Effective way to battle bristleworms?

[Swell]

I have already begun to cut back feeding from once a day to once every other day.
This is in a 60 gallon tank. I have been setting DIY traps and catching about 60-100 each night. I check the population every night an hour or so after lights off, and they are at every square inch of the tank... I honestly don't even think it is worth it to try and combat them? Will the population eventually go down with restricted feedings?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Total answer

1 or 2 Arrow crabs. They eat bristles exclusively

 

[muzikalmatt]

Arrow crabs, certain wrasses and hawkfish are known to eat bristleworms.

 

[Murica]

Coral bandits also eat them, not exclusively

 

[Swell]

Well i took the plunge and purchased 3 - G5 XR30 blues.... now regret it.
The mobius control is awful. No manual or instructions. The lights are dropping connection every day. I go home and the lights are at different brightness. I'm now worried they will go to full power and burn the corals/stock etc when i'm not at home and away working. The lack of external communication concerns me too. At least with ESL i could log on and see what was going on and adjust if required.
Would like to hear others experience?

Total answer

1 or 2 Arrow crabs. They eat bristles exclusively

Thanks for the quick reply. Are they aggressive buggers? Are they reef safe? Are 2 arrow crabs truly going to be enough to decimate them? I can't see those tiny stomachs handling more than maybe 1-2 a day ;Playful

 

[Swell]

Arrow crabs, certain wrasses and hawkfish are known to eat bristleworms.

Thanks. I have a six-line wrasse currently. Longnose hawkfish?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the quick reply. Are they aggressive buggers? Are they reef safe? Are 2 arrow crabs truly going to be enough to decimate them? I can't see those tiny stomachs handling more than maybe 1-2 a day ;Playful

Very reef safe and you can get more. Just don't wany to see the worms gone and you have 4 to feed from that point.
They typically are $10

 

[muzikalmatt]

Thanks. I have a six-line wrasse currently. Longnose hawkfish?

Yes, longnose hawfish eat them from what I've read.

 

[shred5]

First of nothing wrong with bristle worms..
They are there because you have to much waste in the tank.
There population is directly proportional to the food available to them.
Less food and their population will decline over time.


Arrow crabs will eat other things than just bristle worms. I have seen them go after shrimp , feather dusters etc...

 

[35ppt]

Good stuff above, I'd also add you can make bottle traps.

DIY Bristle Worm Trap - How To

DIY Bristle Worm Trap - How To Chances are, if you are reading this article, you already know what a Bristle Worm is and why you may need to "trap" it. But in case you are not quite sure .... Bristle worms are free-living segmented worms with an elongated body that has a pair of "appendages" as...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Swell]

First of nothing wrong with bristle worms..
They are there because you have to much waste in the tank.
There population is directly proportional to the food available to them.
Less food and their population will decline over time.


Arrow crabs will eat other things than just bristle worms. I have seen them go after shrimp , feather dusters etc...

No good! I have a lot of christmas feather dusters in a few of my colonies and some wild dusters I love...

That is what confuses me... I do a 3% water change every day and had feedings dialed in to minimize waste. I wish I was joking when I said they were everywhere, but I kid you not at not there is not one spot in the tank where they are not.

 

[shred5]

No good! I have a lot of christmas feather dusters in a few of my colonies and some wild dusters I love...

That is what confuses me... I do a 3% water change every day and had feedings dialed in to minimize waste. I wish I was joking when I said they were everywhere, but I kid you not at not there is not one spot in the tank where they are not.

I believe how many you have. I have seen tanks where the whole bottom was covered when the fish were fed.
Long time ago I had some clownfish brood stock tanks which had some rock and gravel. Their tank are feed a ton and there were thousands of bristle worms when I fed.

Feed the fish not the tank..

Yea arrow crabs will reach their long pincers down into a tube and pull the worm out..

They are like any crab and will feed on what ever they can get. They do like bristle worms though and no doubt they eat them.

 

[deahttub]

First of nothing wrong with bristle worms..
They are there because you have to much waste in the tank.
There population is directly proportional to the food available to them.
Less food and their population will decline over time.


Arrow crabs will eat other things than just bristle worms. I have seen them go after shrimp , feather dusters etc...

couldnt agree more. I save Bristle worms when i clean detritis piles in the tank...now fire worms? They have to die...