Brisal worm preditors?

[rob28]

Is there anything that eats brisal worms? i have tons of them just wondering if i may get too many in the tank?

[Sk8r]

Their population adjusts to the food supply. If you have too many, very possibly you're feeding too much. There are predators like arrowcrabs, but they get to be problems with other things, and take out too many of your worms. Just be happy you have them. I lost all mine when I moved and am trying to breed up new ones.

[fish 511]

six line wrasses...?

[rrrrob]

i thought bristle worms were bad for corals....in other words, thought they were completely undesireable.....

[datablitz]

they are scavengers, they are not anything to be worried about. six line wrasses, arrow crabs, and coral banded shrimp eat them, but i would not be worried about their presence. just make sure you are not feeding too much

[ziac]

what do you about the big ones i got some the size of pencile

[datablitz]

that could be a fireworm, they are very similar to bristle worms, but much meaner and carnivourous. grab them out if you can, otherwise, banded coral shrimp, arow crabs.

[ThomasinKind]

leave them, and feed less

[Sk8r]

SOme coral experts believe that bristleworms are essential to the growth and health of coral reefs: they predigest crud so it is small enough to be of use to the corals. They get up to 3 feet long, so don't panic. A few 10"ers are not bad in a tank. A bristleworm's mouth parts are only capable of eating what is in a slurry---ie, rotting or dissolving. It will not eat what is alive. It can't.

[demonsp]

http://melevsreef.com/id/crawls.html


Look toward the bottom.

[ChrisB]

If they get 10"+ then what would be considered "adult/breeder" size?

How do they breed/multifply?

I have a couple but they are only 1 to 1.5 inches long. I am hoping to get a bunch.

[bertoni]

Many worms can spawn or divide to increase their numbers.

All fireworms are bristleworms, by definition. Most of the bristleworms we see in our tanks are fireworms. One species seems to be predatory. The others are fine.

Rather than trying to load the tank with a predator, I'd just work on their food supply, as suggested.

[rrrrob]

arent these the things that give off splinters that get stuck in my fingers when I move sand around or clean my overflow filter?

[onecrzyboi4u]

bristle worms are your friends.. even tho there ugly.. i lost all mine too.. i'm about to buy a bottle of them cos i miss them.. they can fit in tiny places and clean. they do not harm your corals or animals.

ziac- there was actually thread on here a while back where someone had a huge bristle worm it was the size of a snake.. but there tank was huge..

[Sk8r]

Yes, their bristles can get into the ridges on our fingertips, in particular. This isn't happy for the worm or the person owning the fingers. Vinegar helps dissolve them [or anything else made of calcium carbonate]---some people use duct tape to pull them; and hot water from the tap eases the discomfort. You can expect swollen fingertips for a couple of days. If you use latex gloves [supermarket] when moving or working with rock, you and your worms will be a lot happier.

[ChrisB]

Originally posted by onecrzyboi4u
i'm about to buy a bottle of them cos i miss them...

Where does one go to buy a bottle of bristleworms?

I have seen some for sale with the detrivore kits on various websites, but I want to buy just bristleworms.

[Meisen]

You are better off getting them from a local hobbyist....most folks with a fuge have tons of them.

[Toshas79]

Six Line Wrasse

[Toshas79]

Bicolor Pseudochromis it just it semi-aggressive