bristle worms!!!

[jesserettele]

How do I kill all the bristle worms that are infesting my tank?

[Louie3]

Arrow Crab, a 6line wrasse, medium sized hermits killed alot of mine

[jc]

I thought bristle worms were not bad. Don't they eat detrius? I have lots in my reef, some of them at least 2".

[Ping]

They are generally not bad. They can become an infestation. Overfeeding without a sufficient cleanup crew or detritus control can lead to plague proportions. It's a balancing act.

[Louie3]

They are good, but when one poked me it left alot of bristles on my finger and believe me its not a pleasent feeling. Just that I dont like them. I cant really grab anything without the thought of me getting stung.

[JeremyGlen]

Bristle worms are great as long as they aren't up to the 4"+ size. When you pull out the ones that are the size of a pencil when they are not streched out, you've got a bit too much food in the tank. Mainly you want them there to keep the detritus and some algaes under control. I believe the wrasse or the arrow crab would be about the best way to do it. Also, the long-nose hawkfish will do a good job as well. I have even seen a banded coral shrimp eating them early in the morning, not saying they all do but mine did.

[caferacermike]

Wasn't there a nice pic of some stunning aptasia low light anemones eating one here on maast? gotta love those aptasia.

[safeuerwehr]

I know where you can get some really nice looking aptasia........................................... ....EBAY

[caferacermike]

http://www.maast.org/modules/PNphpBB2/files/brittle_anemone.jpg

From this thread.

http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=21092

[TXKev]

I have a bunch of 2+ inch ones in my fuge. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I always assumed they were good in there, but I dread having to prune the Cheato.

[Ping]

TXKev. I like having worms in my systems. Buy medical gloves, they are good insurance when ever we work with our Aquariums. Just make sure they are not the type covered in talcum powder.

[Brett Wilson]

Arrow crabs work well if you think the worms are causing a problem for you. The crabs are fun to watch too :)

Video 1 (http://www.killbuddha.com/videos/arrow_crab1.WMV), Video 2 (http://www.killbuddha.com/videos/arrow_crab2.WMV)

[seamonkey2]

that was AWESOME!!!!
I want 2 arrow crabs

Jose

[Marlin]

Buy medical gloves, they are good insurance when ever we work with our Aquariums. Just make sure they are not the type covered in talcum powder.


The talcum powder on medical gloves is inert and causes no problem in aquariums.

[jesserettele]

I've got about twenty to twenty five that I can see that are three inches long. I just don't like them eating my expensive food when I am feeding my corals. I watched those guys crawl on top of them and steel the food. I just added a regal tang and wanted to keep him healthy and fat during the introduction so yes, I am over feeding right now. Thanks for all the info. Do the arrow crabs hurt anybody else? I have a yellow tang, two gramas, coral banded shrimp, fire shrimp, a couple ghost shrimp, bubble coral, open brain, xenia, mushrooms, zoos, and polyps.

[urban79]

they will eat your clean up crew if you dont watch them. I feed mine once or twice a week with formula one.

[v2k]

Great video! will the arrow crabs pull the worms out of their nooks in the rocks? I noticed that in the video the worms are fed to the crabs...

[alton]

http://melevsreef.com/id/ln_hawkfish.html

[Brett Wilson]

Great video! will the arrow crabs pull the worms out of their nooks in the rocks? I noticed that in the video the worms are fed to the crabs...

Yes, they will. I fed them by hand for the purpose of the video (several years ago)

[jesserettele]

I pulled one out last night and measured him, 6 3/4" long. Wish I had a digital camera!