Please ID! What is this?
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Help
Forum Name: EMERGENCY FORUM
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URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=59303
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Topic: Please ID! What is this?
Posted By: scerbo
Subject: Please ID! What is this?
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 8:26pm
I was looking in my aquarium today and found this sticking out of the sand. Can anyone ID it? it's about 5mm long or so. Is this a pest or something I want in my tank?  |
Replies:
Posted By: chuckfu
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 8:28pm
| Bristleworm |
Posted By: scerbo
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 9:28pm
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Good, bad, or indifferent? I've read quite a few conflicting opinions. has anyone ever had any bad experiences with them? |
Posted By: knowen87
Date Posted: September 27 2012 at 9:36pm
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I have them, they haven't caused problems as far as i know. I would guess that nearly every tank has them. |
Posted By: napalm77
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 6:17am
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Yeah bristleworms are pretty common.They filter feed mostly on detritus. They can be a problem if they get more than a few inches long they can nip at corals and sometimes fish if they get big enough. I just usually pull them out when i see them. I wouldn't be too concerned with one that small. ------------- |
Posted By: jmw
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 6:36am
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scerbo wrote:Posted By: 1stupidpunk
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 7:47am
| They are also known to munch on clams/scallops |
Posted By: Dionysus
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 8:36am
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A small population is great for a tank, like said above when they get big is a problem. ------------- AquaMedic 250 Watt XM 20k 2 420s Vhos 29 DT SPS Dominant 20 G Long Frag http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=56607&title=dionysus-tank-build" rel="nofollow - My Tank Progress =) |
Posted By: Jeffatpm
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 4:24pm
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What are good fish/critters to eat them and keep their population down? ------------- 210 Reef with loads of LEDS Large Fishey Room Located Near Jordan Landing in West Jordan. |
Posted By: BobC63
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 4:30pm
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6 - Line / 8 - Line Wrasse ------------- - My Current Tank: 50g Starfire Cube Reef * Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 * |
Posted By: jmw
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 6:39pm
| I used to have a Yellow Shrimp Goby who would eat them. |
Posted By: Jacknugget
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 7:35pm
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My wife's coral banded shrimp eats them. ------------- 125 Mixed Reef |
Posted By: spike
Date Posted: September 28 2012 at 7:48pm
Here is when they are 100x too large!!! Found this in a tank I bought to set up in the overflow!
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Posted By: Dionysus
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 1:37pm
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That's just a little to big haha ------------- AquaMedic 250 Watt XM 20k 2 420s Vhos 29 DT SPS Dominant 20 G Long Frag http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=56607&title=dionysus-tank-build" rel="nofollow - My Tank Progress =) |
Posted By: napalm77
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 2:41pm
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Ive heard arrow crabs eat them. ------------- |
Posted By: Jeffatpm
Date Posted: September 30 2012 at 3:01pm
They do, they just seem to not last very long, and don't like living with other shrimp. ------------- 210 Reef with loads of LEDS Large Fishey Room Located Near Jordan Landing in West Jordan. |
Posted By: saltysleeves
Date Posted: October 14 2012 at 8:40pm
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Small ones are harmless. Big ones can be a nightmare. I've got a couple in my 30 gallon I've been trying to trap for a month. The big ones can and will eat fish that sleep in the substrate. Like my brand new adorable baby yellow watchman. Not that I'm bitter. Okay, maybe a lot bitter. Personally not a huge fan of them, but I wouldn't panic about a small one. Pull them out when you see them and check the tank at night for signs of big ones, but should be fine. Do make sure you wear gloves when handling any bristleworms. Especially the large ones, or you will have miserably itchy sore fingers for weeks. |
Posted By: saltysleeves
Date Posted: October 14 2012 at 8:42pm
| Oh, almost forgot. Prazipro will kill them if you treat the whole tank for a week with it. But you probably have a lot more of them than you think and that many decaying critters can play havoc with your water quality. But if you ever get desperate. |
Posted By: suiso man
Date Posted: November 16 2012 at 8:28am
| Niger trigger fish will eat them, so will copperband butterfly fish. at least mine does. Holy crap Cole that is huge!!!! |
Posted By: rufessor
Date Posted: November 19 2012 at 11:34am
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Careful with allowing any in the tank. I had what I considered to be an infestation (and it can happen in a couple months) in a early tank of mine. I choose to go the bio warfare route and got a mystery wrasse. Problem solved- completely. Predators are a very effective way of keeping a population in check but careful here- most Wrasse who will actually and reliably chomp them also enjoy other treats such as shrimp...... which can get expensive. 6/7 line are a toss up, if you read a lot about them you will find that some will eat them, some will not... but they all have the possibility of turning into a terror when they get bigger, as do most predators. ------------- Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler -A.E. 57 Gallon RImless build in progress check the thread before if becomes boring and just full of nice pictures of colorful coral! |
Posted By: Jake Pehrson
Date Posted: November 19 2012 at 1:10pm
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Here is my opinion. I have never seen a healthy reef tank without Bristle Worms. They are almost always good. There are occasions where you get a large bristle worm that can cause problems, but this rarely happens. Even some of the very large ones are harmless detritus eaters. It is possible to get a larger than wanted population of them (unsightly), but they can easily be reduced by placing a piece of shrimp (or other type of fishy food) wrapped in some bridal veil in your tank at night. Wait a few hours and then remove the shrimp/bridal veil with the attached worms. I have never had to do this, but I know others that have. If you do have a huge population this is usually a sign that you are overfeeding your aquarium. Bottom line is I wouldn't worry about this guy. It is usually a sign of a healthy aquarium. They eat detritus and help clean your tank. I wouldn't medicate your tank because of them (EVER), and I wouldn't worry about getting a wrasse or other type of critter to eat them. ------------- Jake Pehrson Murray http://coralplanet.com" rel="nofollow - coralplanet.com http://utahbeeranch.com" rel="nofollow - :) |
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: November 20 2012 at 3:03pm
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Jake pretty much summed up everything I would have contributed here, except that I have had to help remove some from a tank my Mom had. The technique Jake described works like a charm, but don't expect to get EVERY bristle worm. You wouldn't want to anyway. After we removed a bunch from her tank she stopped feeding so much and the population didn't come back. Her's was definitely a case of overfeeding growing their population. |