Bristle Worm Trap Testers Needed!

Printed Reef · Jan 25, 2022

((FORDTECH)) said:
I would love to test this worm trap if any still available. I have 4 tanks that it can be moved around in.

Since you are from Chicago! We will send you one but it may not be the latest version

BluTang85 · Jan 25, 2022

((FORDTECH)) · Jan 25, 2022

Printed Reef said:
Since you are from Chicago! We will send you one but it may not be the latest version

That would be awesome either way ! I will pm you my info

Fifty8reef · Jan 30, 2022

I have been so busy at work that I just got to my trap. I will put it I today and update with my results. I will try with the plexi glass down as I seen in the thread

Woodyman · Jan 30, 2022

I'm late to seeing this, going to assume you hit the quota?

Dbichler · Jan 31, 2022

Excuse the dirty tank wife had major surgery and have been slacking on tank maintenance. Trap came with fast delivery well packaged and a couple frag plugs and a cool sticker. Have tried it on my daughters 10 gallon tank caught several big bristles no real small ones. Pic of it on my dirty 210. Just make sure if you get one to make sure all the air bubbles are out completely or it will float away only thing I would upgrade to the trap would be to a magnet holder instead but overall a good product.

jkcoral · Feb 1, 2022

Apologies for the late post, I had an unexpected trip out of town that kept me away from consistent testing of the trap.

Some quick background, I have an IM 30L. A much smaller tank than most here, but here has been my experience thus far.

First, the bristle worm trap came incredibly well packaged, and the extra goodies included were an awesome and much appreciated gift!

Second, I’ve tested the trap on 3 different nights (and plan on more), and I experienced some issues with the bait becoming dislodged/spreading throughout the trap. Now I’m sure this is due to me using small chunks of frozen mysis, so I did try a different method on nights 2 and 3. On the second night I wrapped the shrimp in some fine cheese cloth (similar to panty hose) before placing in the bait trap. This worked out well. On the third night I placed the bait in a ziplock bag (I put the small bait in the corner of the bag and then twisted and separated the corner using a lighter). I poked holes in the bag and this worked well. Both of these methods kept the bait in place and tidy.

I was thinking that the trap might benefit from some smaller holes or a small cover of some type for the bait trap. But this wasn’t too big of a deal.

Next, after placing the trap and removing trapped air, I found that the trap could become dislodged, especially when the flow in the tank kicks up (I run a bare bottom tank, so things really get moving flow-wise to clean out detritus).

This made me think that the trap could benefit from additional suction cups/magnets to secure it in place. Knowing that magnets are pricey and would increase production costs compared to handy suction cups, I think an additional suction cup on the bottom of the trap would be useful, especially for bare bottom tanks. Maybe there could be a premium option that uses magnets if people would like?

Third, I agree with other posts suggesting holes on the bottom of the trap. I think these would be a great addition.

Next, while brainstorming about potential changes I was thinking about the plexiglass. Specifically, I found myself wondering if using some type of hinge to operate the plexiglass lid would be useful. The current method works alright, and I’m not sure how difficult it would be to implement some type of hinge operation for the cover (I do not know much about difficulty in designing and 3D printing). However, maybe a hinge mechanism would provide the benefit of easily removing trapped air and also give a tighter seal that would prevent worms from slipping out under the plexiglass. Again, this is just a curious thought and not a ding against the trap.

Although I agree with the earlier idea that moving the bait trap to the other side would be a great idea and limit the amount of worms that escape under the plexiglass.

Finally, and this is completely based on my use case in a smaller tank, I think that smaller/different sized options in the future would be great for people with smaller tanks. While the trap is compact and a nice size, I several times caught myself thinking that a “mini” version of the trap would be awesome for smaller setups. Once the design is finalized and in production, a smaller (maybe half the size on all dimensions?) version of the trap would be appealing to people with smaller tanks given the ability to easily place the trap in different locations without needed to move any rocks or corals. I recognize this is thinking beyond the current trap being tested, but maybe this would be able to tap into people with varying use cases.

All in all, this is a neat trap and a useful edition to the toolset in caring for a tank. I appreciate the opportunity to test it look forward to more experimenting!

And thanks again for the extra sampling of your products! The frag stands/holders are particularly awesome. I was able to easily move a new goniopora around the tank searching for optimal placement without needing to use glue, which was super cool and useful!

watty21 · Feb 1, 2022

Ive been using a chunk of shrimp for the trap! Works great and don't have to worry about the bait coming out at all. I have been putting it into my 40 gal where the rock work is pretty tight so I expected it to only catch the small ones but turns out it only catches the large ones. The large ones go in and move around between the plexi glass and the printed parts and then the little ones will slide in through the opening of the plexiglass and take bites but never actually leave their rocks. And when the large worms are pushing up the glass, baby snails and such will also go in which is a pain. All in all, it catches worms aka IT WORKS. But definitely would love to see some improvements with the plexiglass sliding lid. Maybe I will try it face down and update the review from that as well!

TnFishwater98 · Feb 1, 2022

I have 5 tanks up and running. I’ve used on 2 tanks and will use on the other 3. I used a combo of basic dry fish and crab food. Less than a hour after I put in the tank I had bristle worms in the trap. I left trap overnight. When I checked the next morning, they were all gone. I never checked super early just when I found myself in front of that tank. So they can definitely get out when ready. Like someone mentioned earlier pantyhose or something similar might keep a few from escaping. I post a update in a few.

shakacuz · Feb 1, 2022

bit late to the review party, been busy with work. here are my thoughts on this product (will upload pictures when home):

shipping/packaging was great. came with some freebies and candy! (reminds me of another company who gives candy out with their order

). i didn't need the freebies, but i know there will be a day where i beat myself up if i didn't have them! perhaps this was given out due to being someone that reviews the product?

overall, the build quality was good. did not seem flimsy, but one thing i did notice was how easy it was for the worms to escape the trap if left unattended for too long(in my case, all of the worms were VERY tiny, and VERY thin). reading above on previous posts, this seems to be consistent with others' experience. if the worms in your system are large, but small enough to fit in the holes in the trap, then i believe you would have more success. my recommendation is to maybe not have so many entry points, and create more of a maze inside to really make it difficult for the worms to escape..

Printed Reef · Feb 4, 2022

TnFishwater98 said:
I have 5 tanks up and running. I’ve used on 2 tanks and will use on the other 3. I used a combo of basic dry fish and crab food. Less than a hour after I put in the tank I had bristle worms in the trap. I left trap overnight. When I checked the next morning, they were all gone. I never checked super early just when I found myself in front of that tank. So they can definitely get out when ready. Like someone mentioned earlier pantyhose or something similar might keep a few from escaping. I post a update in a few.

thank you for the feedback and excellent pictures!
we are working on another version
just to name a few:
- smaller holes for the bait compartment
- fewer entry points,
- bigger maze in the middle
- improved cover

Printed Reef · Feb 4, 2022

shakacuz said:
bit late to the review party, been busy with work. here are my thoughts on this product (will upload pictures when home):

shipping/packaging was great. came with some freebies and candy! (reminds me of another company who gives candy out with their order ). i didn't need the freebies, but i know there will be a day where i beat myself up if i didn't have them! perhaps this was given out due to being someone that reviews the product?

overall, the build quality was good. did not seem flimsy, but one thing i did notice was how easy it was for the worms to escape the trap if left unattended for too long(in my case, all of the worms were VERY tiny, and VERY thin). reading above on previous posts, this seems to be consistent with others' experience. if the worms in your system are large, but small enough to fit in the holes in the trap, then i believe you would have more success. my recommendation is to maybe not have so many entry points, and create more of a maze inside to really make it difficult for the worms to escape..

Thank you for the feedback!

every order gets candy and a freebie!!

yes we need a maze and few entry points

TnFishwater98 · Feb 4, 2022

Printed Reef said:
thank you for the feedback and excellent pictures!
we are working on another version
just to name a few:
- smaller holes for the bait compartment
- fewer entry points,
- bigger maze in the middle
- improved cover

The overall design felt good. Obviously the worms don’t need to be able to get back out. Maybe a curved entry tunnel up…?… the once they are in it ‘might?’ Be harder for them to lift up then down in to get out….?…. Just shooting suggesting a out I have no evidence they couldn’t do it.
- Maybe one suggestion, have a ring or something to attach a string of something. This way you can pull it out without reaching down for it,
Felt great/ looked great. After putting in tank and seeing them inside in less than 20 min, I was really pumped and ready to see a load of worms through the clear glass. The clear glass might be a reason they leave when the lights turn on or the sun peeps through the windows BUT the fix would be preventing them from escaping. Which is obviously your goal. I’d give the product a A+ on construction quality. The obvious update would be to make it a lot harder for them to get out. Looking forward to the strategy forward.