Bristle Worms - Good or Bad???

Cuda · 04-16-2006, 09:58 AM

I found a Reefing store web site that sells "Detritivore Starter Kit- Consisting of Spaghetti Worms, Chitons, Amphipods, baby Bristle Worms, and other detritus eating organisms", yet most people say to remove bristle worms from your rock when you're curing it. Are there different kinds, some good and some bad?

VWD · 04-16-2006, 10:02 AM

They are not bad so long as they are small and don't over take over sandbed, I never had a problem with them in the past, but then I never had too many of them, They can make your sand bed ungly if you have to many and they get big. I don't think I would buy any. If You don't have any don't add any.

DebsSisterFlo · 04-16-2006, 10:11 AM

they are good for a clean up crew... Vince and I have seahorses so we don't want any due to injury to the horses... but for a reef tank I think they're good for cleanup. If you start seeing more then just cut back on your feeding and their numbers should go down. There have been some pretty creepy stories about bristle worms getting several feet long! Don't read those stories...

VWD · 04-16-2006, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DebsSisterFlo

Don't read those stories...

JennM · 04-16-2006, 10:30 AM

Except for dwarf seahorses (H. zostrae) and seahorse fry, I've NEVER seen a bristleworm harm a healthy seahorse. I even got kicked off a seahorse forum for posting a picture of my female H. reidi stalking the same piece of mysis shrimp and arguing that bristleworms will not harm a healthy horse. The group owner insisted I was wrong (despite my photos and 18 months of experience seeing the horses coexist with lots of worms) so she booted me!

(NOT) I have seen them take H. zostrae (that are teeny tiny) right off their holdfast but even small juveniles of greater seahorses are untouched by them.

There are a couple of species of worms that get gigantic (see Steveweast's post in this forum about the 6-foot one he caught in his tank!) but the vast majority of bristleworms and fireworms are good detritivores and do no harm to healthy creatures in your tank. They *will* clean up dead critters and uneaten food quickly - which is a good thing.

I have dense populations of bristleworms in my seahorse tank, as that tank is heavily fed, but as mentioned above, if you have "too many" watch your feeding. Orchid dottybacks and most wrasses will eat them. So will arrow crabs, but they can be very destructive.

Some older books out there suggest removal of the worms but more current thinking is that they are actually a benefit - and I concur with this.

Jenn

ChrisPrusha · 04-16-2006, 10:51 AM

Is that where all of the information about bristleworms being bad comes from...old books? It appears many hold that view...I am just wondering why...where does it come from?

VWD · 04-16-2006, 10:54 AM

Its like everything thing, but alot of the old info on them was that it was bad to have them

Cuda · 04-16-2006, 11:35 AM

That's what I was wondering? Do I need to go through all that effort picking them out of the live rock or not? I picked up a piece of 13 lb Kailini at one of my local LFS's to go in my Quarantine tank (20 gal) to help it cycle and picked out a couple of them.

Should I just focus my efforts on Mantis Shimp and destructive crabs? Thanks.

ChrisPrusha · 04-16-2006, 12:00 PM

I wouldn't worry about bristle worms.

Like you said, focus on mantis and hairy crabs.

Cuda · 04-16-2006, 12:47 PM

Thanks for the feedback.

Fly Guy · 04-16-2006, 01:37 PM

Like VWD, i too have had a problem with them in the past but it was due to a predatorial tank and overfeeding. My sandbed was overtaken to the point that i could take a 1/2 cupful from anyplace in the sand and pull out 50-100 of them everytime, and if i moved rocks around 10 inchers werent surprising. Big ones over 5" can be kind of a fun game. Grab the red flashlight and night and pull the big ones out and like everyone else said keep your feeding in line and all is well IMO. I had a couple of those euclid (sp) worms like steve and they WERE a problem. My biggest one was about 20" which is BABY in comparison to several of them he pulled out but i think if you find any MASSIVE worms you cant identify you want to get them out.

Loverotties · 04-16-2006, 11:42 PM

Good if not over populated!

Petunia · 04-17-2006, 12:05 AM

Here's a post from the 'pests and hitchhikers' with good feedback about bristle worms: http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70946 IMO some are good.

Sprayin70 · 04-17-2006, 12:59 AM

That is some good info>>>

Cuda · 04-17-2006, 03:56 AM

Someone mentioned earlier about old books saying they were bad. I'm not sure what you consider old, but I just bought, Invertebrates, A Quick Reference Guide by Julian Sprung dated 2001 and it lists them as destructive to corals and tridacnid clams, toxic to people and NOT reef safe, "except" for some smaller species which are detrivores.

Now 6" to a foot or more are probably not the smaller species

and I don't know any way of determining if a worm is a mature smaller species or a baby coral munching monster so I think I'll be safe and (try) to keep them out of my tank. I realize it may be a losing proposition, but since I plan on clams and corals I'll at least make the effort. Thanks for all the good info, it got me researching and picking up all kinds of extra info.