Bristle worms are hardier than I thought

[Jan]

I found a big fat, 8", bristle worm in my 5 gallon non photo tank. I took it out and threw it in the toilet. 1.5 hours later, in cold chlorinated water, that thing is still alive and crawling around in the bottom of the bowl. I had no idea they were this hardy.

[epleeds]

your supposed to flush them. not make another fish tank in your house. I think you have enough...

[Jan]

Lol, you mean I can't make my very own unique toilet tank? All kidding aside. I'm really befuddled by this. It's still alive. I wont flush and no one is allowed to use that bathroom until it stops moving.

Edited August 12, 2010 by Jan

[Kristen9]

I hope it doesn't crawl out and slip inside your bed in the middle of the night.......

 

 

 

 

with that in mind, are you going to flush it now?? :P

 

 

[Jan]

LOL, no. It's in the family room 2 flights below my bedroom. If it makes it out, which I seriously doubt it will, the cats will get it. It's really amazing. It's a salt water creature in fresh water. It should be dead by now.

[monkeydad]

LOL, no. It's in the family room 2 flights below my bedroom. If it makes it out, which I seriously doubt it will, the cats will get it. It's really amazing. It's a salt water creature in fresh water. It should be dead by now.

 

Wow.

 

I've got a large one also, in my BC14. I've decided to leave it in there, it's very interesting. It is very bold, and comes out in the daytime to feed on detritus on the sand bed. He pokes around the rubble. I've grown quite fond of him! So far I have not observed any "bad" behavior from him.

[Jan]

I've been stung only once by a bristle worm and it hurts for days. It takes a long time to get rid of the bristles. I've always got my hands in my tanks. This one was just too big to take any chances with especially in such a small tank. My peppermint shrimp was smaller than this worm never mind the pipefish.

Wow.

 

I've got a large one also, in my BC14. I've decided to leave it in there, it's very interesting. It is very bold, and comes out in the daytime to feed on detritus on the sand bed. He pokes around the rubble. I've grown quite fond of him! So far I have not observed any "bad" behavior from him.

[treesprite]

How disgusting.

 

So how is it that it took a long time for the bristles to come out? I used tweezers and masking tape - it seemed like I missed a few, but within a couple days they were no longer felt. Not sure if you saw my picture - did you have that many bristles when you got hit with them?

[L8 2 RISE]

I've been stung so many times I can't count. Just put the part of your hand with bristles in into a cup or bowl of vinegar for 30-60 seconds and the bristles dissolve. After that it itches me for a little while, but goes away pretty quick...

[dcreefer]

Yeah Bristle worms are pretty darn amazing. I left some "Live Rock" in a 25gallon rubbermaid trashcan for almost 8 months...no heater, sunlight, skimmer or pump and can you believe when I finally broke down and decided to just dump the remaining water and leave the rock in the sun to bleach...Bristle worms were among the creatures that were running around the trashcan and rocks!

 

I was completely in awe that anything could live in that old funky super salty water with nothing filtering or providing oxygen!