Bristle tank takeover ?!

SaltwaterTanks · Jul 2, 2021

This morning I woke up and my tank was not doing good I’ve decided to just take it down. It is infested with bristle worms and I’m not sure how I should go about taking it down. Ive already gotten stung , if I remove the water can they survive outside of it ? what should I do ?

Screwgunner · Jul 2, 2021

Arrow crabs and some wrasse eat them.

BanjoBandito · Jul 2, 2021

Don't quit! A few bucks and some elbow grease and you can make a couple traps and get rid of them! And if they are still a problem....man I love arrow crabs. Super cool.

BanjoBandito · Jul 2, 2021

Knew a guy with about a 1" - 1.5" overflow pipe going into his sump AND IT WAS CLOGGED WITH BRISTLE WORMS. SUUUUUUPER GROSS. The smell alone....GACK. But we managed to battle em' back to almost nothing with 2 arrow crabs and traps.

SaltwaterTanks · Jul 2, 2021

BanjoBandito said:
Don't quit! A few bucks and some elbow grease and you can make a couple traps and get rid of them! And if they are still a problem....man I love arrow crabs. Super cool.

I was already planning on taking down the tank :/ I already have some other tanks running that I plan on keeping up. Thank you though. Do you know how I should go about taking it down ?

minus9 · Jul 2, 2021

Their numbers are representative of the available food, so if you’re in plague proportions, then I would rethink my feeding regime in the future. Btw, their sole job is CUC, they are supreme detritus consumers. You can use the bottle trap or simply use a small portion of pantyhose and throw some food in there and weigh it down with rock or something to keep it from floating away. They will entangle themselves in the pantyhose, so you can carefully remove it and throw it away.

SaltwaterTanks · Jul 2, 2021

minus9 said:
Their numbers are representative of the available food, so if you’re in plague proportions, then I would rethink my feeding regime in the future. Btw, their sole job is CUC, they are supreme detritus consumers. You can use the bottle trap or simply use a small portion of pantyhose and throw some food in there and weigh it down with rock or something to keep it from floating away. They will entangle themselves in the pantyhose, so you can carefully remove it and throw it away.

Should I do this if I’m draining and taking the tank down ?

TuxUrchin07 · Jul 2, 2021

Coral banded shrimp might also eat them. And if it's a reef tank arrow crabs might not be safe btw

minus9 · Jul 2, 2021

Depends? Are you keeping the rock and sand?

Critteraholic · Jul 2, 2021

GLOVES! TONGS! If it were me, and I wasn't planning to keep any of the life on/in the rock I would just throw the rocks into freshwater and leave it there for a day or so and then set it out in the sun.

If you don't want to clean the sand whiles it's wet but want to keep it, just dump in the driveway to dry out.

minus9 · Jul 2, 2021

Remember, natural predators of bristle worms also predate on other “reef” fauna. Coral banded shrimp are not reef safe, especially with small fish.

SaltwaterTanks · Jul 2, 2021

minus9 said:
Depends? Are you keeping the rock and sand?

No I’m not I have lots of live rock in my other tank. I’m just not sure how to go about tearing down this tank … Will freshwater kill the bristle worms . Should I drain it then put freshwater in it for a few days ?

TuxUrchin07 · Jul 2, 2021

minus9 said:
Remember, natural predators of bristle worms also predate on other “reef” fauna. Coral banded shrimp are not reef safe, especially with small fish.

Huh. I don't know about others but my coral banded shrimp doesn't bother any corals inverts or small fish that I have

SaltwaterTanks · Jul 2, 2021

Critteraholic said:
GLOVES! TONGS! If it were me, and I wasn't planning to keep any of the life on/in the rock I would just throw the rocks into freshwater and leave it there for a day or so and then set it out in the sun.

If you don't want to clean the sand but want to keep it, just dump in the driveway to dry out.

Should I drain the tank then fill it up with freshwater for a few days before getting out everything.. will this kill the bristleworms?

Critteraholic · Jul 2, 2021

SaltwaterTanks said:
Should I drain it then put freshwater in it for a few days ?

Yes! It should kill them if you're willing to let it sit. Bristleworms are tough!

SaltwaterTanks · Jul 2, 2021

Critteraholic said:
Yes! It should kill them if you're willing to let it sit. Bristleworms are tough!

Okay thank you how long should I let it sit in freshwater ?

Critteraholic · Jul 2, 2021

I would probably let it sit at least 2 days. Keep the water going. I don't know how large your tank is, but if it is feasible change the water again the 2nd day to use the chlorine to help you. Make sure you stir the sand so the water goes all the way down (turn pumps off till you're done) and if you can, swish the rocks around and turn them over. Bristleworms can survive being mailed on live rock, so you might not get them all. It should get most of them, though, so you can pull the rock out.

SaltwaterTanks · Jul 2, 2021

Critteraholic said:
I would probably let it sit at least 2 days. Keep the water going. I don't know how large your tank is, but if it is feasible change the water again the 2nd day to use the chlorine to help you. Make sure you stir the sand so the water goes all the way down (turn pumps off till you're done) and if you can, swish the rocks around and turn them over. Bristleworms can survive being mailed on live rock, so you might not get them all. It should get most of them, though, so you can pull the rock out.

Okay thank you !