Anyone know a good way of getting rid of bristol worms. Ive been wanting to get a mandarin goby but Im afraid of what the worms will do to it. Ive had Scooter blennies before that did really well, and then all the sudden one day months later, Ill find them lying on the bottom of my tank, usually next to a worm. Ive tried traps, but the bristol worms that I have are huge! I found one completely out of the rocks one morning and I scooped it up with a net, it had to of been 6in. long! Any suggestions... please???
Bristol worms
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do you by chance mean bristle worms? small worms in the live rock that feel like fiberglass to the touch? if so:
bristleworms are generally harmless except they don't feel to great however just the same if you want to get rid of them a natural predator is the best way to go. depending on your tank size there are a two good ones are arrowcrabs (Stenorhynchus seticrnis) and a six-line wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia). both would chow down on the worms but i would just go with one
arrowcrabs: generally peaceful to fish but will often fight with each other if in to small of a tank, grows to be about 8" diameter from leg to leg
six-line wrasse: also fairly peaceful, shouldn't eat all your inverts like most wrasses. if i remember correctly they get to be about 6" or so but don't take that measurment as a definate
bristleworms are generally harmless except they don't feel to great however just the same if you want to get rid of them a natural predator is the best way to go. depending on your tank size there are a two good ones are arrowcrabs (Stenorhynchus seticrnis) and a six-line wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia). both would chow down on the worms but i would just go with one
arrowcrabs: generally peaceful to fish but will often fight with each other if in to small of a tank, grows to be about 8" diameter from leg to leg
six-line wrasse: also fairly peaceful, shouldn't eat all your inverts like most wrasses. if i remember correctly they get to be about 6" or so but don't take that measurment as a definate
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Another nice thing about six lines is they will eat pyramid snails and help protect your clams. Pyramid snails are the type that bore holes in the shells of clams.
Problem is you have rather large bristles. I don't think a little wrasse is going to be much help. Did you use the traps correctly? Another method I've heard good success with is placing a piece of bait near where they come out. Using a long pin you can spear them and take them out. Remember not to touch them.
I'm really wondering if the worm caused your scooters death. My first guess is (since you did not give a tank size or description) that beacuse, like a mandarin, this is a dragonette and therfore a specialized feeder. These fish do best in at least a 90gallon tank. It is ppossible to keep them in smaller confines but is generally considered a hit or miss situation. These fish eat small copepods in the tank. A larger, heavily stocedk with live rock, tank will provide more of the natural foods. These guys tend to live 2-3 months before perishing of starvation. I'm wondering if they passed and the bristle worm had been snacking upon the carcass? bristles are not exactly active hunters.
Problem is you have rather large bristles. I don't think a little wrasse is going to be much help. Did you use the traps correctly? Another method I've heard good success with is placing a piece of bait near where they come out. Using a long pin you can spear them and take them out. Remember not to touch them.
I'm really wondering if the worm caused your scooters death. My first guess is (since you did not give a tank size or description) that beacuse, like a mandarin, this is a dragonette and therfore a specialized feeder. These fish do best in at least a 90gallon tank. It is ppossible to keep them in smaller confines but is generally considered a hit or miss situation. These fish eat small copepods in the tank. A larger, heavily stocedk with live rock, tank will provide more of the natural foods. These guys tend to live 2-3 months before perishing of starvation. I'm wondering if they passed and the bristle worm had been snacking upon the carcass? bristles are not exactly active hunters.
thank you for all your help and i guess it would have been a good idea to put my tank size huh lol i have a 55 but am soon moving up to a 100. everytime i get a new fish, i do quite a bit of research on them so im pretty sure that he didnt die of starvation. i mean i sit in front of my tank like its tv and watch my fish for hours at a time lol. i would watch them eat and i had pellets that contained alot of things that were in their diet that i read about. they werent ever thin so i really dont think it was that. i have a fairly good survival rate too, not to brag or anything lol. but i have tried baiting the worms and they just dont come out often enough. id have my hands in my tank for weeks if i did. im not going to get my goby until i have my new tank set up. unnessessary stress for new fish. oh and has anyone ever ordered fish online? i ran across saltwaterfish.com and they have really good prices on everything. only problem is that i am in ohio and they are in florida. i wasnt thinking of fish just quite yet, if ever, but i was looking at some inverts and i figured they would have the best chance of surviving if i did order from them. but thanks again for the help. ill post if anything comes up.
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You'll just have to remove the rock that has the worms in it and pour boiling water into the entrance of the worms. Sucks I know.
yeah the only problem is that i have about 15 pieces of live rock. ive seen them in at least 5 rocks. i know they came from one, but as i started adding more rocks they moved into new holes. and i dont want to kill my feather dusters and other criters on my rocks. o well, it sounds like i have to live with em now lol
My 46 GL tank is about 2 months old and I got about tons of bristle worms. They grow so fast that I may think they jump on my coral. This afternoon, I bought a trap from the LFS but it is quite small compared to the worms in my tank. I now leave it in the tank and see how it works out tomorrow. If not, I can make one myself.
Here is what I am going to do: Go to HomeDepot or Lowes and get a PVC pipe and 2 caps. Drill some small holes that could fit your worm size. Put a shrimp or 2 in the tank at night (after the lights come off) ....
I hope this will somehow reduce the quantity of the worms.
Wish me luck.
le9569
Here is what I am going to do: Go to HomeDepot or Lowes and get a PVC pipe and 2 caps. Drill some small holes that could fit your worm size. Put a shrimp or 2 in the tank at night (after the lights come off) ....
I hope this will somehow reduce the quantity of the worms.
Wish me luck.
le9569
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You can also try soaking the rock in a very high saltlinity water it will drive them out of the rock. Let me know if the trap works, because I've heard that they are a waste of money.
yeah actually the trap that I bought, its been in my tank for like 2 months now lol and yes i do see them mainly at night but they dont like to leave the rock so i cant grab them. does anyone think they will do anything to my goby if I get one, and I was really looking forward to getting some more scooter blennies! I love them lil guys lol 
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You have to bait the trap each night.
i do like every few days... i pack it and it usually lasts its just that they arent gunna fit thru the holes. i tried drilling them bigger, but i still dont think its big enough and if i drill it any more its going to break. i just cant win
i just cant winThe trap did not work at all. Don't waste your money since I already did. First night, I got the trap and watching for an hour. Yes, worms got in. In hope by tomorrow morning, I will have a full trap. Well. Not that easy.
In the morning, I got down and took the trap out of the tank. It was empty. All the worms are gone along with the bait??!!!! lol.
Wait, I still had patience. I thought to myself, how about trying one more nigh. Same procedure on that night. The following morning, guess what, same result It seems like I feed my worms in the trap
Now, I just give up. Not so sure what the next step is.
One question here: is the arrowcrab safe with Rose BTA? I have one quite large Robse buble Tute Anemone in the tank. I am afraid that the arrowcrab will be the bait for the RBTA.
Your advices, please.
Thanks.
le9569
In the morning, I got down and took the trap out of the tank. It was empty. All the worms are gone along with the bait??!!!!
lol. Wait, I still had patience. I thought to myself, how about trying one more nigh. Same procedure on that night. The following morning, guess what, same result
It seems like I feed my worms in the trap Now, I just give up. Not so sure what the next step is.
One question here: is the arrowcrab safe with Rose BTA? I have one quite large Robse buble Tute Anemone in the tank. I am afraid that the arrowcrab will be the bait for the RBTA.
Your advices, please.
Thanks.
le9569
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1,645 Posts
One question. Why not remove the trap when you see a few worms in it? That's the idea.
Try a live conch shell or two. I bought a live conch shell to keep the bristol worms down. the bristol worms come out at night to feed and the conch feed at night on the bristol worms. so you have a win win situation. the worms are eaten and the conch shells are a beautiful addition to your tank.
Its very fascinating to see the conch catching and eating the bristols. Also try adding coral shrimps and a 6 line wrasse.
Just wanted to say welcome deadeye. I don't think the original posters will get much help from this since the majority of them haven't been around since 2009 or earlier.
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