Does anything eat spiniod & spaghetti worms?

[krollins]

So spinoid and spaghetti worms are over-populating my tank. What will eat them to control their numbers? I added a frilly arrow crab that might eat the spaghetti worms.

 

[lapin]

I have heard that bumble bee snails can work.

 

[krollins]

I have heard that bumble bee snails can work.

I already have those. I place one near a lot of them and see what happens.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Spaghetti worms shouldn't be an issue at all - for spionids, the only effective predators would likely be ones such as small, predatory worms that can follow the into their tubes:

I’d imagine you would need something that could follow them into their burrows for the predation to be effective though, as these guys have been shown to be partially eaten by things like killifish only to regenerate without issue on a regular basis in the wild (with specimens typically losing ~13-24% of their bodies and regenerating completely within ~2 weeks). I’d guess there are some predatory worms that might be effective against these guys, but (like the nudibranch mentioned above) you’d have a tough time finding one even if you knew which species to look for.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Spaghetti worms shouldn't be an issue at all - for spionids, the only effective predators would likely be ones such as small, predatory worms that can follow the into their tubes:

Don't Vayssierea Felis nudibranchs eat spionids?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Don't Vayssierea Felis nudibranchs eat spionids?

It eats spirorbids.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

It eats spirorbids.

Argh ! Sorry about that. That's what I meant, lol!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Argh ! Sorry about that. That's what I meant, lol!

Haha, it's a super common mixup

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Y

Haha, it's a super common mixup

Yeah, especially after a long day staring at a computer screen... Thanks for keeping me honest

 

[krollins]

It eats spirorbids.

I just noticed that I messed it up in the title.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

So spinoid and spaghetti worms are over-populating my tank. What will eat them to control their numbers? I added a frilly arrow crab that might eat the spaghetti worms.

Now that I'm not as confused about what you have (lol), I will say I also have a ton of worms similar to spionids, in the genus Phyllochaetopterus. I've recently started sifting their tubes out of my sandbed, a small area at a time, with a strainer spoon similar to this.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

*And ultimately, their populations (hair worms and spionid/Phyllochaetopterus) are dependent on how much the tank is overfed...