Any SNAILS - eat bristlesworms?

[DarthChaos]

So.....Im in the process of finalizing my seahorse tank, and I'm trying to manage/deal with bristleworms.

No.....I do NOT want bristleworms, in my seahorse tank - if you have to ask why not, then you probably don't house seahorses (all my research and guidance from long term breeders, say "bristleworms + sea horses = bad)

Now...before you chime in "bristleworms only show up due to overfeeding" - I'm gonna stop you!

I have been running my tank, for 6 mths - and I dont feed it. My 2 pipefish, 2 flame fin prawn gobies and Mandarin ONLY pods. I dont feed this tank - yet, the bristleworms are still surviving. Tank gets phytoplankton...few times a week and some Coral Frenzy powder....maybe 2x a month?

I have Xmas tree worms and feather dusters - so, I can't house shrimp. Tanks under 40g, so....any decent wrasse, is kinda out. Most crabs that would deal with bristleworms....aren't seahorse safe.

I've been hearing rumors of a SNAIL - that does eat bristleworms?

I've tried the nylon trap....it didn't work too well. I'm gonna try using other baits...

Just trying to think LONG TERM - to manage and remove these pests.

 

[JGT]

No snail will actively eat bristles. Arrow crabs will and certain fish like wrasses and butterflies will.

 

[kaylajoy]

I can't think of anything that will eat bristle worms and not eat the other livestock, but following because I'm curious

Trapping might be your best bet

 

[vetteguy53081]

No but arrow crabs do

 

[Sharkbait19]

I don’t know about snails, but arrow crabs are pretty good bristle worm eaters. They are crabs though, so can’t be entirely trusted with seahorses.

 

[DarthChaos]

I can't think of anything that will eat bristle worms and not eat the other livestock, but following because I'm curious

Trapping might be your best bet

It's seeming trap is real only "safe option"

Arrow crabs - arent seahorse safe. Tanks not big enough....for a good size wrasse, to actually eat the worms.

Few ppl have mentioned a snail, but no one knows what type.....lol!

 

[kaylajoy]

Bumble bee snail?

Edit: don't know if they'll eat the feather dusters though

 

[Sharkbait19]

Nassarius snails might eat a bristle worm, as they’re carnivorous. However, I wouldn’t 100% count on it.
To be honest, anything that would eat a bristle worm would probably also attack the seahorses.
Seahorses are opportunistic eaters and have been known to eat baby bristles, but you may want to remove the big guys yourself.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Bumble bee snail?

IME bumblebee snails are lazy.

I hired mine to handle vermetids, and they maybe move once every few days. All they do is sit on the rocks and eat detritus. Unlike my other snails, they’ve literally developed coralline algae on the shells, they’re so slow lol

 

[DarthChaos]

Nassarius snails might eat a bristle worm, as they’re carnivorous. However, I wouldn’t 100% count on it.
To be honest, anything that would eat a bristle worm would probably also attack the seahorses.
Seahorses are opportunistic eaters and have been known to eat baby bristles, but you may want to remove the big guys yourself.

Someone JUST posted that...lol!

Nassarius and Babylonia and Mitra mitra (never heard of Babylonia or Mitra snails?)

 

[nanonøkk]

yea the only ones i see eating any snails are nassrius snails if the worm is small enough or maybe as @Chaos2034 said maybe babylonia but the one that really might eat them would be a mitra snail because the babylonia is basically a bigger nassrius snail kinda so they might have the same diet as nassrius snails and reading a bit on the mitra snails it is saying that they eat worms so you might have luck there

 

[bryan47caveman]

Hi there,

Try olive snails:

Olive Snail-Known for Eating Bristleworms

Olive Snail-Known for eating Bristleworms! Size: ~1.5-2 inches These hardy snails are great for eating leftover meaty food such as Mysis shrimp in the aquarium. They are also one invertebrate for saltwater aquariums known for eating bristleworms! These snails also eat detritus and decaying...

seahorsesavvy.com

 

[littlefoxx]

Arrow crabs eat them, but they also might hurt your ponies! Im wondering if theres a wrasse (like a melenarus) or something that you could look into that wouldnt hurt the ponies? @Slocke and @i cant think might be able to advise further on that. Ive got an arrow crab. I think he would pinch the ponies to be honest. Im suspecting he is behind my mysterious case of the dwindling number of zebra dartfish Ive had in the last few days

Edit just noticed the tank size… ignore that!

 

[i cant think]

Arrow crabs eat them, but they also might hurt your ponies! Im wondering if theres a wrasse (like a melenarus) or something that you could look into that wouldnt hurt the ponies? @Slocke and @i cant think might be able to advise further on that. Ive got an arrow crab. I think he would pinch the ponies to be honest. Im suspecting he is behind my mysterious case of the dwindling number of zebra dartfish Ive had in the last few days

Edit just noticed the tank size… ignore that!

A Pink Streak may work if the worms aren’t huge.

 

[DJC]

I have a few Nassarius snails in my tank and I’ve never had a problem with bristles tank is 8 months old now and I’ve pulled 3 bristles out that were hiding in shells but I never actually see active bristles in my tank

Does this mean the snails are doing their job ? After reading this post I think il run some controlled tests with bristles and Nassarius to see if they actually eat them
This is a great topic thread

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Yellow coris wrasse will eat them, you may be able to get away with a juvenile in a 40 gal

 

[bryan47caveman]

I have a few Nassarius snails in my tank and I’ve never had a problem with bristles tank is 8 months old now and I’ve pulled 3 bristles out that were hiding in shells but I never actually see active bristles in my tank

Does this mean the snails are doing their job ? After reading this post I think il run some controlled tests with bristles and Nassarius to see if they actually eat them
This is a great topic thread

I’d love to see what you find out!