bristle worms

[Bright79]

I have bristle worms in my tank and I want them gone. they have alreadt killed one of my anenomes. so can anyone please tell me how to get rid of them.  would anyone even be interested in taking them off my hands??? someone please help!!!!!

[Joel]

Bristle worms typically do not kill corals, anemone, clams, etc.  They are actually very good scavengers and do a decent job at keeping our substrate & rock clean. If an aquarium has a modest # of them living in it, it is completely fine and even beneficial.

Bristle worms have a bad rap for numerous reasons. The biggest reason is that when something dies in our aquarium, we discover a dead animal with bristle worms on it. Naturally the assumption is that the bristle worm is the culprit. Very rarely is this the case. Bristle worms do not attack & eat healthy tissue. When we see bristle worms eating a dead animal, they are doing their job, they are scavengers.

There are a few causes of large populations of bristle worms. A common cause is the purchase of live rock that was infested with them. Poorly maintained live rock holding tanks is typical in most pest shops. These dirty environments are perfect breeding grounds for bristle worms. Likewise is the case in our home aquariums, if there is a lot of food available, a modest population of bristle worms can turn into a large population.

As per removing them, there are traps specifically for them that work fairly well. just putting out bait at night can bring them out and they can easily be caught (netted) and removed. There are some fish that eat them also, like the Arabian pseudochromis (pseudochromis dutoiti) has the reputation of eating small ones.

Probably the best, long term defense against them is to simply keep the aquarium very clean. You can not have a large, nuisance population of bristle worms unless there is a lot of food (read; dirty aquarium) present to support their population. Keep the substrate very clean, vacuum it regularly, do weekly to bi weekly water changes, keep filter pads rinsed weekly, feed the tank sparingly, etc. These maintenance methods will benefit just about every aspect of your aquarium and keep nuisance pests to a minimum. (not just bristle worms)

Hope this helps...Joel

[HUNGER]

every one has them u do need them

[xXTheWendigoXx]

Was going to mention my WTB post but you already found it 

[rayviv]

so thats where I got them; you booger you.

[lazylivin]

Just to add on to what Joel said, Get yourself a coral banded shrimp. They like to eat them.

[xXTheWendigoXx]

so thats where I got them; you booger you.

Ray can enlighten you on the real downside of Bristle Worms, grabbing on the little suckers when you don't see them in the rock, hurts like you wouldn't believe.

[rayviv]

Still the worst I have seen was Justin's. He had posted pics and I think he deserved the grand prize.      I think he should do it again only more servere so he can show just how mocho he is.

Someone told me the best thing to use is ducktape.

Back 2 topic: The one who said to cut out the food supply has worked for me the best. Haven't had any luck with anything eating them but I have a lot less now than I did b4 I cut back on feeding.

[rayviv]

Just to add on to what Joel said, Get yourself a coral banded shrimp. They like to eat them.

Is that the only shrimp that eats them?

[lazylivin]

I am not sure if others kinds of shrimp will but arrow crabs and six line wrasse are  also know to eat small ones.

[rayviv]

I am not sure if others kinds of shrimp will but arrow crabs and six line wrasse are  also know to eat small ones.

Thanx again buddyroe.

[Bright79]

  to wendigo.  I would be glad to trade u but I need a trap. anyone got one I can barrow I want them gone. thanks

[rayviv]

I have two traps if you want to borrow them. But you can catch them with a fine mesh net easier. At least the ones in the sand. ones in the rock are a different story.