Bristle worms

[jcegt87]

when are they too big

mine are fat and they look almost like eels lol

not sure if thats good or bad

should i remove them or leave them

i accidentlly got "stung" by 2 and it hurts a little but still hurts lol my finger got swollen enought to hurt

i saw a similar thread just didnt want to hijack it :)

 

[cgoodman381]

MY buddy has a tank with really large bristle worms as well. He has just left them in there. They havnt seemed to harm anything. So you know, he has a mixed reef. :)

 

[cgoodman381]

When you say large how large though. His largest is probably an inch wide and maybe 8-9 long or so. (it's hard to tell)

 

[michelle]

I think it was my thread you saw....and I haven't got any response yet. Mind if I hone in on some of your action?

 

[SSalty]

If they get too large, I would remove them. Main reason they can get kind of creepy. However, large worms have been known to eat coral.

 

[michelle]

Sorry about hijacking, especially when you made a point of NOT doing it to me, but...i think my foot long bristleworm is responsable for injuring my copperbands beak...and perhaps killing a hermit crab. The last 2 nights it has been in the same rock. How do I get rid of it? I was going to try to grab it with tweezers...but he may be too fast for me. and do I just flush it if I do get it?

 

[cgoodman381]

Are copperbands fish that force themselves into rocks to sleep or fish that keep moving around?

Iv read bristleworms will only bother the former.

 

[michelle]

no, although i do have a couple of wrasses that do that, but the copperband sticks its beak into rock crevices to eat things such as bristleworms. The other day he had spikes sticking out of his beak and was unable to eat for a couple days. I think he made a go at the big worm at got stuck...

 

[jcegt87]

OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!!! LOL jk it's ok that's whaat were here for to help each other

Btw mine are about the same size 9-10 inches and fat. They would steel the food from my nem untill it moved to a higher spot. :( but it got beter as for the worms my mom wishes I would kill them all cause they freak her out LOL

 

[michelle]

any thoughts on how you are going to get them? If you are.

 

[cgoodman381]

they sell worm traps. Probably the best way other then a pair of tweezers.

 

[jcegt87]

here's what I heard if u overfeed you will get more and more if u start feeding only what your fish eat then the worms will start vanishing slowly
Me ima leave them LOL they feed on my exess food that falls to the SB

 

[cgoodman381]

Yea, but then they would throw some nitrates into your system, no? Maybe not a lot, but some.

 

[michelle]

I do want some in the tank, I think they are a benefit. I have no problems with the normal sized ones, but a foot long seems extreme

 

[yote]

Heres something to try on those big bristle worms.Try putting some food in a fish net after the lights are out and the fish are all in the rock.Place the net on the sand bed so that the water flow holds it open.I'd think that worms would get their bristles hung in the net when they tryed to eat the food and you'd be able to remove them.
Might work,might not.But the worst that would happen,is the bristle worms would get a free meal.

 

[Ryan]

Those ugly bristol worms freak my wife out and demand that they be removed as soon as we see them. (the big ones anyways) We had one almost 9 inches long and got lucky with the tweezers.

 

[Piggy]

I only seen a few in my tank. My sisters tank had some real big ones that she caught. She used one of them traps that you can buy. I also heard you can use a soda bottle and place food in the bottom. Not sure if that works.

 

[jcegt87]

i decided to take these out and just scare my mom lol i dumped them in the restroom and now shes scared to go lol she thinks theyll coma and bite her lol ohh the humor :shock::^:

in this pick if it werent way to blurry you could have seen how the bristles were ready to poke