Do bristle worms eat clownfish eggs?

allabout · Sep 16, 2013

I've been researching on the web but can't find a straight answer.

Does anyone know if bristleworms are an issue in a broodstock tank? My clowns laid eggs and most of them disappeared after a few days but it was their first time ever laying. So anyway, I pulled the pot last night and to my surprise there were probably 20 bristleworms under the pot. Do the clowns defend the eggs all night? I know they would eat eggs if they had the opportunity, but do they eat them typically?

I know the worms are good for eating extra food etc but I have tons and tons of pods in their tank too. Should I move the worms to the sump (they'll probably make it back to the tank eventually) or leave them?

Mike J. · Sep 16, 2013

Yes, bristleworms will eat your eggs. Try to get them out.

clownfitch · Sep 16, 2013

That's the first time I've heard of someone wanting bristle worms in their tank. Won't they eat pretty much anything they can as the grow larger?

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allabout · Sep 16, 2013

Thanks Mike that's sort of what I was thinking but couldn't find for sure. A lot of places were saying the clowns will keep them away from the eggs.

clownfitch said:
That's the first time I've heard of someone wanting bristle worms in their tank. Won't they eat pretty much anything they can as the grow larger?

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Some people may not want them but they're a good part of the clean up crew. There are bad ones for sure but most are very beneficial and harmless. I don't mind them at all as long as they don't eat my clown's eggs! and they don't get out of control.

N1Husker · Mar 13, 2018

I try to keep my bristleworm population at a manageable level. You will never get rid of all of them and they are part of aa clean up clue, but their numbers can get out of hand. They are opportunistic feeders.

davocean · Mar 14, 2018

allabout said:
Thanks Mike that's sort of what I was thinking but couldn't find for sure. A lot of places were saying the clowns will keep them away from the eggs.

Some people may not want them but they're a good part of the clean up crew. There are bad ones for sure but most are very beneficial and harmless. I don't mind them at all as long as they don't eat my clown's eggs! and they don't get out of control.

Clowns are extremely heavy sleepers, you could scoop your hand in there and pull them out, and maybe even put back in w/out waking if you were stealthy.

Small bristles are good, big ones I pull.

I once had a Malu that was very bothered after long term in same spot, and I noticed one night very large bristles at the foot.
I put a trap in and got 4x 2 footer bristles to my surprise, after that the Malu was fine.