2 questions help needed

[sadielynn]

2 questions here
1st we have a bunch of brislte worms that are reaching big lengths 4inches and greater {when streached out}I am getting out what I can , is there a homemade trap for these vermin . At that length could they be killing my shrimps and fish ? I lost a chromis over the weekend and a shrimp last nite .
2nd question will frog spawn sting a fish we are trying to figure out why he died he had what looked like "pick" marks on him all perameters are wnl and we did a partial change and tested again 24 hours post change still are wnl . I guess in a nut shell how do I make a trap and are they killing my fish and shrimp or did the fish get stung posibily and the shrimp killed by these ? We are at a total loss as to why and what is happening .

 

[leaffish75]

take a small tuperware put food in it seal it with a few small holes in the lid and sink it. check it the next morning. or the coke bottle trap.

 

[incysor]

A frogspawn isn't gonna sting your fish strongly enough to kill it. Maybe enough for them to avoid it, but that's about it.

There are lots of threads on RC on how to make a bristle worm trap, but most of them may be a bit bulky for a nano.

You can just wrap a couple small pieces of food/shrimp in some filter floss, rubber band it closed, and let it sit for a couple hours after lights out. I'd wear gloves when you pull it out. I've caught several this way after I read about it. FWIW I've never managed to catch one with the glass/bottle traps.

B

 

[drty811]

most of all my bristle worms come out when i feed the tank, so when they stretch out i use a long pair of locking forcepts and pull them out. this method has worked good so far.have the trap but have better luck pulling them out. good luck sadielynn

 

[sadielynn]

most of all my bristle worms come out when i feed the tank, so when they stretch out i use a long pair of locking forcepts and pull them out. this method has worked good so far.have the trap but have better luck pulling them out

that is when we see most of our too

A frogspawn isn't gonna sting your fish strongly enough to kill it. Maybe enough for them to avoid it, but that's about it.

There are lots of threads on RC on how to make a bristle worm trap, but most of them may be a bit bulky for a nano.

You can just wrap a couple small pieces of food/shrimp in some filter floss, rubber band it closed, and let it sit for a couple hours after lights out. I'd wear gloves when you pull it out. I've caught several this way after I read about it. FWIW I've never managed to catch one with the glass/bottle traps.

Thanks insysor I try to always wear rubber gloves when doing mantince on the tank what about panty hose so the sting is out what about the bristle worms attacking

take a small tuperware put food in it seal it with a few small holes in the lid and sink it. check it the next morning. or the coke bottle trap

thanks for the idea
thank guys for the insight I will try everything and let you know

 

[jcs11236]

wat exactly do bristle worms look like?
i noticed that in my tank when i turn off the lights-these tiny clear/white tentacles seem to pop out of the rocks-they seem to stretch out but contract back -they dont seem to move out of there spot. are these bristle worms?

 

[jcs11236]

wat exactly do bristle worms look like?
i noticed that in my tank when i turn off the lights-these tiny clear/white tentacles seem to pop out of the rocks-they seem to stretch out but contract back -they dont seem to move out of there spot. are these bristle worms?

 

[incysor]

They tend to have an orange body, with white bristles. Do a search for bristleworm, or bristle worm. There have been lots of links posted.

B

 

[perpetual98]

Bristle worms are usually reddish and grayish (bands of color) and they have a row of bristles down each side, hence the name. Usually they stay pretty small but I've pulled some 6 inch ones from some of my tanks. What happens is that I usually see them at night after 'lights out' and I'll just snag them with a net and give 'em the old flush-ola. I don't think that they necessarily are bad, and I don't really know if they could catch a fish or a shrimp. They aren't very fast.

 

[Chubosco]

It has been my understanding with the latest research that bristleworms are not opportunistic but scavengers like earthworms, or have I missed something here? Maybe people are confusing bristleworms with brittle stars.

 

[incysor]

No confusion here. Bristleworms are oppotunistic scavengers, much like green serpent stars. As long as there is sufficient detritus in the tank, and as long as they're relatively small they're not likely to attack even small fish. However if you feed the tank sparingly, (which most do with nanos), and if they're large enough, they can go after sleeping fish. It's not really an either-or situation.

B

 

[Chubosco]

And your talking brittle stars and not bristle worms...correct? Bristle worms are strictly a clean-up type of organism...right?

 

[incysor]

No. I'm talking about bristleworms.

They are opportunistic detrivores.

This means that they'll mainly go after detritus. However if one is large enough and hungry enough and comes across a small sleeping fish, the fish may get stung, and eaten.

I made the comparison to green serpent stars because they are also opportunistic detrivores. Although they are very, very, likely to go after fish because of their larger size.

B

 

[Chubosco]

I bought a Rainford gobie today. I was told they eat bristle worms, hair algae, and they are a sand sifter. I am going to find a bristle worm and find out if it's true.

 

[incysor]

Hmm...I've heard that the hectori gobies, (same shape as rainfordi, but black and yellow), will eat hair algae. I haven't heard it about rainfordi gobies though. I havent seen either of them sift sand. They both eat pods though so they could certainly go after ones on the sandbed. I'd think they might go after small bristleworms, but I'd think that any worm big enough to hurt anything would be too big for them to do anything about, since both of these gobies are very small.

B

 

[Chubosco]

This gobie has been in the reef for less than 3 hours. I have this one spot on the glass that grows the hair algae. I watched him eat half of it and he has also been at the bottom and taking mouthfuls of sand and chewing and spitting it back out. I am convenced these things are true. Of course he is probaly starving to death being at the lfs. Once he eats free food that is delivered, he might change his diet. I'm going to find some small bristle worms tonite and see if he goes for them. I do hope he doesn't seek out my pods, I love those things. He picks at the rocks alot. :shock:

 

[incysor]

Excellent! Congrats.

B