bristle worms

[lakers10]

is it good to have one in your tank??

[recoiljpr]

You ask 10 people, you will get 10 different answers. I like them because they are great detrivores. I believe they are misunderstood by a lot of reefers which is why some have bad attitudes about them. They see them eating a prized fish, clam, etc and blame the bristle worm. In fact, they are just doing their job and eating an already dead animal.

They can get large and unpleasant looking. Also, when cleaning your rock and you brush up against one, they don't feel all that great. They feel kind of like fiberglass does when you get it on your arm. It doesn't necessarily hurt, but it doesn't feel great either.

All of that being said, I think they are a great addition to any CUC.

[jroescher]

Yes. They're usually a good think unless you have a really giant one. They eat detritus, anything that dies and excess foods in your tank. Just don't handle them, they can hurt you.

If you don't want them, there are some animals that will feed on them. I don't recall all them at the moment.

[jroescher]

And you don't have just one. It's just that you've only seen one. They multiply and you probably have lot more than you think. They are very sensitive to movement and light and stay hidden. I think they can detect when you look at them even.

[dmweise]

I think they are fine. I have never had one hurt anything. I have some hawkfish and a butterfly fish to help keep the population management.

[lakers10]

oh ok yeh the one i have is not that big at all but when i wanna get them out of my tank how do i go about that?

[Big_Pun]

nuc your rocks, lol nothing you can really do ,there are traps, or certain fish and crabs but all you can do is control the population. they are too hard to completly get rid of, they wont hurt anything

[mabel_photo6]

lol Yeah I have a ton of little ones and maybe 2 pretty big ones.
I tried setting up a worm trap but that failed... so I've decided I'd let them stay. lol

[allan]

And you don't have just one. It's just that you've only seen one. They multiply and you probably have lot more than you think. They are very sensitive to movement and light and stay hidden. I think they can detect when you look at them even.

I agree. I hardly ever see any unless i move a rock. then I'll find one or two crawling around either in the sand or on the rock. I usually suck them up with the baster and redeposit them into the dark chamber of the fuge (cryptic). Not really to get rid of them in the display, but rather to do my little part in a vain attempt to control their numbers in the display.

[dmweise]

Coral banded shrimp work really well. Mine catches rather large bristleworms.

[lakers10]

coral banded shrimp mess with emeralds or fire shrimp??

[Paul28]

dont kill brisle worms thay are great for your tank eat old food and keep the sand bed clean , its fire worms that are the bad ones why would you want to kill brisle worms thay dont hurt anything inless its already dead :(

[lakers10]

oh well lots of different opinions i was not going to kill them

dont worry i dont kill :)

what are fire worms??

[Paul28]

Heres a link you can do a google search on them http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=292

[lakers10]

man this worm better not mess with my anemone!!