Marie7
Well-Known Member
Arrow crab its not exactly a fish but it work best
Bristle worms
- Thread starter kuruptko
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If you suddenly see an explosion of bristle worms in your tank it is a sign that you are over feeding and not exporting the waste and uneaten food fast enough. Their numbers will increase based on the food available in the tank. I recall rebooting a new client’s tank and when I was siphoning the gravel in the front corner there were so many worms they clogged the siphon tube. When I showed him he said that was the corner he feeds pellets from. Obviously pellets were going uneaten and the worms were just cleaning up. Speaking from 50 years experience, bristle worms are a great member of the any tanks clean up crew.
Different fish will eliminate different sizes when it comes to bristleworms. Six-Line's & Dottybacks will often take out small & medium sized ones, while Hawkfish will take out all sizes. Arrow Crabs definetly work as well. A much less common option, Ocellated Butterflyfish can do a number to bristleworms & other worm-like-pests (namely vermetid snails ime) but come with their butterflyfish nipping drawbacks. Traps can do a number as well & technically export nutrients bound in the bristleworm in a similar method to macroalgae but they often do not prevent escape well so require consistent harvesting to function efficently.
Its typically better practice to bite the root-cause in the butt rather than the symptom though; in this case, it is likely excessive uneaten food & waste not exported otherwise resulting in blooming bristleworm populations. You don't necessarily need to feed less, just more efficiently. Feeding rings & benthic food offerings are just a few examples that aid in a more full consumption rather than a slurry of water column bound food that may easily get trapped & fuel nutrients/bristleworm numbers. Plus it's more bang for your buck when it comes to the feeding bill.
Myself? I like to keep the bigger bristleworms around for fragmentation propagation to maintain a stable supply of bristleworms but at manageable levels. I don't disagree that there is a lack of room for discussion to be had in regards to their rather disturbing appearance ;Yawn, but they are performing a valuable cleanup service which is well worth the little extra caution around the rockwork. Are there others that could do this job? Sure, but I think you will be hard pressed to find a more efficient worker. I would also like to note that fireworms, eunicid worms & bristleworms are entirely different beasts (the former two being an immediate threat as direct predators of fish, coral, inverts & even your hand in the case of a eunicid). As far as bristleworms killing fish, never seen it but with an infested level population, I wouldn't doubt that if the worms got kicked into the watercolumn that it could do damage. Those bristles are irritating & a vector for possible infections to take hold, especially in vulnerable areas like a fish's gills. So just to save you some pain, if you do get pricked/stung by the bristles, soak the wound in vinegar. It will disolve the bristles & prevent further damage via manual extraction. Just be sure to clean the wound as reef tanks are ripe with biodiversity, not all necessarily good. Hope this helps
Its typically better practice to bite the root-cause in the butt rather than the symptom though; in this case, it is likely excessive uneaten food & waste not exported otherwise resulting in blooming bristleworm populations. You don't necessarily need to feed less, just more efficiently. Feeding rings & benthic food offerings are just a few examples that aid in a more full consumption rather than a slurry of water column bound food that may easily get trapped & fuel nutrients/bristleworm numbers. Plus it's more bang for your buck when it comes to the feeding bill.
Myself? I like to keep the bigger bristleworms around for fragmentation propagation to maintain a stable supply of bristleworms but at manageable levels. I don't disagree that there is a lack of room for discussion to be had in regards to their rather disturbing appearance ;Yawn, but they are performing a valuable cleanup service which is well worth the little extra caution around the rockwork. Are there others that could do this job? Sure, but I think you will be hard pressed to find a more efficient worker. I would also like to note that fireworms, eunicid worms & bristleworms are entirely different beasts (the former two being an immediate threat as direct predators of fish, coral, inverts & even your hand in the case of a eunicid). As far as bristleworms killing fish, never seen it but with an infested level population, I wouldn't doubt that if the worms got kicked into the watercolumn that it could do damage. Those bristles are irritating & a vector for possible infections to take hold, especially in vulnerable areas like a fish's gills. So just to save you some pain, if you do get pricked/stung by the bristles, soak the wound in vinegar. It will disolve the bristles & prevent further damage via manual extraction. Just be sure to clean the wound as reef tanks are ripe with biodiversity, not all necessarily good. Hope this helps
livingcolors
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I can't see them killing fish, or even snails for that matter, but they definitely will irritate coral-which leads to it's own set of issues-and they steal food from coral. I don't mind a few in the tank, but personally, I would burn them with fire if I could!
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As well as your existing fish and any new fish you attempt to put in your tank once it reaches maturity. 6 line is trading one headache for another IMHO. The Halichoeres Wrasses are a much better choice for this reason.
I also have witnessed bristle worms eating
live peppermint shrimp
live snails
live NPS corals
There will always be those who doubt what they havent witnessed themselves.
I also bought my cone snails from reeftopia, only place I've found with them. I used to get stung by bristleworms every time I put a hand in the tank. I've never been stung by the cone snails.
live peppermint shrimp
live snails
live NPS corals
There will always be those who doubt what they havent witnessed themselves.
I also bought my cone snails from reeftopia, only place I've found with them. I used to get stung by bristleworms every time I put a hand in the tank. I've never been stung by the cone snails.
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You sure they are actual cone snails? They look remarkably similar to fighting conches IMHO.
