Bristleworms

[Pilchergate]

Hi Guys,Not posted for a while,Happy New Year to everyone.I have a question.How can I get rid of the Bristleworm population in my tank?Ive noticed my large finger coral is being chipped at,Ive been told an arrow crab will get rid of them,but I dont want to put one in my tank,the other suggestion was a coral band shrimp.Would they be compatable with my peppermint shrimp?Is there a home made trap I could use?I just need them evicted,their not welcome in MY tank.Thanks for any response :HELP!:

 

[minireefer]

You can try a nylon stocking with some kind of bait(cube of waterever frozen your using)They well usually get stuck in the nylon.This work for the larger ones.The smaller I have been picked off bye my six line wrasse.He is very cool little fish.
good luck

 

[jhnrb]

The nylon is the fastest way. drop it in with a small piece of bait, at sunset and take it out in the morning. make sure you use a nylon that does not have any chemical impregnation in it. i.e. colors, dyes, sints etc. There is also a bristle worm trap made. you can secure one from one of the mail order catalogs such as marine depot, premium aquatics, dr. foster & smith, to memtion a few. I dont know if pounder13 has them. one of our members with a shop.

 

[Pilchergate]

Thanks Guys,I will keep you posted. :death: to the bristleworms,the ones Ive seen are BIG so hope it works.My poor finger coral can,t stand much more.

 

[Pilchergate]

THANKYOU, O migthy ones,I got 3 of the suckers out in one go :^: It worked a treat. Next question,Im not getting much water flow to the back of my LR can I rearrange the rock without stressing my fish.Ive got 3 powerheads in the tank now.I have the rock at both sides of my tank with a free swim area in the middle,the powerheads are on the back of the tank,water flow angled to the middle of the tank,the back of the LR seems devoid of life in comparrison with the front,any suggestions guys?

 

[chrisbrph]

Are you considering rearranging the rock to change the water flow or to create growth/life on the back/bottom of the rock?

If you answered to create growth/life on the rock where it is not currently happening- don't move a thing.

Similar to a natural reef in the ocean, sunlight is what causes the growth and proliferation of coral, algae, sponges etc.... Any part of liverock that is not exposed to lighting will not be cosmetically pleasing for some. On the other hand, as your tank matures you will be amazed at the appearance of many new items on the rock in the area you are questioning (sponges, tubeworms, beneficial bacteria....etc...) -

Keep in mind that many of the non-visual inhabitants of a reef do not neccessarily like sunlight and need these areas (bottom of live rock) to thrive.

If flow is your concern, are you using some type of external filtration? (trickle or wet dry filter with a sump)

If so check out the thread on seaSwirls in the equipment forum.

If you are using a closed system with the 3 powerheads as the only method of creating water movement, try placing one in the center of the tank pointed directly at the front glass with the other 2 in each corner facing directly forward also. This configuration creates a figure 8 pattern of water movement that in my opinion offers the least amount of dead space.

Best of luck,
Chris

 

[Pilchergate]

Thanks Chris,Its the water flow I was more bothered about,some of my corals either get to strong a current or not enough,I cant seem to reach a happy medium.