tomorrow. let me know if anyone wants him or ill just give him back to aquadome.

[prof]

Russell was cleaning out one of Sam's sandbeds. There was an old undergravel filter in the bottom. This was the worm's home.

He is a cool looking creature. Who knows how big he will be next time I get to see him. In the meantime my sandbed will benefit.

[RobertG]

The larger, creepier ones have been known to slither out of the tank at night looking for cookie remnants under the covers, seriously, Im not kidding!

Jim you told me you were into your tank, but ****!!! Bro the wife dont like no Salty worms! Cookies???? I know your not KIDDING!!! :shock:

Jim how do you get in there? So carefully not to break any of those large caps. LOL ! Now that is a Nightmare. Coming outta the tank with the JimD special on!

[JimD]

Figures youd remember the JimD specials! LMAO! Wudda nutter...

[RobertG]

Figures youd remember the JimD specials! LMAO! Wudda nutter...

Why Hell Yes! I remember them. :shock: Just because you wanted to model for the women dont mean my woman wont look good in it! With the Maast Logo in the back, I can see it now. :-D

Stay in the tank with the other WORMS!!! LMAO !!

[CD]

Coming outta the tank with the JimD special on!


Dare I ask? ....What's a JimD special? :-o

Wendy

[JimD]

Trust me, you dont wanna know... lol and this place is rated "G" so shaddap Robert... lmao

[CD]

Heheh...Allllllrightythen :moon:
Of course, NOW ya know I'm gonna be sittin' here wondering... :-D

Wendy