Bristle worms

[HawaiianReef]

Bristle worms will wax and wane based on available food. If their population is growing significantly, then you’re likely overfeeding .... so don’t. Otherwise, bristles are excellent scavengers. They will eat any dead animals, but WILL NOT kill anything live, certainly not fish (an absurd notion). If you must control populations with a predator, and your tank is large enough, a halichoeres wrasse will eat them, and a lot of other pests. My favored species is the dusky, but not that easy to find.

From experience, I have seen, not speculated, bristle worms killed an adult yellow tang and all of my clean up crew.
I know others will say that it doesn't happen, but witnessing the event say differently.

 

[theMeat]

 

[garrettm21]

That video is beyond disturbing

 

[RudyB]

First, let me say that bristle worms are not bad for your tank, but they are ugly and you have to be careful when sticking your hands in the tank not to touch one. They are also a great part of your clean up crew. With that said, the best way to get rid of them or at least control them are arrow crabs. They love them. I have on in my 150g tank to just keep them in check. Good Luck.

 

[RudyB]

How was water even flowing at that point. I have never seen anything that bad.

 

[davocean]

From experience, I have seen, not speculated, bristle worms killed an adult yellow tang and all of my clean up crew.
I know others will say that it doesn't happen, but witnessing the event say differently.

I have a mandarin that has what I'm pretty certain are bristles sticking out of his cheek right now.

I also once had a Malu anemone bothered by them, used a trap and caught 4 bristles that were all about 2 feet long!

I agree small ones are fine, but there does come a point when they can bother some animals.

After putting new rock in my tank and seeing it has some pretty big ones, I'm dropping a trap to pull them.

When they get like this they gotta go!

 

[ca1ore]

From experience, I have seen, not speculated, bristle worms killed an adult yellow tang and all of my clean up crew.

OK, I'm not going to tell you you didn't see what you thought you saw, but I have never (in 30 years) had a bristle worm attack and kill a fish - nor, frankly, do I see how it's even possible. A Bobbitt worm, sure, they are lethal ambush predators; but a toothless bristle ….. If a fish is at death's door, then the bristles will do what they do. Now, if you have a video of a large bristle worm leaping out to take down an unsuspecting fish ….. I'm ready with a hat and some ketchup.

 

[davocean]

I think bristles, large ones, can be an issue when fish are sleeping and can at least try to get them.
Pretty sure that's why there are bristles sticking out of my mandarins cheek right now

 

[Johniejumbo]

Sunrise dottyback I have eats them with gusto.

 

[Donavon]

Yup, Halichoeres Wrasses (ie Melanurus, Red Lined, Christmas)

+1 on Wrasses, my Christmas wrasse will eat every one he sees with a vengeance
he doesn’t get them all, because the worms are out mainly while he is napping in the sandbed

 

[mattzang]

brb going to buy several more bristleworm eating fish

 

[ca1ore]

I think bristles, large ones, can be an issue when fish are sleeping and can at least try to get them.
Pretty sure that's why there are bristles sticking out of my mandarins cheek right now

I do not. I've had plenty of fish show up with bristles - almost always a result of trying to sleep in the same spot (or in the case of my dusky, eat them). I suppose that might be a good reason to cull the herd though.

 

[davocean]

I do not. I've had plenty of fish show up with bristles - almost always a result of trying to sleep in the same spot (or in the case of my dusky, eat them). I suppose that might be a good reason to cull the herd though.

I have a lavendar tang that had a wound on it's side not long ago, and it did not look like anything a fish would cause and I have nothing aggressive in tank, and I was trying to figure what caused it. It went away after a few days.

Then I saw the larger bristles in the new rock I added, a fair amount of them, and my mandarin w/ what appears to be bristles a few days later.

It's just a guess, I could be wrong, but either way a trap is going in this weekend.
I'm sure there will still be plenty of small bristles, but I'm pulling the larger ones, aside from maybe causing issues they are just ugly!
I have plenty of "cuter" CUC animals!

 

[HawaiianReef]

I am of sound mind and body (lol) and saw what I saw.
To say I have an overload of bristle worms in this particular tank is an understatement. There are so many they can't hide in the sandbed.
The strange thing is, the larger ones didn't take out the tang. Smaller worms got into its gills then it was all over. It took about a day until Sunny finally passed. I found a worm in her gill immediately and removed it, but there were more smaller ones where I couldn't get to. Before all of this, she was perfectly fine.
Say what you say. Some people just wont tolerate that this could happen, but I saw it.
Now my tank is not a normal condition of bristle worms. No one would want that many in a tank. But if left alone and able to infest to outrageous numbers, they will kill.

 

[Mical]

6 line wrasse will cut down the population

 

[Bob Loblaw]

http://reeftopia.com/reefaquariumsnails.htm has C. spurius and occasionally C regius available. They only eat worms and are quite efficient. They're not deadly like their piscivorous cousins but they are venomous nonetheless- be aware of the risk before ordering.

I used the regius to contain an Oenone fulgida infestation. It did an outstanding job.

 

[Jesterrace]

+1 on Wrasses, my Christmas wrasse will eat every one he sees with a vengeance
he doesn’t get them all, because the worms are out mainly while he is napping in the sandbed

Add in the personality, beautiful color and that they are generally good tankmates and it makes them the smartest choice IMHO.

 

[theMeat]

Add in the personality, beautiful color and that they are generally good tankmates and it makes them the smartest choice IMHO.

They’re also jumpers, so if tank not covered...

 

[ChrisCurtis]

I had a Falco's hawkfish that love'd them - at least smaller ones. I'd get worms between my algae scraper and the glass and when I'd pull the outside part of the scraper away the current would blow the worms away. The hawkfish learned to wait downstream and gobble them up when the drifted to it.

 

[ca1ore]

I have plenty of "cuter" CUC animals!

That I completely agree with!