alex.mccann99
Active Member
Don't remove them, they're one of the best Clean Up Crew members you have!
Help! How to remove bristle worms!!
- Thread starter nightmarepl
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Rispa
Valuable Member
You can treat your tank with something that will kill all inverts. It will be quite a while before you can add new inverts like pods, crab, snails, etc and honestly imo is way more trouble than it's worth, but it can be done if you dislike them that much.
tiggs
Active Member
Bristleworms are legit my favorite detritivores of all time. they put in serious work on the substrate and inside the nooks and crannies of rock work. In fact, I'm trying to reestablish my population of them, so if you do catch them, I'll gladly send you a few bucks to send some my way.
Peter Clark
Active Member
I'm working on a build now (probably won't have water in it for a few months due to other projects around the house) and since I will be starting with dry rock and dipping all corals, I plan to actually get some bristle worms from other hobbyists in the area and introduce them into my system on purpose since they are one of the most important parts of the clean up crew.
Greenstreet.1
5000 Club Member
I think prazi will kill them also.
The best way I’ve found and I have no longer any of them when I had hundreds all I did was cut my feeding back to basically watching the fish eat the food and then stopping and also a cleanup crew to outcompete them And pods. I found the tisbe are very fast 2 get anything that’s near them and they love the pellets and never seen a worm in 2 years with a 4 year tank.
I made 4 of them and allowed me 2 place em 1/2 on sand and rock. I have 2 place it close 2 the holes as they won’t dedicate for that food unless there safe so that’s y upward straws makes getting out hard. 2 or the 3 work best If I could make equal sides and not feel like I’m giving them an opportunity to get back out I’d do 4. And set em with a shrimp and some pellets also weight sorry I used marbals. Shrimp will keep them feeding and the pellets will draw them in because of the amino‘s Then wake up and pull em out b4 lights out of 15 nights using 1-3 depending on where I saw some. A lot of online ones are not clear so that’s why I made my own because I’m cheap and it’s clear so I can see what’s going on
mcarroll
10K Club member
Honestly, ask yourself if this is the right hobby or if you can get used to them. A reef tank without them is probably never going to be stable.
Consider freshwater instead maybe – lots of really cool fish and inverts, but no "gross" ecosystem to tend to on the side. No corals either though...
PhreeByrd
Active Member
This is beyond weird to me. Truly, if you hate something that's a natural and beneficial part of the ecosystem you are supposedly trying to maintain, then you are in the wrong hobby. It's like a gardener wanting to remove all of the earthworms from the soil. Good luck with that.
If the most important thing to you is something that looks pretty and perfect, remove your aquarium and put a painting or photograph on the wall.
Common bristle worms are our friends, even if they are not the most beautiful creatures to some of us.
If the most important thing to you is something that looks pretty and perfect, remove your aquarium and put a painting or photograph on the wall.
Common bristle worms are our friends, even if they are not the most beautiful creatures to some of us.
U
User1
Guest
Let them be. They are something that will self manage their own population believe it or not. Furthermore, it is akin to taking the wheels off your car then trying to use it to run an errand. As tires are vital to a car bristle worm are vital to your tanks health. Without them you are hurting or impacting your tanks overall health. So do the right thing and let them be.
OriginalUserName
Valuable Member
Ugh. Clean your tank lady. That system must have been just disgusting.
Dom274
Well-Known Member
Nothing against them personally, it's my immune system that objects to them.
All the harm is done to me: in the form of swelling, rash, hives, itchiness and ultimately, a benadryl coma for a day or two.
Nope, all to me.
Na, too much work.
ca1ore
10K Club member
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
CTARS Member
Article Contributor
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Indeed they are. Bristle worms will wax and wane based on available food - more of them means there's more decaying food in your tank and therefore they are doing you a service. Eradicating them is to fundamentally not understand how your tank works ....... sigh
Jlentz
Active Member
Just wear nitrile gloves. This is what I do. I’m allergic to everything. I don’t want to develop a sensitivity to my reef tank.
