Better For Eating Bristleworms, Coral Banded Shrimp, or Arrow Crab?

[whiskeylullabye]

I'm planning my cleaning crew for my 40g, which I just set up today and will be cycling for weeks but I'm excited.

 

I want something that will eat bristleworms for sure. So I was thinking either a coral branded shrimp or an arrow crab. However, both have their downsides, arrow crabs can be aggressive and eat small fish so can coral branded shrimp, etc etc.

 

In your experience, which is best for bristleworm removal? And can coral branded shrimp be kept with other shrimp in a tank? Such as cleaner shrimp?

[fishwife]

I'm planning my cleaning crew for my 40g, which I just set up today and will be cycling for weeks but I'm excited.

 

I want something that will eat bristleworms for sure. So I was thinking either a coral branded shrimp or an arrow crab. However, both have their downsides, arrow crabs can be aggressive and eat small fish so can coral branded shrimp, etc etc.

 

In your experience, which is best for bristleworm removal? And can coral branded shrimp be kept with other shrimp in a tank? Such as cleaner shrimp?

Neither is safe with other shrimp. Why the hate for bristle worms? They're beneficial and shouldn't get out of hand unless you overfeed.

[adinsxq]

unless you've got a monster 2ft worm, don't worry about them so much.

[yomamaphat]

I wanted to get rid of mine when I first got my tank, but after doing some research discovered most are beneficial. So unless you see one damaging your tank, or suspect one damaging your tank, you probably don't need to get rid of them. Even though they are ugly as hell.

[FreshFish]

Get rid of them as fast as possible!!! Quite a few people will disagree with me but I have seen first hand the damage they can do to a tank. I had huge worms eating my fish.. I lost a few before finding out how. Buy a $15 Arrow Crab let him go to town and return him to your LFS. Best 15 bucks I ever spent on my tank.

[whiskeylullabye]

I'm scared of bristle worms. I don't mind small ones, but I don't want my tank over run with them. I used to fish with them when I was younger and they have always freaked me out.

 

I know that they are good because the eat deitrus but I don't want a huge worm that I'm going to have to deal with later on. I can't help but worry about them now because I don't want a monster one, ever. I figure if I have something in my tank that will eat them, I'll have population control.

 

In the 12g I have now, I have seahorses who do not want to use their feeding station so there is food floating around, I'm terrified that one day I might turn over some LR for some reason and come face to face with wormzilla. However, the CBS or Arrow Crab would not be going into that tank but the bigger one.

 

I don't want to have to do damage control with them, if it gets to be too late.

[gotboostedvr6]

a worm i found in my tank

 

this is a 5 gal bucket

[FreshFish]

Any new LR I buy will be going into the tank along with my Arrow Crab! So I can at least get most of them out before stocking. I hate thes worms, they hurt like hell and are quite bothersome to me.

[FUGU!!!]

I'm scared of bristle worms. I don't mind small ones, but I don't want my tank over run with them. I used to fish with them when I was younger and they have always freaked me out.

 

I know that they are good because the eat deitrus but I don't want a huge worm that I'm going to have to deal with later on. I can't help but worry about them now because I don't want a monster one, ever. I figure if I have something in my tank that will eat them, I'll have population control.

 

In the 12g I have now, I have seahorses who do not want to use their feeding station so there is food floating around, I'm terrified that one day I might turn over some LR for some reason and come face to face with wormzilla. However, the CBS or Arrow Crab would not be going into that tank but the bigger one.

 

I don't want to have to do damage control with them, if it gets to be too late.

Same! I have a freakish fear with ALL worms,A little hint:When you get new LR soak it in a bucket with an sg of 1.032 - 1.040.This will drive out any mantis shrimps or bristels.

 

The only good worm in my book is a filter feeding worm!

[SeeDemTails]

I wouldnt trust either if you are going with smaller fish.

 

Why not get a fish that eats them, like a dotty back. Neon Dottybacks are awsome, plus they DESTROY bristle worms....only downside is they can be a little tempromental.

 

If this isnt an option, just soak in super saline water. You will nuke your LR in the process. I prefer cool hitch hicker corals and life on my rock, so I just deal with the worms.

 

On a side note, the only thing I have ever seen a BW do bad was try to eat a feather duster, which fully recovered in a couple weeks.

 

Here is the method I use...no predators or 1.035 dunks.......

 

When you get all your rock, put it on one side of the tank in a pile, leaving a huge sandy area on the other....place some food or a small peice of shrimp on the sand on the opposite side of the tank when you turn the lights out. Then come back a little while later and they will all be out in the open feeding! Cach them easily with a net or tongs. You will never get them all(and you want the small ones anyway), but you will get the biggest ones this way as they feed first! You can also trap them with panty hose or those BW traps, but you only get one at a time those ways....you will get several if you move fast enough with the net!

 

No dangerous predators or using bad water to kill you LR just to get a few worms.

[whiskeylullabye]

About the dottyback, is it aggressive to other fish, or just it's own kind?

[drowsyfirefly]

I've seen a red and black bristleworm in my tank (about an inch long) and I hate moving the rock around--but when I wear gloves (the dishwashing kind but ones that have never touched soap/etc) my fear is pretty much gone.

 

Unless you notice corals start dying or getting eaten, I'd say just wait and see.

 

--Meghan

[nanospoof]

I wouldn't think that you would really have to worry about bristle worms but if you just have to get rid of them I heard a six line wrase will eat them as well as flat worms.

[whiskeylullabye]

The thing is that I'm not so much worried about them being a problem, well I am in my seahorse tank, but not my normal one. It's just that they really freak me out, so I want something that can do some population control.

 

I've been considering a six line wrasse, maybe someone can weigh in with their bristleworm eating capabilities. I'm planning on getting some gloves. (when I go to the LFS to get LR I make them go through the rock and just point to the ones I want, I'm really that freaked out, and putting the LR in the tank, that's a whole nother story)

[Reefstalker]

I don't suggest getting a neon pseudochromis (aka neon dottyback) unless you're committed to limiting the types of fishes/inverts you have in your tank. My neon pseudo ate my 3 peppermint and 1 cleaner shrimp within a week (saw the shrimps' bristles sticking out of its mouth). And it hasn't touched the relatively large bristleworm in my tank (don't actually know how long it is I haven't seen the full body...maybe because the worm is too big for the neon??).

 

I got a six-line wrasse, but the neon pseudochromis hassled it to death. Forget about catching it either, unless you're willing to tear your tank apart (which I'm not, bristleworm or none). It darts in and out of the rockwork like Luke Skywalker flying through Beggar's Canyon. Maybe I'll try one of those fish traps...anyone have luck with those?

 

The only upside is that the neon pseudo is actually quite beautiful (it literally glows under my actinics, hence the "neon" name) so I can live with it. And it hasn't bothered all the other denizens of my tank (clownfish, banggais, orange-stripe goby, damsels).

[Shortysdrop]

I've got bristle worms that I want gone too. I didnt worry about them for a long time, but they have multiplied like crazy and are ruining the eye appeal of my tank. They have also got into my filter and made home there. My coral banded shrimp wont touch them at all.

[fishwife]

I've got bristle worms that I want gone too. I didnt worry about them for a long time, but they have multiplied like crazy and are ruining the eye appeal of my tank. They have also got into my filter and made home there. My coral banded shrimp wont touch them at all.

Bristle worms are like pods - their populations expand and contract with the excess food supply. It's actually evidence of their beneficial role in the tank "ecosystem." A population explosion is a symptom, not a problem in and of itself. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but you're probably overfeeding.

[bigbabich]

I like my bristleworms. They keep my tank clean.

Except for one big jackass that keeps popping out of a rock and stealing the clam I feed to my BTA.

But the BTA gets enough food anyway...plus he should defend himself, the lazy baztard.

[DonCiscoII]

arrow crabs are the way to go. Coral banded are hit or miss, Arrow crabs are more efficient.

[Shortysdrop]

Bristle worms are like pods - their populations expand and contract with the excess food supply. It's actually evidence of their beneficial role in the tank "ecosystem." A population explosion is a symptom, not a problem in and of itself. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but you're probably overfeeding.

 

No, just after shrugging them off for 3 years I now realize that the beneficial appeal gives way to the visual appeal. Its a healthy tank that wouldnt be devastated by the demise of the bristle worms. So I would like to find something to get rid of them. I hate it when someone looks at the tank and their eyes go directly to the worms, "what are those" It makes me feel defeated.

[mandarin dragonet]

someone posted on my thread that arrow crabs snare fish in their sleep when fully grown, so i would use a trap or a pseudochromis

[Fireworm]

I have a 29g set up. I got all my rock and sand from my cousin who was tearing down his 125. He said he never had problems with the worms, but in my tank that had next to nothing for light or flow at first, they started coming out of everywhere. With the rock, snad, and worms he gave me, he also gave me a six line. I didn't have to feed the six line for almost six weeks. He was fat every day. I latter bought an arrow crab, mainly because I thought they were neat on the rock, but he died about a week ago. I think he starved to death. When I fed the rest of the tank he would go nuts, but I just thought he was happy to get something different. Chalk one up to the newbe.

[BustytheSnowMaam]

I had an arrow crab once which ate bristleworms, but it took a week or more to eat the worm- all the while the worm is still writhing in its claws. Cool for the gross factor, however: It would tear the worm in half, eventually drop one or both halves, and the halves would grow into new worms (I had all kinds of little bristle stumpies making their way in the tank). And even if it did eat the whole worm, it took forever to eat them (maybe eating 2 a month), and so assuming it didn't leave any bits to reproduce, it still would not have made a dent in the population.

 

I think if you are trying to remove the bristleworms ultimately you are working against the well-being of your tank. When we think of CUC we seem to place more value on things we buy rather than the things that come naturally with the LR; bristleworms are one of the most beneficial organisms you can have in your tank (much more useful than hermits). If you find one eating a fish, the fish was already dead. When they spawn they produce larvae that are consumed by the zooplankton eaters in your tank.