bristleworms?

[zerocool5878]

I received 30 pds of live rock today and I see small bristleworms on them. On about half the pieces they are visible. one piece had 3 that i saw. The longest one was about 3/4" most smaller. What is everyone take on bristleworms?

 

Ie.

Keep them there ok for the reef, No good, any comments would be great.

 

However if I should be ridding the rock of all bristleworms what is the attack plan. Pick them off, higher salt, ect.

 

Thanks

Mike

[circusordie16]

keep them, theyre harmless and good scavengers. and besides, you could never pull them all out even if you wanted to.

[pico1]

they are good detrivores for a reef

[zerocool5878]

Ok good I was reading on another forum of how bad they are but most of the info I got was that they are ok. So I guess i'll keep them as long as they don't bother anything.

 

Thanks

Mike

[genuck]

they're cool, i have one huge one that just hangs out. they're actually quite pretty at that size. the top is iridescent purple and the bottom iridescent yellow. they love they seaweed that you put in miso soup too

 

[xJoshx]

Dang thats a big worm any way sumbody likes the movie hackers to much zerocool. Crashoveride

[seahorsejl]

Ok good I was reading on another forum of how bad they are but most of the info I got was that they are ok. So I guess i'll keep them as long as they don't bother anything.

 

Thanks

Mike

 

It seems in the past 16 years people have changed their minds on the usefulness of bristleworms. When I first got into the saltwater hobby back in '91, bristleworms were a bad thing, and you wanted them out ... so I had an Arrowcrab to eat them. Now they are considered a good scavenger (as stated by other people, and I agree with). I think there is a point where there can be too many, but that is not the case for you.

[BlackOcean]

I have a seriously scary large bristle worm in my tank. I throw in an algae tablet to get him out. It is like 7" long.

[justinl]

on rare cases people do get a kind of bristleworm that eat corals though. these ones are called the true carribean fireworms. bad bad bad. but thankfully, pretty rare.

[seahorsedreams]

I don't like those large bristleworms... got several of that variety. I had a fight over a chunkl of shrimp with one. I was pulling hard and he was not letting go. The bristles on those poke you alot easier than the others. I've neve rbeen poked by the "regular" variety... here's a pic of my (I should say my boyfriend's) experience when we were moving. I made him stay there like that until I got th ecamera.... they've gotten us several times since then.

 

 

Here's the variety I am talking about.

 

 

Strong I tell ya.

[c est ma]

Wow, seahorsedreams, you do get the best pics! (And you have a preternaturally cool bf, as well...)

 

The trouble is, there are about a zillion species (in many different genera) all called "bristleworms." A few are problematic, but the majority of little hitchhikers we get on our LR are beneficial. Sometimes they're observed feasting on a recently deceased animal and incorrectly blamed for its demise...

 

I know I rely on my bristleworm contingent to clean up any food my corals & fish miss...

 

Here's an article on some of the more formidable ones, though. (You'll notice it doesn't deal with the common red & blue ones we most frequently encounter.)

 

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php

 

--Diane