I've known for awhile now that I have a pretty good size bristle worm. Tonight while checking the overflow I used the red lens light and spotted him. He's bigger than I remember, not to mention thicker. I know that they stretch out when they're moving, but I think he's atleast a few inches long. I have a loose ricordea that it looked like he was trying to move toward the rock it was going into. They don't do that do they?? Never heard of them doing that anyway. Is there a point that when they get too big that they need to be caught? I've had my corals rearranged at night before, but this just happened to be the only loose one that would fit into that hole it was going into, should I worry?
Big Bristle Worm
- Thread starter Jennie
- Start date
Sugar Magnolia
New Member
The research I've done on them seems to point towards them being beneficial to the tank but when they reach a legth of 10" or more they can go after corals and even sleeping small fish. I typically yank out the larger ones when I find them.
You can buy a bristlworm trap or make one yourself using a 20 oz soda bottle. Heres the basic jist of creating one. This one uses a 2 litre, but a 20 oz will wrok just as well.
All you need is a CLEAN plastic soda bottle. Cut the top off the bottle at the point where the neck becomes the same diameter as the bottle
Then turn it around and hot-melt glue the top back into the bottle in reverse (you can do the same thing with a funnel, but it's more expensive and harder to get "just right."). You'll now have a slanted neck into a small hole which is easy to get into, but difficult for the animals to escape from (especially if you use clear plastic). Simply fill the bottle with tank water, add a piece of tasty bait (such as squid, shrimp, or clam) into the bottle, and leave it on the bottom of the tank overnight. This handy trap works well for mantis shrimp also. If you don't plan on using the trap for an extended period of time, or the critters you're trying to trap are small, you probably don't even need the hot-melt glue (the tight fit keeps the top in place), but I've had one fall apart on me while I was lifting it from the tank, and have used a couple of small blobs of hot-melt glue "just to be sure" ever since.
You can buy a bristlworm trap or make one yourself using a 20 oz soda bottle. Heres the basic jist of creating one. This one uses a 2 litre, but a 20 oz will wrok just as well.
All you need is a CLEAN plastic soda bottle. Cut the top off the bottle at the point where the neck becomes the same diameter as the bottle
Then turn it around and hot-melt glue the top back into the bottle in reverse (you can do the same thing with a funnel, but it's more expensive and harder to get "just right."). You'll now have a slanted neck into a small hole which is easy to get into, but difficult for the animals to escape from (especially if you use clear plastic). Simply fill the bottle with tank water, add a piece of tasty bait (such as squid, shrimp, or clam) into the bottle, and leave it on the bottom of the tank overnight. This handy trap works well for mantis shrimp also. If you don't plan on using the trap for an extended period of time, or the critters you're trying to trap are small, you probably don't even need the hot-melt glue (the tight fit keeps the top in place), but I've had one fall apart on me while I was lifting it from the tank, and have used a couple of small blobs of hot-melt glue "just to be sure" ever since.
FishinInTheDark
New Member
It's a great idea to put it in your 'fuge. It will just continue its janitorial duties there without the temptation of your corals!
Narkon'n'more
New Member
Oh, who needs corals, this is a reef tank after all.
And reefs are all about the rock right? :wink: :lol:
And reefs are all about the rock right? :wink: :lol:
Flame Angel
New Member
Let me put it this way...
If you were presented with two choices:
1) Dig through tons and tons of soil, hoping to find a random cheesburger...
OR.....
2) Stealing said cheeseburger from girly-man Christopher Lowell...
See my point? Your bristleworms, while mainly detritovores, will not hesitate to steal food when it's easier to do so. I don't think you have much to worry about.
-Flame
If you were presented with two choices:
1) Dig through tons and tons of soil, hoping to find a random cheesburger...
OR.....
2) Stealing said cheeseburger from girly-man Christopher Lowell...
See my point? Your bristleworms, while mainly detritovores, will not hesitate to steal food when it's easier to do so. I don't think you have much to worry about.
-Flame