burton2090 January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 (edited) An employee at a local LFS recently told me I should remove all of my LR from my DT and let it cook for 2-3 weeks so that all of the bristle worms die off. His reasoning is if I continue to let the population multiply in my tank at some point they will prey on invertebrates or even smaller fish. No sign of either fireworms or eunicids. This advice seems counter to 99% of what I found in my own research and it will surely shock my system for some time. LR and LS came from a very established tank thanks to zygote (Rob). After letting the rock and sand cure in brutes with water and good circulation I added it to the DT. My tank has been running for over three months. He also told me to remove my bicolor blenny as it will harass most other smaller fish I eventually add to the tank. I attempted to add a baby hippo tang I purchased from that LFS this weekend and it survived 2 days. I found the corpse last night in a ball of worms. He accused the bicolor blenny of scaring the hippo to death. I also have two ocellaris clowns (still figuring out who is boss), a red brittle sea star, 5 peppermints and a skunk cleaner. What do you think? -Nick Edited January 21, 2015 by burton2090 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 had bristle worms for years....they are scavengers. so their population is based on the availability of food, if your over feeding they can be everywhere..... if they will take over my tank man they are slow cause ive had them in every tank and not had any issue cept when i brush them with my finger and it swells a little for a day. they go after dead stuff not live stuff. PS Rob has a plethora of information...all good stuff....his delivery method just rubs some people wrong (not sure why but personally no issue with THE TRUTH...unless he is back on the skimmerless kick)...but i would listen to what he has to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 I woud love to see a bristle worm take down a fish. Don't get rid of them what will eat the poop when they are gone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 I would be curious to hear who has no bristle worms. Im sure they are out there but many more have them, than not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C_KbY2-hV_4 I think he was talking about fire worms here is the difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burton2090 January 21, 2015 Author Share January 21, 2015 Thanks all for the input. And no, he unambiguously said all bristle worms. Rob is a good man although he keeps pushing me to pee in the tank... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 I wouldn't worry about bristle worms, der abt had a good explanation above. M Rob will encourage a tank pee to start the cycle, few are brave enough to try it, or at least admit it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 I say keep the worms as they are part of a natural clean up crew. I had zero bristle worms in my 600g tank since I started it with dead rock. I did add some pods early on from another tank and the pods seemed to consume the waste fine. It had functioned fine for over two years like that but just recently I've started collecting worms as I see them from my 16g to add them to my 600g to seed it with bristle worms. Besides being part of the clean up crew the wrasses I have feed on worms so it offers a more natural diet to have them in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 I wouldn't worry about bristle worms, der abt had a good explanation above. M Rob will encourage a tank pee to start the cycle, few are brave enough to try it, or at least admit it. I started my cycle by peeing in the tank after Rob's suggestion. And now I'm tank of the month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burton2090 January 21, 2015 Author Share January 21, 2015 This is a good sanity check and, to the extent you fine reefers represent an accurate cross section of the community, your opinions confirm my research. My concern is that this employee is an apparent expert and he assured me this procedure is necessary. With so many challenges and pitfalls in this hobby as it is, having to filter good advice from bad can be overwhelming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 Heres a different point of view on your bicolor blenny as well http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+23+66&pcatid=66 This hobby has so many varibles and what works for one doesnt work for another. Whoever you spoke with im sure has their own reasons to say what they did. Doesnt make them right or wrong imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 I would be curious to hear who has no bristle worms. Im sure they are out there but many more have them, than not. No sandbed, I checked last night around 2:30am with a flashlight. Went from lots to... None that I could find. They never bothered me, and I was happy to see them when I did find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos January 21, 2015 Share January 21, 2015 Heres a different point of view on your bicolor blenny as well http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+23+66&pcatid=66 This hobby has so many varibles and what works for one doesnt work for another. Whoever you spoke with im sure has their own reasons to say what they did. Doesnt make them right or wrong imo +1 and if the individual (no idea who it is) is a self professed "expert" that can mean check around even more. Many different ways of doing things, and many different factors that can give different outcomes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 I'd give anyone the hairy eyeball who made a statement that the fish they bought from them died from being frightened by a bi-color blenny. They can certainly be territiorial to other blennies, but I've never heard of them scaring Hippo Tangs to death. Bristleworms good, Expert LFS employeee bad. If you pee in your tank, you will be a TOTM winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 I pull out the ones that get big...but other than that let them be.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crob5965 January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 I pull out the ones that get big...but other than that let them be.... sounds like good advice, that's what I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 I'd give anyone the hairy eyeball who made a statement that the fish they bought from them died from being frightened by a bi-color blenny. They can certainly be territiorial to other blennies, but I've never heard of them scaring Hippo Tangs. That Blenny didn't choose thug life, thug life chose that Blenny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 Does peeing in your tank get rid of bryopsis if I take magnesium supplements the day before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 Does peeing in your tank get rid of bryopsis if I take magnesium supplements the day before LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 ^ ha!! I also use peroxide if algae gets out of control on frags. That stuffs a miracle worker. Ive gone as far as a 50/50 mix with great results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 That Blenny didn't choose thug life, thug life chose that Blenny. Somedays I wish we had a like button..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob A January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 Does peeing in your tank get rid of bryopsis if I take magnesium supplements the day before I think that's called European reefing...and you have to be taking the Kents mag for it to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 I think that's called European reefing...and you have to be taking the Kents mag for it to work. Well played...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami January 23, 2015 Share January 23, 2015 Bristle worms are beneficial scavengers. Their population should self-regulate according to what food is available to them. If for some reason, they reach plague proportions, there would be a reason for it, and that would be where you'd need to focus your energy and attention, not at eradicating bristle worms. That said, like others have mentioned, fire worms are a type of bristle worm and they can grow large enough and prey on other creatures. It's unusual to have them in our tanks, so I wouldn't really wouldn't go out on some kind of search-and-destroy mission against all bristle worms. That's just misguided advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob A January 24, 2015 Share January 24, 2015 Well played...... Thank you (takes a bow) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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