Bristle worms and clams

Z06-Hec · Oct 3, 2015

Can bristle worms kill or bother a clam?

cloak · Oct 3, 2015

Not in my experience, but they will make short work of a dead or dying clam though. I guess if the bristle worm was constantly brushing up against the clam this would irritate it, but not to the point where the clam would succumb from this interaction. Pyramid snails is what you need to watch out for. GL.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/jf/index.php

Kevden31 · Oct 3, 2015

Never had and issue with bristle worms... +1 on the pyramid snails

Z06-Hec · Oct 3, 2015

so my giant derassa in the sand has been looking irritated and retracted, I lift it and see a bunch of bristle worms at the foot of the clam and trying to retract since i exposed them to light.
Clam has been in for almost 2 months and perfectly fine. It came from another local tank and he had it for years. I have no pyramid snails, have looked.

eea60 · Oct 3, 2015

They could just be living under it as they do with some corals I have on the sand. The clam could be slowly dying due to a lack of food, exposure to air (taking out of water), or could be getting nipped at by fish. Usually things like bristle worms and many such critters just come in to eat the clam once it's dead.

stiky · Oct 7, 2015

I had soooo many bristle worms. Huge ones. Small ones. The largest was 10 inches. I wasn't on a mission to eradicate them but I got a aiptasia eating file fish for my..well..aiptasia. And in the process of his aiptasia eradication he also decimated the bristle worm population. So much that I could see bristles sticking to his mouth after he got done hunting them from their caves. Just a thought, if you really want them gone.

Z06-Hec · Oct 8, 2015

Just to get an idea...
Clam is dead btw... my 10 inch derasa

bct15 · Oct 8, 2015

Bristleworms will not eat a healthy clam. They eat dead or decaying matter.

A clam in your tank for two months isn't that long, most likely died from some other cause.

Edit: also the bristle worms you posted look like the fire worm variety. If they are do not touch them.

VFR_Mayday · Oct 8, 2015

All bristle worms pack a punch if you touch them. Feels like fiberglass imbedded. If you do get hit, a lint roller or masking tape will take them out. Trust me. I know lol. About the clam, once clams start to go, they go and it's super hard to get them to recover. My last one died from too clean of water. I was carbon dosing and feeding super super heavy and it still didn't get enough food. Maybe you damaged the foot moving it somewhere? I've done that in the past but it made a full recovery. Arrow crabs, certain wrasses and like i said the filefish will take care of them. Some people collect them and sell them on eBay. You could be rich!