What will eat bristle worms???

[porpoiseaquatics]

Or at least I assume they are bristle worms. They are pink in body color....generally around 2 inches long with what appears to be white bristles all along the outer edge of the body. They only come out at night. Hadn't seen any before until this past week. I've seen 4 already tonight....2 in my overflow and 2 in the tank. I pulled one out of the tank last week that was probably around 3 inches long when stretched completely out. I wasn't about to touch it...didn't look like a healthy thing to do.

So anyway........what eats them naturally??

 

[miami dolfan]

I have a bunch of them as well. I was told that melanarus wrases do but I haven't seen him eat one yet. Besides, haven't you heard Jenn's motto...."Love thy Worms"

 

[thanh386]

Wrasses, my six line, rhomboid, lineatus, and flame all like them. Mystery prefers my god dang shrimp over the worms tho

 

[jennm]

Many wrasses, Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani) will eat them. So will Arrow Crabs but Arrow Crabs are risky to other stuff too.

Love thy worms - they are good cleaner-uppers. If you have a ridiculous population of them, you're probably over-feeding your tank.

Seeing one or two now and then is not excessive, and they won't harm healthy stuff. They *will* clean up dead/dying things - which is their function. If it's alive and well, they will leave it alone.

Jenn

 

[miami dolfan]

Oh Yea, I forgot the 6 line. I have one and haven't seen him eat one either. I guess since they come out at night the fish don't care for them bcause I have some large juicy ones in there.

 

[lifestudent]

A Blueheaded wrasse will make short order of them. :yes:

 

[hammcd]

my sixline use to eat the small ones...now i introduce them to my tank on purpose though...they do lots of cleanup in the tiny cracks that shrimp and crabs cant reach..i dont have many because i dont feed heavy but ive only ever seen them do good

 

[miami dolfan]

JennM;702276 wrote:
Love thy worms - they are good cleaner-uppers. If you have a ridiculous population of them, you're probably over-feeding your tank.Jenn

Maybe I should feed once instead of twice like I do now.

 

[hammcd]

yeah and dont touch them lol unles u wanna be picking bristles out of your fingers

Edit: i feed three times a day but i usually use peleets and the fish eat almost all of them as they fall and my bristlewrom population is light

 

[jennm]

Well if you feed your wrasses a lot of prepared foods, they aren't motivated to eat worms

If you want to feed twice (I don't suggest it but some folks do) - maybe cut your portion size a bit.

Their population size is in response to the amount of available food. Over-fed tanks can be swarming with them - I used to have dozens visible in my heavily fed seahorse tank. They kept the tank clean though so they were welcome. When I'd put food in, the rocks would literally start crawling with them. Had to over-feed because seahorses are slow and lazy and if the food blew out of their reach, they'd let it go right past them and not chase it - so I had to feed heavily so they'd eat enough.

If you happen to get stung (ie pick up a rock or coral and find one by accident, stuck in your fingers)... just dip your finger/hand in some vinegar, it will melt the bristles out. If you're allergic you might want to take a Benadryl or whatnot, but most often, the reaction is very similar to what you might feel if you handled fiberglass batting type insulation. Itchy, a bit irritated but nothing too serious.

If I had $1 for every time I've been "bristled", I'd be living the good life in Tahiti or someplace

Jenn

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

All good info. Thanks!! That might explain why I didn't see them before. I had a yellow coriss wrasse but he did the carpet surfing thing (found a hole not much bigger than him to jump through). For now, I'll leave them alone.

 

[straydog]

Are there difrent types of bristle worms? I've heard the ones with thicker short bodies aren't as bad at stinging when touched as the ones with long skinny boies

 

[miami dolfan]

I feed flakes in the morning(no, not corn flakes) and garlic pellets in the late evening when I get home from work. Every other day, they get frozen prepped food at night instead of pellets.

 

[eric b]

straydog;702300 wrote: Are there difrent types of bristle worms? I've heard the ones with thicker short bodies aren't as bad at stinging when touched as the ones with long skinny boies

You are correct there are bristle and fire worms is the other I believe. If you go to indo Pacific sea farms web site there is a video describing the difference.