Bristle worm purge

[Hardesty2]

hey yall i have a 20g aio tank that's been up for about 6 months and I have been seeing massive bristle worms in my tank and I've decided I'm declaring war on them, I'm aware they're not necessarily bad for your tank but i'm worried they're taking over. Plus i thing they're ugly. I want to get rid of every single one. any tips would be great. thanks!

 

[Crabs McJones]

bristleworm trap would be your best bet and can be made at home. plastic bottle, some nylon or pantyhose and some food
just dont touch them with bare hands, it's not fun lol

 

[Slocke]

@BristleWormHater

You could get an arrow crab

 

[Merge_595]

hey yall i have a 20g aio tank that's been up for about 6 months and I have been seeing massive bristle worms in my tank and I've decided I'm declaring war on them, I'm aware they're not necessarily bad for your tank but i'm worried they're taking over. Plus i thing they're ugly. I want to get rid of every single one. any tips would be great. thanks!

Bristle Worm Trap with Window (Black) https://a.co/d/ankIxOr

 

[saltcats]

Question for y'all who use the bristle worm trap or otherwise to get rid of them (and maybe I'm too soft-hearted) but - is there a humane way to kill them when you're getting rid of them? I always feel so bad about the thought, I put them back in if I find one in my water change bucket!

(Edit in case it wasn't clear - I'm not judging at all and this is a genuine question; I have some live rock I need to turn into dead rock in the next few months and I'm feeling really bad about all the bristleworms I know are living in it :( )

 

[BristleWormHater]

I prefer to stare down the bristleworms and threaten them with a bottle of coral dip in my hand until they withdraw into the rock.

 

[Lavey29]

Banded shrimp go after them too

 

[Slocke]

Question for y'all who use the bristle worm trap or otherwise to get rid of them (and maybe I'm too soft-hearted) but - is there a humane way to kill them when you're getting rid of them? I always feel so bad about the thought, I put them back in if I find one in my water change bucket!

(Edit in case it wasn't clear - I'm not judging at all and this is a genuine question; I have some live rock I need to turn into dead rock in the next few months and I'm feeling really bad about all the bristleworms I know are living in it :( )

Feed them to the dragon wrasse…

 

[ChiCity]

 

[BristleWormHater]

 

[Jaden9933]

I'm not speaking from experience, so take this with a grain of salt, but I've read before that six-line wrasses sometimes eat them. Chat GPT confirmed, but experience speaks louder than AI

 

[IceNein]

Hmm.... I have a gorilla crab that I'm thinking about getting rid of. I've never seen him, his moults just appear on the sand every couple of weeks, something like this might do the trick if I just trim the opening to be a bit larger.

 

[Fish Fan]

@BristleWormHater

LOL! I just saw this thread, and that's the firs R2R member I thought of!

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Question for y'all who use the bristle worm trap or otherwise to get rid of them (and maybe I'm too soft-hearted) but - is there a humane way to kill them when you're getting rid of them? I always feel so bad about the thought, I put them back in if I find one in my water change bucket!

(Edit in case it wasn't clear - I'm not judging at all and this is a genuine question; I have some live rock I need to turn into dead rock in the next few months and I'm feeling really bad about all the bristleworms I know are living in it :( )

I’m bumping this question because I have the same exact question.

My bristle works and some fireworks have gotten out of control. My Amazon trap is coming on Tuesday.

Once I trap them, how do I humanely dispose of them. I understand they do not have higher level neurological system, but pain is pain and I want to minimize it. Is there any solution or technique that will immediately kill them? I will have a lot of them. Thank you.

 

[theswiftduck]

I’m bumping this question because I have the same exact question.

My bristle works and some fireworks have gotten out of control. My Amazon trap is coming on Tuesday.

Once I trap them, how do I humanely dispose of them. I understand they do not have higher level neurological system, but pain is pain and I want to minimize it. Is there any solution or technique that will immediately kill them? I will have a lot of them. Thank you.

Honestly just a quick squish with something hard is usually instant. I just toss them in a bag of some kind and use an old book so I don’t get poked. It isn’t pretty but it’s quick and effective.

 

[Tahoe61]

Knee high stocking, add tiny piece of raw fish, stick in tank at night, remove in am before lighting comes on. That's how we did it before we walked to school in the snow.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Knee high stocking, add tiny piece of raw fish, stick in tank at night, remove in am before lighting comes on. That's how we did it before we walked to school in the snow.

That’s funny. Thank you. My question is more towards how to kill them once I’ve caught them. For example, do you just throw the stockings away and let them dry up and die?

 

[PlayerOne]

That’s funny. Thank you. My question is more towards how to kill them once I’ve caught them. For example, do you just throw the stockings away and let them dry up and die?

They die pretty fast when exposed to fresh water.....in my experience.