Bristle worms

[Brandon787878]

Is this one reef safe?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Holy moly!
Looks more like a fireworm

 

[JLUR_]

I second the fireworm suggestion. Build yourself a potato cannon and launch that sucker into the next county.

 

[Brandon787878]

I second the fireworm suggestion. Build yourself a potato cannon and launch that sucker into the next county.

Is it safe to drain it down the sink? Also I am looking for a suggestion for something that will eat those in the near future. Doing a substrate change today. Only reason I found it.

 

[JLUR_]

Is it safe to drain it down the sink? Also I am looking for a suggestion for something that will eat those in the near future. Doing a substrate change today. Only reason I found it.

I would put him down the disposal side of the sink if you have one. Turn it on and send him to Valhalla. I have an unreasonable fear of things navigating my plumbing lines after a snake made his way into my toilet bowl a few years back. Last thing I would ever want is to dunk my hanging dangle onto a fireworm.

I've heard that arrow crabs will eat bristle worms but I'm not 100% sure if they would try to eat a fireworm. Plus they will apparently eat anything else they can get their snippers on including fish and other shrimp.

edit: Melanurus Wrasse will eat fireworms according to LiveAquaria.

 

[Brandon787878]

I would put him down the disposal side of the sink if you have one. Turn it on and send him to Valhalla. I have an unreasonable fear of things navigating my plumbing lines after a snake made his way into my toilet bowl a few years back. Last thing I would ever want is to dunk my hanging dangle onto a fireworm.

I've heard that arrow crabs will eat bristle worms but I'm not 100% sure if they would try to eat a fireworm. Plus they will apparently eat anything else they can get their snippers on including fish and other shrimp.

edit: Melanurus Wrasse will eat fireworms according to LiveAquaria.

So I was just putting the rocks back in the tank and found 7 small fire worms and 1 big worm of the green one from before. Now I'm concerned about my fish. How do they get in the tank bristle worms? Is it from me over feeding? I feed coral food just a pinch everyday and then a cube of frozen food once a day but my fish seem to eat it all right away.

I used to feed flakes and my girlfriend and I used to feed a lot of them more than what my fish seemed to eat so maybe that's how. Also I didn't have much of a CUC before . Maybe me getting more of a CUC now that I took all them worms out I will be fine. I'm assuming they are what ate my shrimp and snails correct?

 

[JLUR_]

They hitchhike on rocks or coral or anything else that was wet before you put it into your tank and are fairly common. Bristle worms, that aren't of the fireworm variety, aren't too much to worry about as they are pretty good at eating leftover food, fish waste, or other discarded/decaying organics. Fireworms just suck because of their potential to do harm to you if you accidentally get ahold of one when doing something in your tank. They also might munch a snail or two if given the chance. Fish tend to stay away from them so I wouldn't worry much there unless they're big worms. Just remove them manually if you see them. A good pair of long stainless steel tweezers are helpful with that.

If you don't have an appropriately sized CUC in place I would get one. ReefCleaners is my go to for everything snail/crab related because John is a pretty helpful guy and seems like he genuinely cares. They will compete for food against the worms and help keep their population down enough that you can probably remove most of them manually. I doubt that you'll ever get 100% of them but as long as you get the fireworms or the larger bristle worms you'll be alright. The worms are nocturnal so your best bet to catch them with a flashlight after the tank lights go out.

Regarding the ReefCleaners CUC, I find that the pre-sized packages are a little much to start out with unless you have a ton of algae and overfeed consistently. Find your tank on his list and purchase about 1/3 of that to start out with. Add another 1/3 about a month later if you still have algae/detritus problems. If you can get astrea snails when he has them for sale, grab a few as they DEMOLISH algae in my tank. Nassarius snails are good for detritus and sand sifting as are blue-leg hermits.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

I second the recommendation for John at Reef Cleaners. I have had several occasions to use them and everything has been perfect each time.
Back to the original question though, I am not sure that is a fire worm. Was it orange/red colored or have orange/red lines? It could be a different kind of worm entirely, but anything that large I would get rid of anyway. That is big enough to eat something you might care about like your clean up crew.
The little bristle worm guys are fine as long as you don't touch them.

 

[Brandon787878]

I second the recommendation for John at Reef Cleaners. I have had several occasions to use them and everything has been perfect each time.
Back to the original question though, I am not sure that is a fire worm. Was it orange/red colored or have orange/red lines? It could be a different kind of worm entirely, but anything that large I would get rid of anyway. That is big enough to eat something you might care about like your clean up crew.
The little bristle worm guys are fine as long as you don't touch them.

The green one I had two of and I had the red / orange ones 5 of that I seen come out.

 

[Brandon787878]

I second the recommendation for John at Reef Cleaners. I have had several occasions to use them and everything has been perfect each time.
Back to the original question though, I am not sure that is a fire worm. Was it orange/red colored or have orange/red lines? It could be a different kind of worm entirely, but anything that large I would get rid of anyway. That is big enough to eat something you might care about like your clean up crew.
The little bristle worm guys are fine as long as you don't touch them.

Also where do I buy things from John.

 

[PanchoG]

Dang! that thing is big. Another reason to keep several wrasses in your tank.

I keep Melanarus, Six Lines and a Yellow in my tank to deal with such pests.

 

[JLUR_]

Also where do I buy things from John.

Reef Cleaners| Clean up Crews and Macroalgae - Reef Cleaners

www.reefcleaners.org

 

[DJ H]

Get a shot of tequila and eat it

 

[vetteguy53081]

Without seeing its' head, looks like bristleworm and yes Arrow crab will eat bristleworm. However, the coloration indicates other than Bristle as fireworm is similar.
THIS is the reason I keep neither in my tanks