Pesky fire worm problem need them gone asap

[adan rossell]

I have a large amount of long fire worms in my tank, each is about 5 inches long. they have already eaten a fire goby and a jawfish. they come out to feed when my fish eat and i have killed a few. I need a predator fish that will prey on them without harming fish smaller than it like gobys. i dont want to use arrow crabs cus its a community tank. they kill anything that hides in small caves in my live rock. and mostly live in the sand. and suggestions on fish/inverts that will eat them?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R! You could try using a homemade trap to capture them. Otherwise Dottyback, Wrasse of the Halichoeres family, Bird Wrasse, Maori Wrasse , Sunset Wrasse, or coral banded shrimp are potential predators of bristle worms and fire worms.

#WelcometoR2R

 

[Reeferdood]

I have a large amount of long fire worms in my tank, each is about 5 inches long. they have already eaten a fire goby and a jawfish. they come out to feed when my fish eat and i have killed a few. I need a predator fish that will prey on them without harming fish smaller than it like gobys. i dont want to use arrow crabs cus its a community tank. they kill anything that hides in small caves in my live rock. and mostly live in the sand. and suggestions on fish/inverts that will eat them?

I think arrow crabs will kill them but if they are that big you might have to manually pluck em... Sorry you are dealing with them..

 

[DSC reef]

Welcome to R2R. Can you post some pics of the worms.

 

[adan rossell]

ok i will catch one and show it

 

[adan rossell]

 

[adan rossell]

this is a photo of two i caught they are smaller ones the one on was eating my brine shrimp and i caught one curled in a ball the rest dove into the sand.

 

[adan rossell]

also i will for sure get a bird wrasse since, i see them at my local fish store.

 

[DSC reef]

Hard to tell but those look like regular bristle worms. If they are then I wouldn't suspect them to be the cause of your fish loss. Can you give us info on your tank like age? How big is your tank? Bird wrasses can get to 11"+.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Hard to tell but those look like regular bristle worms. If they are then I wouldn't suspect them to be the cause of your fish loss. Can you give us info on your tank like age? How big is your tank? Bird wrasses can get to 11"+.

Correct, consider tank size to fish size before making a choice.

 

[adan rossell]

ok but can bristle worms eat fish? my tank is 80 gallons and has been running for 3 months is that ok? im reading up on bird wrasse.

 

[adan rossell]

and also if it wasn't the worms then what else would it be i only have community fish in the tank... but i suspected it was the worms mostly cus they are very confident unlike regular worms maybe they just got a taste of fish but i do have 7 inch bristle in my tank i noticed in my conditioning period but i cant catch him.

 

[adan rossell]

and when i found my fire fish he was being eaten bye bristle worms while his carcass swam around my tank. also he was doing fine the day before. all i had then were two blue chromis. but it seems anything that goes into my rock that is around a smaller goby size gets captured by them.

 

[Fudsey]

Welcome to R2R ! !

Bristle worms are opportunistic eaters. It may be that the fish had already been dead or dying and they started eating on the carcasses.

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r !!

 

[Bill_Moorman]

Hi Adan!

I think you have regular old bristleworms. These things are NOT predators. They won’t hunt down your fish, or inverts, or corals. They go after already dead things or uneaten food.

Sure, they look gross, but think about what you are trying to replicate in your home....the ocean. These worms serve as an integral component of your ecosystem. They eat detritus and food that your fish won’t. This prevents that food from decaying and fouling your water.

How do you control them you might ask? Well there are multiple ways, each with pros and cons.

1.) Easiest: Don’t over feed, population controls itself.
2.) Easy: Add a natural predator
3.) Less easy: Manual removal

Now don’t get me wrong, if I see a big one in my sump or rock work, I too want to kill it with fire (effective but maybe not ethical). I just remember they help keep the water clean so my pretty corals can keep growing.

Hope this helps.

 

[adan rossell]

thx i will consider getting another fire fish now