Bristle worms! Help!

[xamz]

I have a new tank, less than 2 weeks old. The other day I found a small bristle worm peeking out of my rocks, so i bought a coral banded shrimp to eat any of them. I looked in my tank today and found this one:

It looks too big for the shrimp to eat. Is there anything that will attack it and/or eat it? I was thinking a goby, wrasse or blenny. Will these do the job? Are there any others? It's really creepy looking and I want them out of the tank.

 

[Reef Keeper 18]

Arrow crabs to keep them in check. Their detritivores and are not as harmful as people claim for them to be

 

[xamz]

Also, i tried using tweezers although the worm just hid back under the rock. The rock is underneath a bunch of others which are cemented together and I can't pick it up without taking the whole reef apart.

 

[xamz]

I know they're not harmful, but I don't like looking a bunch of these eerie worms crawling out of my rocks

 

[SaltyReefs]

+1 1smile1

 

[SaltyReefs]

They also sell traps for bristle worms... Google "Coralife Trap'em".

 

[Tab28]

They also sell bristle worm traps that work pretty good. I have caught dozens in one night on my old tank with that simple trap. I don't think it possible to get rid of all of them. They are ugly but never caused any damage in my tank. I would go with the arrow crab. They can get larger than coral banded shrimp which are a hit or miss if they will eat them anyway.

 

[Saltgator]

IMO, a neon dottyback worked for me over a coralbanded shrimp. I've broken these worms into 2 pieces before using tweezers and ended up seeing them continue to thrive. I agree that they may not be harmful, but nothing I want to see thriving within my DT. Good luck