bristleworm doing bad things to BTA?

[PapaKlix]

i have 2 BTA's in my tank, more or less on opposite ends of the tank. both were purchased from the same tank at the same time and are fed the same amount, at the same time, one seems to be doing much better than the other - it is attached to the roof of a tunnel in my LR and is off the sand bed. The one not doing so well is hosted by 2 oscellaris clowns and it's foot is attached to the back side of a rock where i've seen a large bristeworm come out of at night. the anemone is attached rather low and the mouth part sits out on the sand. i am worried that this large bristleworm may be harming the anemone.

if this is likely or even a possibility, i'd like to get the bristeworm out of there... how do i go about doing that?

[Sugar Magnolia]

You can try this.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

How big is the worm? I really doubt he'd be harming the BTA, especially if it has clowns in it - clowns will attack ANYTHING with a vengance if it comes close to their host. That said, they also sleep like the dead, so it might be open season at night.

Still I would question a worm going after a BTA. When you say it's not doing well, what exactly do you mean? How big is the BTA and how big are those clowns? If it's a smaller BTA, it might be appearing to not do so well purely because it has two rambunctios clowns hosting in it.

[saganeer]

sorry to derail but can clowns actually kill a BTA? had one my maroon didn´t stop moving in it... BTA was eating normal.. died in a week after purchase.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I would imagine they could at least contribute to the decline in health of one to the point that it would die. There are plenty of stories of clowns bullying smaller anemones to the point that they are no longer healthy, but I've never seen first-person evidence of a clown outright killing an anemone. Usually it's just smothering them with love.

'nems are so sensitive as far as livestock is concerned, it can be hard to nail down a specific cause when one isn't thriving, especially when there are several likely choices.

[PapaKlix]

Originally posted by der_wille_zur_macht
[B]How big is the worm? I really doubt he'd be harming the BTA, especially if it has clowns in it - clowns will attack ANYTHING with a vengance if it comes close to their host. That said, they also sleep like the dead, so it might be open season at night.

The worm is probably at least 6" long. i hear what you're saying about them attacking things that go near their host, the male actually bit my hand once because he thought i was after the BTA. your comment about open season at night supports my concern as the BTA looks kind of wilted at night, seems to rebound during the day though not quite as much as the other BTA in the tank.

[i]Still I would question a worm going after a BTA. When you say it's not doing well, what exactly do you mean? How big is the BTA and how big are those clowns? If it's a smaller BTA, it might be appearing to not do so well purely because it has two rambunctios clowns hosting in it.

as mentioned above, he seems to be "wilted" and mostly at night. here's a shot from last week of the male (~3") and the BTA:


here he is about 5 min ago (i'm terrible at taking tank pictures):


here is the other one from 5 min ago:


the second one just seems to be much more healthy than the one who's being hosted. i dunno, maybe i'm being paranoid.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

If you really have a 6" worm in the tank, I would work at getting it out regardless of that BTA.

And out of curiosity, if your male is that big, what size is the female? He looks pretty big for that BTA. That said, it doesn't look terribly unhealthy, so this may just be a gentle case of irritation from the two large-ish clowns compared to the small-ish BTA.

[PapaKlix]

Originally posted by der_wille_zur_macht
If you really have a 6" worm in the tank, I would work at getting it out regardless of that BTA.

And out of curiosity, if your male is that big, what size is the female? He looks pretty big for that BTA. That said, it doesn't look terribly unhealthy, so this may just be a gentle case of irritation from the two large-ish clowns compared to the small-ish BTA.

i was wrong about the size of the clowns. i kind of held up my fingers (without even being near the tank) and said "ehh about 3". as best as i could just measure, the female is about 3" and the male is closer to 2".

in terms of getting that ugly bristleworm out of the tank, any other methods besides the bristleworm trap posted by sugar? i would rather get that ugly thing out tonight rather than wait for that thing to be shipped.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Baited soda bottles sometimes work, but it's a crapshoot - you may find you catch your shrimp, instead. You want to use small ones, like 16 oz.

[loosecannon]

Most fireworms eat dead things . Not live corals . The clowns are betting the anemone up . when the anemone stretches it`s arms out that`s when it`s looking for food . When it`s arms bubble up a gain it`s feed .