Bristleworm question

[roho]

I have seem 3 Bristleworms in my 4 week old reef since yesterday. They have been from 1/2 in. long to 1 inch. Should I try to get rid of them or not? I read in some places that they are good to have and some say get they out. My tank is only a 10gal. Thanks.

 

[Will C1]

they will quickly overrun a 10gal i would try and remove every one you can find.

 

[Anonymous]

There are many differrent types of bristleworms, most beneficial scavangers.

Can you post a photo of the worms you have?

Louey

 

[roho]

It would kind of hard to photo them because they are only out for a few seconds. The ones I saw was a copper color with the white looking hair or what ever it's called. thanks.

 

[Will C1]

copper is the bad gargonian eater blue and red stay small and usually are fine. i cought about 4 12" copper ones now and i havent had any problems since.

 

[roho]

Will,
How did you catch them?

 

[Will C1]

as i was turning the attinics off one night i noticed a huge copper worm jutting out of a rock i waited untill it exposed it self more and plucked it out with some surgical clamps (the needle nose ones that lock) after that i watched more closely and pulled them out as they showed their ugly heads.

 

[roho]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Chucker]

Will, 99% of the bristleworms that are seen is hobbyist tanks are not harmful. They are detritivores, which eat dead and decaying tissue. Unless an animal is already dying, they won't touch it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having many of them in a reef tank.

I would highly suggest reading Rob Toonen's Bristleworm FAQ if you haven't already - http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen12.html

 

[Will C1]

thanks for the link chucker but his articul seems to support my diagnosis, why take the risk? usually those big nasty lookin ones do eat corals, but like all marine species they sometimes dont. but hey their ugly in my opinion and i chose to remove the buggers so my corals would live.

 

[Anonymous]

they will quickly overrun a 10gal i would try and remove every one you can find.

fwiw:

bristleworms will only reproduce in number equal to the amount of food available for them to eat

99% and better of the species are harmless scavengers that are extremely beneficial to any marine tank

they will not 'overrun' any tank-the size of the actual tank is irrelevant-it's the amount of appropriate food that determines their numbers, and the proportionate amount of bristleworms to the gallonage/volume of any size properly maintained tank should be fairly similiar-all other things being equal

there is just as little chance of being 'overrun' by bristleworms in a 10 gal. tank, as there is in a 100 gal. tank(unless one grossly overfeeds/mismanages either tank) :wink:

hth

 

[Will C1]

if they are inded bad ones they will eat all the coral in the tank i would say that is being over run....im not positive on his species but he describes one i had some bad expieriences with so i would suggest removing the bad critters so not to lose any corals to it.