When should you worry about bristleworms?

[bleedingthought]

Most of everything I've heard/read about bristleworms indicates that they are safe/beneficial almost all the time (at least when not gigantic) but I wanted to know when not to let them into the tank when introducing corals/rocks.

Thanks!

 

[Unarce]

The safe bristleworms are scavengers, and would basically have to lick living inhabitants to death :lol:

What you want to watch out for, are fireworms like these that feed on corals:

They're not often found in the home aquarium, but are somewhat easy to distinguish from the usual bristleworms we find. The quickest way to tell I think is by the tapered body.

 

[bleedingthought]

Will all bristleworms keep growing until they die or removed? Reaching several feet in length, for example?! 8O

 

[SnowManSnow]

nah... the bristleworms work like lots of snails and so forth. their population will grow untill their food source is depleted.. then they will have a population crash.

in the average reef tank bristle worms never really get to be a problem.

b

 

[bleedingthought]

Sounds good! Thanks guys!

 

[bubblepuffer]

Or until you find your lovely Bristle worm grow to 7 feets then you need to start worry about that.. which I think the biggest one found on a home aquarium

 

[bleedingthought]

Stevenweast's tank? I saw it... 8O

That's what I want to avoid.

 

[bubblepuffer]

Or until you find your lovely Bristle worm grow to 7 feets then you need to start worry about that.. which I think the biggest one found on a home aquarium

 

[WRASSER]

There are fish that eat them. Depending on how your tank is set up. My Dragon wrasse ate them everytime they stuck their necks out.

 

[Anonymous]

I have never had a problem with them. I always wear srugical gloves when my hands are in the tank though as a precaution. Good scavengers.

 

[bleedingthought]

I always wear srugical gloves when my hands are in the tank though as a precaution.

The thin latex kind? I still find the think rubber gloves (reef gloves or common ones) too cumbersome to wear while doing "tweaking" and small detail things inside the tank. :?

 

[bleedingthought]

P.S. Ranger, how's the RTN recovery process coming along? Things better? What about your Alk? And that chaeto, doing well?