what will eat bristle/fireworms

[CBMullen]

Last night right after lights out i noticed two large worms coming out of one of the wholes in my LR. They will not come all the way out or at least i didnt stare that long but one is bright redish pink and the other is a little duller but much fatter. They appear to me like some sort of bristle worm but i dont want to take any chances since i have small fish, small tank, etc. Any natural predators I should pick up that wont mess with fish or corals, or should i try one of the traps first. Afraid one is a fireworm and the other is a bristle, i have searched and noticed the debate good/bad, either way i dont like them in that spot since my baby chromis seems to sit right where i saw them appear. Odd thing was they were both in the same hole pretty much on top of each other but def two worms. God i hope they are not getting it on. Prolly the Marvin Gaye music i throw in the background to set the mood for the ladies JK lol (lets NOT get it on)

[Kirin1]

Arrow Crabs will eat bristle worms. Most LFSs carry them.

[CBMullen]

thas what i thought heading to LFS momentarilly to check it out but before i leave how well will an arrow due in an AP12 and after eating worms what food should be supplemented if any

[Kirin1]

They can get rather large, but should be ok in an AP12 if they don't have any competition for food.** I'd avoid any shrimp, and keep the hermits to a min and keep em small.

 

An arrow crab will eat various meaty bits, mysis, cyclopeze, etc.

 

(**pls correct me if I'm wrong)

[CBMullen]

cool heading out now/ i dont have any shrimp in the tank and only a few hermits plus I can always throw him in my larger tank once its complete, 120 L

[OB1]

I have lots of them in my tank. They get a bad rap and IMO they are a good addition to your CUC. Critters usually die from something else and the bristle worm gets blamed because they get caught eating the dead body. If you see 2 there is most likely lots more. I have a tiny yellow clown goby and scooter blenny and they sleep in between the rocks on the bottom. I also have a coral banded shrimp that eats bristle worms but they will also eat almost anything they can catch so most people keep them out of small tanks. If you must get rid of them I'd use some kind of bait trap. I'm sure you can find a good DIY trap if you search this forum.

[Kirin1]

Sounds like a plan! No worries on the hermits, larger more aggressive hermits can give an arrow trouble in a fight cause they're kinda spindly and brittle, but usually the arrow will back off, or be big enough for the hermits to leave em alone.

[BustytheSnowMaam]

+ 1 for the arrow crabs. However, arrow crabs eat the worm by holding it in their claws live and tearing off piece by piece. I think mine actually caused me to have more bristle worms because parts of bristleworm that dropped off made more bristleworms (I now have hundreds of them in my 10). I could be wrong, I'm not sure if bristleworm parts are capable of regenerating or not.

 

Bristleworms ARE good for your tank- useful detrivores, and the chance of it being a fireworm are extremely remote. For every one you see, there are probably 10 more in the rock. I would just leave them.

 

Another option- a sixline wrasse will eat small bristleworms.

[CBMullen]

like i said i have reviewed this debate for some time and there is no doubt there is merit to them being part of a CUC however my tank has not had corals stocked yet so i am just trying to avoid a possible problem in the future/ not to mention i really like the look of an arrow nad since I only have one small emerald in there i was probably going to add one anyway but I will update status after i evaluate the results

 

not adding a wrasse due to already having two blue green chromis in there and dont want to overstock

[Left Coast DJ]

I'm at work, so I don't remember 100%, but I believe Ron Shimek recommends a minimum 100 gallon tank for a single arrow crab in his book Marine Inverts. I believe he says the Crabs will go through the polychete population pretty fast, and then turn their attention to others. I've also heard stories (nothing confirmed) that Arrow Crabs will spear sleeping fish at night.

 

DJ

[OB1]

I'm at work, so I don't remember 100%, but I believe Ron Shimek recommends a minimum 100 gallon tank for a single arrow crab in his book Marine Inverts. I believe he says the Crabs will go through the polychete population pretty fast, and then turn their attention to others. I've also heard stories (nothing confirmed) that Arrow Crabs will spear sleeping fish at night.

 

DJ

The first time I saw an arrow at my lfs, I wanted one but the guy I trust there said they are very unpredictable. He said if you tend to over feed your tank you may be OK otherwise they are very good hunter-killers and other critters will be in danger.

[CBMullen]

well thought so far so good with my arrow crab he doesnt seem to be harrassing anyone plus my blue green chromis are fairly quick so we will see if he disrupts them. I did think i was overfeeding these guys a little bit since they always seem to be hungry but the crab immediately started picking up some leftovers. will post in the morning after a couple hours of observation with lights out. hopefully i will wake and he will have one huge bristle worm in his claws..... at least thas the plan but time shall tell. the guy at my LFS who has several really nice tanks said he has one in his 50 with a fairy wrasse he said it was like the dynamic duo of worm eaters. lol

[supreme_spork]

i have searched and noticed the debate good/bad

 

this issue isn't up for debate -- when it comes to bristle worms, there is good information and bad information. bristle worms are beneficial inhabitants of reef tanks, period. of all the species, only a very small number are pests.

 

if you think they're gross and don't like them that's fine, but let's set the record straight: they're not a risk for your tank.

[CBMullen]

no argument here I just didnt want some that big in my tank which is relatively small. not doubting there usefullness becuase if they were that bad I am sure people would have been removing them from all their LR before putting in tank. Everyone seems to have them and soo many good tanks on here with them I doubt they do any harm but I am new and not an expert, just here to learn from others who know way more.

[OB1]

no argument here I just didnt want some that big in my tank which is relatively small. not doubting there usefullness becuase if they were that bad I am sure people would have been removing them from all their LR before putting in tank. Everyone seems to have them and soo many good tanks on here with them I doubt they do any harm but I am new and not an expert, just here to learn from others who know way more.

 

If you don't want big things in your nano then you bought the wrong crab. They can get up to 7-8". Overfeeding will increase you worm population as well because thats what they live on (leftovers, fish poop and other waste) Thats why I love to have them in my tank. Besides their one of the grandkids favorite things to see when I feed the tank.

[CBMullen]

I know the crab will get large and it will be transferred to my 120 L later on. I have cut back to feeding smaller portions to minimize excess waste. I am not trying to get rid of all them just some of them. The thing i noticed from pics on here and what others say is that they actually come out of the rocks, mine never come out only pop about 1-2" out after lights out for a couple minutes. I do see them moving through the holes in rock but never out completely.

[Smurf]

Send the arrow crab in, once his job is done. Take him right out.

[uwwmatt]

Sixline Wrasse-

 

These will eat all of the bristle worms in a matter of weeks, and is reef safe. A 12 gallon is small and Wrasse's like lots of rock work, but if you get a small one you should be fine. I had dozens and dozens of bristle worms in my tank and in two weeks of adding the Wrasse they were gone.

[Izzue]

 

gONE...or hiding to come out at night when Mr 6 Line sleeps...

 

Izzue

[elmar]

Both Izzue or matt could be right. Before I had introduced my sixline, I would normally see the bristleworms come out every night. Now, its been over a month since I introduced the wrasse and no signs of the worms. Either most of them are gone or just starving to death cause I haven't seen them come out anymore.

[uwwmatt]

 

gONE...or hiding to come out at night when Mr 6 Line sleeps...

 

Izzue

 

I like the thought of them cowering in fear. However, my dislike for bristle worms is strictly on an aesthetic bases. So if they come out at night to clean up the detritus more power to them. In fact its actually better if they are just hiding.

[skp]

Last night right after lights out i noticed two large worms coming out of one of the wholes in my LR. They will not come all the way out or at least i didnt stare that long but one is bright redish pink and the other is a little duller but much fatter. They appear to me like some sort of bristle worm but i dont want to take any chances since i have small fish, small tank, etc. Any natural predators I should pick up that wont mess with fish or corals, or should i try one of the traps first. Afraid one is a fireworm and the other is a bristle, i have searched and noticed the debate good/bad, either way i dont like them in that spot since my baby chromis seems to sit right where i saw them appear. Odd thing was they were both in the same hole pretty much on top of each other but def two worms. God i hope they are not getting it on. Prolly the Marvin Gaye music i throw in the background to set the mood for the ladies JK lol (lets NOT get it on)

I have this same thing! i turned my light on to check the temp and i saw two worms quickly shooting back into a single hole. i turned the lights off and waited.. then turned on a dim light just enough to see and there are two worms coming out of a hole but never fully coming out. they seem transparent with dark red stripes.