nighttime critters

[flaunt]

about a week ago i posted about my inland aquatics order... i put 3 peppermint snails, 3 cap snails, 5 mini brittle stars, and about 12 baby bristleworms in my 10.  i almost never see any of them running around, not even at night, and i was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to get them out?  i've lifted up rocks and found various individuals, so i know they're not all just dead, but the only things i've seen come out on their own are once a peppermint snail, and another time a cap snail.  i don't think they're eating anything, because i get a diatom film on the rocks (the cap snails are supposed to eat that stuff).  i also tried throwing a shrimp pellet in there but nobody came out to get it (seems like everything from my cb shrimp to coral polyps devour those shrimp pellets).  any ideas?

[Toyfreek]

the population needs to grow to the point where they emerge into the open more. give it time they will reproduce and then you will see em.

Toy

[mxpro32]

   i thought bristleworms were bad?  actually i keep hearing conflicting views. some say they are beneficial and some say they are harmful.  whats your opinion?

[Sahin]

It was thought in the early days of reefing that bristle worms are bad.

 

But most poeple these days consider them to be a very use addition to the reef tank.

 

They perform useful functions in the reef tank.  They are detritivores and mainly just consume crap lying around the tank.

 

I have seen pics of very big bristle worms in large reef tanks and owners didnt report any bad occurances.

[flaunt]

plus there are different species of bristleworms.  supposedly 99% of them are reef-safe.  a few are not.

[Jefe12234]

Patience. It may take as long as several months before they multiply to the point where you can easily spot them. My mini brittle stars took a few months to get going, but now I can see them anytime with just a little searching (they are hard to spot on white sand).

 

-Chris