large bristle worm control

[LanglandJoshua]

There have been many topics on bristle worm control. This one is to hopefully help(at least me) sort out natural population control.

 

Unfortunately all I have found says the same thing over and over, they eat detris, only a few are "bad". I believe the worms in my tank to be eurythoe complanata(big/possibly bad ones). Which is frustrating because all the natural predators I can find are for hermodice carunculata(smaller ones). I have seen some of my bristle worms reach over 7" and know the longer I wait the bigger they get. Making it more irritating, I have more rock that I need After trying to sell some of it, I thought it would be best to check which type of worm I have. Probably should have done that first. Good thing I checked, before someone got a couple large guys in a little tank.

 

This got me thinking again of what I want for livestock in my new 160 gal tank. I found a blog at thatpetplace.com. It mentions two main types of bristle worms, in short small white/black and large red/white. Unfortunately I have the later of the two, since the blog says the best way to get rid of them is with 1/2" PVC and nylon window screening. This is to form a DIY worm trap. I really would like to see if there is anything that would eat these worms. Unfortunately I just got some neon gobies, and don't want them becoming food for an arrow crab. Especially when they mentioned it possibly eating my beloved zoanthids!

 

Of course I have pulled out several of them with my feeding tongs(and rinsed them VERY WELL after). Thankfully I have not lost any coral that I know of. I want to learn more about the subject and try to control them before I have any major issues. Should natural population control not pan out, does anyone have any REEF SAFE ideas? Sorry guys, no bleach allowed.

 

I will take a pic when I pull another out, probably in the next day or two.

[Mando77]

I catch the with bits of Scallop in a worm trap. It works everytime and gets the larger ones. I also have a rock with a hollow spot that sits up front. I can easily remove it and I often find some in there. I hate these things and if you have them in your live rock there is no getting rid of them entirely. It just takes time to reduce them and make sure you keep them under control. I was amazed at how many I was pulling out, but it started to go down after a week.

[Tri Bui]

yup they have good taste Scallop and Jumbo Shrimp

[Jan]

I used 3 "Coralife Trap'em - Bristle Worm Trap" with dried krill in them and significantly reduced the population in my seahorse tank. These traps work great.

 

 

 

[LanglandJoshua]

So, those things do work lol. They look a lot like many el cheepy items I've seen at done power shops.

[Jan]

You'd be surprised at how some of those "el cheepy" items can work great. Yes, they work great. I was catching 5-8 worms per trap a night.

 

 

So, those things do work lol. They look a lot like many el cheepy items I've seen at done power shops.

[B216adkins]

Is the trap sealed? Aren't bristleworms sharp?

[LanglandJoshua]

from what I understand, the traps are like a crab cage. With a funnel, they go in. But can't get out.

 

And yes the barbs can sting you. Every painful little one of them can break off in your skin.

[Jan]

+1that's exactly how they work.

from what I understand, the traps are like a crab cage. With a funnel, they go in. But can't get out.

 

And yes the barbs can sting you. Every painful little one of them can break off in your skin.

[lanman]

For me, bristleworm control means NOT grabbing anything without checking for the little @#$%@!!

 

I find soaking my finger in vinegar seems to get rid of the bristles fairly quickly.

 

When I am going to be moving rocks and frags around, I always keep forceps and a container nearby.

 

Have never tried to actually catch them, but I do have one of those traps, in case I decide they are too many.

 

bob

[treesprite]

Years ago when I ha a bazillion of them, I made an extra-long DIY trap nearly as long as the tank, put some bait in it, sat it on the sand in the front of the tank. If there is bait in there, it doesn't matter where in the tank the worms are - they will go to the food. I caught at least 50 to 100 worms a day of various sizes (I had a major infestation).

 

I took a length of clear plastic tube I think was 3/4", which I put a lot of little holes in. Then I put a second smaller diameter tube with much fewer much tinier holes in it, inside the bigger one. Bait would go into the center tube. Ends of the tube would be covered over before putting the trap in the tank. The worms would sense the bait, crawl into the outer tube, and not try getting back out again because they wanted to get to the bait (most were too big to get in the tinier holes). I would put the tube in before lights out, then take it out in the morning and clean it out of all the worms.