HUGE bristleworm

michelle

michelle

Reefing newb
So, I have been considering the bristleworms in my tank to not be a problem. They are small enogh and I figure they eat the leftover foods, so no big deal.
A week ago my copperband butterfly had, what I had described as "little spikes", hanging off of her bottom lip and last night I discovered a worm that looked over a foot long and almost as thick as my little finger. I also found a hermit crab dead in its shell next to the bristleworms hole. So, now I consider it a problem.
First of all, do you think I am right in assuming that is what injured the copperbands lip and possibly killed the crab? And, how would I go about ridding myself of it? I read that a piece of PVC with endcaps on it would work. You drill a hole in the end caps and place a piece of food in the pipe. the worm can find its way in by sensing the food, but then can't find its way out.
I think if I saw it again tonight I may be able to grab it with tweezers, but I don't know how fast they move. Also, I am wondering if I may have more then just the one large one.
On the other hand, if I set a trap, is it bad to get rid of ALL the bristleworms? I had thought a couple small ones were good to have. Please correct any misconceptions I have.
Thanks
 
You got it pretty much right Michille.
They can move faster than you think.And if its a foot long,when you grab it with the twezzers,its probably going to wrap itself around them and probably sting your hand.
 
As far as I know,bristleworms don't release there bristles.I never read anything mentioning them doing that.I'm skeptical at the least that this is what happened to the fish and crab.

I don't know if the PVC will work or not.The traps I've seen sold online has a trap door mechanism.
 
Wow, I had one that was almost exactly like that last time I moved my tank o discovered it. It was 13 inches long. Calfo and fenners reef invertebrets book actually reccomends you keep those in there. They can be VERY beneficial. Had I read that earlier I would have kept it in there. I lifted the rock and grabbed bbq tongs. But I would leave it alone.
 
reeffreak said:
As far as I know,bristleworms don't release there bristles.I never read anything mentioning them doing that.I'm skeptical at the least that this is what happened to the fish and crab.

I don't know if the PVC will work or not.The traps I've seen sold online has a trap door mechanism.
Click to expand...
haha wow not trying to sound rude or what not but google bristleworm sting and youll find plenty to read myself included in the experience
 
reeffreak said:
As far as I know,bristleworms don't release there bristles.I never read anything mentioning them doing that.I'm skeptical at the least that this is what happened to the fish and crab.

Perhps it is a"fireworm"? I have been stuck with the bristles myself, but I could be mistaken about it being a bristleworm.
Click to expand...
 
The true bearded Fireworms you are referring to have been very rarely seen in any home aquarium since florida and Caribbean live rock collection has been stopped which was back in 1997. About the only time you see it is with 1-3 year aged aqua cultured rock from that region.
 
That large of a worm in your system is not a good idea. most likely you have one of the fireworms. I pulled one out of my 125 14" long when I broke it down. I would recommend you get rid of the large one if you can.
 
jhnrb said:
That large of a worm in your system is not a good idea. most likely you have one of the fireworms. I pulled one out of my 125 14" long when I broke it down. I would recommend you get rid of the large one if you can.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I have been trying, but have been unsuccessful. I am going to try to pick up a trap today.
 
i have 3 large worms around a foot long one i caught and threw it into sump they other haven't caught yet they are quick. the last time i tore apart tank trying to catch and stirred up to much junk. I observed mine coming out at night looking for food and messin with any of my corals, fish, or clams.
 
i did only have chaeto in there and could see him but i added eggcrate 3/4 of an inch off bottom and up both side of refugium area to keep big snails in since they kept clogging up holes on skimmer and return pump about flooding house. which works great cause the void area underneath has roots from calupra and tons of feathurs dusters so i added live rock rubble and now i have tons of sponge and critters and kind see the big one but there are tons of pods and feathur dusters and bristle worms everywhere. the sump is the best thing i could of ever added to both tanks since fuge helps out with pods and natural filtration almost problem free except urchin keeps spawning making skimmer go nuts few times a year and skimmed real wet and salinity dropped low in one tank and i didn't catch it real quick from working to much. So now i fighting hair algae in smaller tank from salinity drop but finally winning again.
 
So I came close to getting it last night, I cut the top off of a bottle of water and inserted it into the bottle upside down. it started to crawl in, but i got impatient and tried to grab it with the tweezers. Those things are a lot faster the you'd think.
It's longer then I thought.
I shall try again tonight:)
 
If he fell for the bottle trick already, I'm sure he'll fall for it again! Be sure to post pics of the guy once you catch him.
 

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