my tank still suprises me. I've had this tank for over a year and have not added anything to it for more then 6 months but new things still pop up. happened to turn on the lights this morning and saw a copopod so i watched it as i rarely see them and happened to see something else, then more and more. lil orange colored worms. about a dozen or so scattered around. well looked online to see what they were and saw that they were bristle worms. looked them up and read alot about them but alot of mixed info on if they are good or bad, kinda wanted everyones opinion on here, read they are mostly scavengers and also read they eat coral and endanger other things in the tank. soi not realy sure what to do about them.
bristle worms
- Thread starter exhumed07
- Start date
These worms are awesome at cleaning your tank. I have some that are about 8" or so and they do not harm any of my corals. Its said they only do harm after the get bigger and are not fed enough. I have never had any bad experience with these worms and welcome them into all my SW tanks. If yours do get large and harm a coral you can get a trap and catch the bigger ones. These worms get the food that is missed.
I thought they were kinda cool but they are only about an inch long or so. just suprising that it took this long before i noticed them in my tank. But I guess I'll leave them in there, but i am kinda wondering, say i decide to move things around a bit in the tank and happen to accidently grab one as i grab my live rock? i read the bristles can penetrate ur skin and they have rather sharp mouthparts. not sure i like that lol
They are usually under the rocks. Its the hairs on them that get into your skin like a sliver. Mine avoid me like the plague!! Its a SW tank so every time you grab anything you need to look first. Even small polyps or other small corals can cause damage to us humans if we touch them. Some people are very sensitive to the sting of a coral while some are not. The least of your worry is a bristle worm hair getting you. I change out a few pieces of live rock a week between my copod breeding tank and my others to ensure I have pod in my tanks and never have had a problem with my bristle worms.
I went thru a period of time where I had a bunch of them in tmy tank. I would feed the tank and they would come out of the Live Rock like ants. I started to feed the fish less and now I hardly ever see one, well I never see one. I took aa few pieces of Live Rock out of the tank the other day and three came out of the rock, so they are still in the tank. As was stated above, they are great scavengers so you don't want to remove all of them from your tank. I have read, but never tried, if you take a piece of food, put in on a piece of LR, put the LR in a piece of pantie hose. The worms will come out to eat, and get stuck on the Pantie hose and you just remove them from the tank.
