Huge Bristleworms in tank! Danger to corals?

kkdoughboy · 08/02/2009, 05:59 PM

Hello there, I have LOTS of Giant Bristleworms in my 155 AGA setup. Lots of small ones too. Are these a danger to my tank? Will they attack my corals or other inverts? I've had problems over time trying to keep LPS corals and notice a few polyps of my zoas disappear from time to time. Not sure if it has anything to do with these Bristleworms but I dunno. Any opinions are a help. Thanks, Chris

Peter Eichler · 08/02/2009, 06:12 PM

If they're just typical bristleworms (very little chance they're not)they are harmless scavengers no matter what their size. They aren't really even capable of eating live/healthy corals due to their anatomy.

ser_renely · 08/02/2009, 07:32 PM

good to have em, imo. There is one that can eat fish, I think but someone should pipe up about that.

I have a decent sized fireworm in my tank, 4". Never touches my corals even though people flip about them....once he does he is gone, but until then, he can do his thing.

kkdoughboy · 08/02/2009, 07:40 PM

Haha nice!

fasteddie99 · 08/02/2009, 08:00 PM

I've been wondering the same thing because my bristle worms are getting fairly large. Its not the size that scares me yet, its the amount of them I have. When I feed reef plankton or cylops they all come out of every nook and cranny. Out from under zoos, crawling all over the gsp's but the corals always pop back.
I did however have about a dozen zoo polyps shrivel up for about a week, but they eventually popped back out too. I dont know if it was the bristle worms or not though, coulda been anything. But I wonder...hmmm

ser_renely · 08/02/2009, 08:20 PM

well only the Caribbean fire worms eat corals and they are rare.

Teelabrown · 08/02/2009, 08:47 PM

May I present Congressman Tyvre. He's now 6" long and loves our little striped blenny and even shares the same hole on some occasions. We think he is responsible for our nitrates NOT spiking when we lost a little guy (who stopped eating) and couldn't get him out. Corals and anemone are healthy and happy.

From what I have researched, if he has a bright red dot on his head, he is the kind that eat stuff you spend a lot of money on. If not, they are a valuable addition to your clean-up crew and we have yet to be proven otherwise.

ser_renely · 08/02/2009, 08:51 PM

nice one!

yeah I believe you are correct about that red dot.

Teelabrown · 08/02/2009, 09:14 PM

Thank you!

He scared the begegus out of me the first time I saw him and I certainly take more care when I stick my hands in, but I am AMAZED at how beautiful he is! He's gotten even more purple - I think from the purple flake we feed - and his bristles are so fluffy! Really a nifty critter to watch.

I have a bunch of tiny bristle worms in my 10 gal that are this two-toned bright red with purple butts. They are not quite as impressive as The Congressman, but also spiffy.

kkdoughboy · 08/02/2009, 09:40 PM

I'll have to try and get some good pics of mine. I have some that are over 14" inches long! They are a whiteish rainbow color. Really cool looking

Felix T Cat · 08/03/2009, 05:02 AM

I have a pretty good number in my 29g tank. Freaks out people when they come over to look at the tank and I drop in some food. I like them, just have to be carefull when reaching into the tank / moving stuff as I have read that some people have been stung.

Lightsluvr · 08/03/2009, 05:59 AM

The usual arguments about the benefits of bristlewroms are all true, if they are under control...

However, if you feed your tank heavily, you may have problems.. Bristles have very few natural predators in the tank, and thus just reproduce unchecked...

Here are the bristles I flushed (RO/DI dip) out of a small piece of LR with a nice zoa colony. They weren't eating the zoanthids, but they were annoying the hell out of the coral, causing them to recede...

And here is what turned up underneath a single large base rock...

If you have live rock with just zoanthids on it, you can dip the entire rock for 3-4 minutes in RO/DI and you will see dozens and dozens of bristles float off. This treatment does not harm the zoas. I would not try it with SPS or other LPS coralunless they can be removed from the LR before dipping.

This treatment will not kill all bristlewoems, but it does help control their numbers...

Any questions?

LL

Teelabrown · 08/03/2009, 11:25 AM

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*shudder*AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Okay, Congressman Tyvre is one thing. The little ones are another, but that last pic is just oogy.

I wonder if they'd make good bait...

Also, and I've mentioned this before on different threads, but I hear that soaking a bristleworm bite in warm vinegar helps dissolve the bristles and neutralize the poison. It makes sense. I think we've all done the rubber egg experiment and the bristles could easily be of a similar protein.

Teelabrown · 08/03/2009, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kkdoughboy
I'll have to try and get some good pics of mine. I have some that are over 14" inches long! They are a whiteish rainbow color. Really cool looking

I would LOVE to see that!

08/02/2009, 05:59 PM	#1
kkdoughboy Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Nazareth, Pennsylvania Posts: 356	Huge Bristleworms in tank! Danger to corals? Hello there, I have LOTS of Giant Bristleworms in my 155 AGA setup. Lots of small ones too. Are these a danger to my tank? Will they attack my corals or other inverts? I've had problems over time trying to keep LPS corals and notice a few polyps of my zoas disappear from time to time. Not sure if it has anything to do with these Bristleworms but I dunno. Any opinions are a help. Thanks, Chris

08/02/2009, 06:12 PM	#2
Peter Eichler Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Milwaukee Posts: 6,081	If they're just typical bristleworms (very little chance they're not)they are harmless scavengers no matter what their size. They aren't really even capable of eating live/healthy corals due to their anatomy. __________________ April 2015 TOTM

08/02/2009, 07:32 PM	#3
ser_renely Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,820	good to have em, imo. There is one that can eat fish, I think but someone should pipe up about that. I have a decent sized fireworm in my tank, 4". Never touches my corals even though people flip about them....once he does he is gone, but until then, he can do his thing. __________________ RIP: Osc. Clown - Ammonia, YW GobY - overflow, YW Goby - Pistol shrimp, Firefish - acclimation. 5 Fire fish - pistol shrimp, Mandarin - Pistol shrimp!!!!! Current Tank Info: 60g Cube, 15g sump/fuge,Tunze 9010 skimmer, Reefbreeders Photon 16" - 2 Osc. Clowns,2 Lyretail Anthias, Blue Chromis, mp20, mp10....another DAMN pistol shrimp!

08/02/2009, 08:00 PM	#5
fasteddie99 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Delaware Posts: 1,028	I've been wondering the same thing because my bristle worms are getting fairly large. Its not the size that scares me yet, its the amount of them I have. When I feed reef plankton or cylops they all come out of every nook and cranny. Out from under zoos, crawling all over the gsp's but the corals always pop back. I did however have about a dozen zoo polyps shrivel up for about a week, but they eventually popped back out too. I dont know if it was the bristle worms or not though, coulda been anything. But I wonder...hmmm __________________ 125 gal LED lighting Super Reef Octopus XP-3000 SSS Current Tank Info: 125

08/02/2009, 08:20 PM	#6
ser_renely Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,820	well only the Caribbean fire worms eat corals and they are rare. __________________ RIP: Osc. Clown - Ammonia, YW GobY - overflow, YW Goby - Pistol shrimp, Firefish - acclimation. 5 Fire fish - pistol shrimp, Mandarin - Pistol shrimp!!!!! Current Tank Info: 60g Cube, 15g sump/fuge,Tunze 9010 skimmer, Reefbreeders Photon 16" - 2 Osc. Clowns,2 Lyretail Anthias, Blue Chromis, mp20, mp10....another DAMN pistol shrimp!

08/02/2009, 07:40 PM	#4
kkdoughboy Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Nazareth, Pennsylvania Posts: 356	Haha nice!

08/02/2009, 08:47 PM	#7
Teelabrown Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Houston Posts: 96	May I present Congressman Tyvre. He's now 6" long and loves our little striped blenny and even shares the same hole on some occasions. We think he is responsible for our nitrates NOT spiking when we lost a little guy (who stopped eating) and couldn't get him out. Corals and anemone are healthy and happy. From what I have researched, if he has a bright red dot on his head, he is the kind that eat stuff you spend a lot of money on. If not, they are a valuable addition to your clean-up crew and we have yet to be proven otherwise.

08/02/2009, 08:51 PM	#8
ser_renely Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,820	nice one! yeah I believe you are correct about that red dot. __________________ RIP: Osc. Clown - Ammonia, YW GobY - overflow, YW Goby - Pistol shrimp, Firefish - acclimation. 5 Fire fish - pistol shrimp, Mandarin - Pistol shrimp!!!!! Current Tank Info: 60g Cube, 15g sump/fuge,Tunze 9010 skimmer, Reefbreeders Photon 16" - 2 Osc. Clowns,2 Lyretail Anthias, Blue Chromis, mp20, mp10....another DAMN pistol shrimp!

08/02/2009, 09:14 PM	#9
Teelabrown Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Houston Posts: 96	Thank you! He scared the begegus out of me the first time I saw him and I certainly take more care when I stick my hands in, but I am AMAZED at how beautiful he is! He's gotten even more purple - I think from the purple flake we feed - and his bristles are so fluffy! Really a nifty critter to watch. I have a bunch of tiny bristle worms in my 10 gal that are this two-toned bright red with purple butts. They are not quite as impressive as The Congressman, but also spiffy.

08/02/2009, 09:40 PM	#10
kkdoughboy Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Nazareth, Pennsylvania Posts: 356	I'll have to try and get some good pics of mine. I have some that are over 14" inches long! They are a whiteish rainbow color. Really cool looking

08/03/2009, 05:02 AM	#11
Felix T Cat Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Honey Brook, PA Posts: 557	I have a pretty good number in my 29g tank. Freaks out people when they come over to look at the tank and I drop in some food. I like them, just have to be carefull when reaching into the tank / moving stuff as I have read that some people have been stung.

08/03/2009, 05:59 AM	#12
Lightsluvr Tangaroa to 500 gallons Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Edmond, OK Posts: 5,855	Feed me, Seymour The usual arguments about the benefits of bristlewroms are all true, if they are under control... However, if you feed your tank heavily, you may have problems.. Bristles have very few natural predators in the tank, and thus just reproduce unchecked... Here are the bristles I flushed (RO/DI dip) out of a small piece of LR with a nice zoa colony. They weren't eating the zoanthids, but they were annoying the hell out of the coral, causing them to recede... And here is what turned up underneath a single large base rock... If you have live rock with just zoanthids on it, you can dip the entire rock for 3-4 minutes in RO/DI and you will see dozens and dozens of bristles float off. This treatment does not harm the zoas. I would not try it with SPS or other LPS coralunless they can be removed from the LR before dipping. This treatment will not kill all bristlewoems, but it does help control their numbers... Any questions? LL __________________ Click on my username and select "Lightsluvr's Home Page" for a recap of our build thread - AGE Hybrid Tank in a 500G system with dedicated fish room. (Takes a few minutes for photos to load) Leave a note if you stop by... Current Tank Info: 350G AGE Hybrid reef tank. 500G+ total water volume. Three sumps for filtration. Barracuda Gold return and Hammerhead Gold closed loop pumps. DIY T5 light system on rails. MP40W x3 to supplement closed loop. 130G Water management system.

08/03/2009, 11:25 AM	#13
Teelabrown Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Houston Posts: 96	WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAshudderAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Okay, Congressman Tyvre is one thing. The little ones are another, but that last pic is just oogy. I wonder if they'd make good bait... Also, and I've mentioned this before on different threads, but I hear that soaking a bristleworm bite in warm vinegar helps dissolve the bristles and neutralize the poison. It makes sense. I think we've all done the rubber egg experiment and the bristles could easily be of a similar protein.