bristle worm trap
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Brad Waddell Wrath's Reef
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I was looking at this the other day. This is what i found i dont know if it works or not but it looks like it did.
Food in knee high stockings, tie the end.
Tiny pieces of raw seafood. Do not let food sit in tank, leave it for a couple hours and remove.
Arrow crabs get large and obnoxious but they eat bristle worm like candy.
With that said I have had very large bristle worms without incidence.
Tiny pieces of raw seafood. Do not let food sit in tank, leave it for a couple hours and remove.
Arrow crabs get large and obnoxious but they eat bristle worm like candy.
With that said I have had very large bristle worms without incidence.
minus9
5000 Club Member
Are you removing large bristle worms or just bristle worms in general? Remember, these guys are one of the best cleaners out there for leftover food and detritus.
I've always preferred the pantyhose method in the past, it's super easy and works.
I've always preferred the pantyhose method in the past, it's super easy and works.
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Dragon174
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I recently found a fire bristle worm (at least that what I think it was) in my refugium, so I built a trap. First night nothing. Last night, I shined a flash light in my tank about 30 mins after lights out and found two very large brown bristle worms. Put the trap back in (Gatorade bottle with straws) with different food and had one in the trap. Going to do another round tonight.
What I don't get is that some people say just let them be and other say they pick them out. They also say if you see one, you have 10 more. I don't want my tank over run with these worms though. What to do???
What I don't get is that some people say just let them be and other say they pick them out. They also say if you see one, you have 10 more. I don't want my tank over run with these worms though. What to do???
Brad Waddell Wrath's Reef
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Bristle worms are not so bad, they are great CUC. They can sting you and yes they can multiply fast. If you have a wrasse, then there is no issue. My wrasse keeps them in check.
Dragon174
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No wrasse and the LFS barely has any fish and with the way things are they have cut back on there hours and aren’t getting any more live stock until the lock down in Michigan is lifted which won’t be until the end of this month.
Dragon174
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What is the pantyhose method? I used a bottle with straws and some food. Only caught one so far.
minus9
5000 Club Member
Cut off a section of pantyhose, preferably the foot and stick your bait/food in and tie it off. You can either place a small rock to weigh it down or place something on it to keep it from floating away. Put it near or next to their suspected hideout after lights out and check in an hour or two. Once the bristleworms/fireworms go after the food/bait, they get entangled in the pantyhose. Carefully pull the pantyhose out when you're ready. I would turn off the flow (or down) and use tongs to lift it out. You may want to use a cup or dish to hold just below the pantyhose as you remove it, to catch any loose worms that may fall off. Either place the worms in the sump/fuge or in the trash.
I don't advocate removing bristleworms (killing them), but I like to relocate them to a more useful and beneficial place, like the sump. Their presence is an indicator of your feeding habits and a reflection on the available food that they consume, mostly detritus. They are (bristleworms) far more beneficial, than a detriment to a reef tank. But I can see that some reefers prefer not to have them, I'm not one of them. Remember to wear gloves when moving LR or touching areas in your tank that you can't see, they're usually right under a frag plug, coral, etc.....
Happy reefing!
Dana Riddle
2500 Club Member
Get a magnetically-coupled feeding clip and bait it with a piece of shrimp. Bristleworms will come to feed on it, and if you slowly slide the clip to the top of the tank, the worm will follow. Net it out - and presto - no worm!
You should not try to remove Bristle worms from your tank. They are great scavengers and great for the reef tank. They spawn and release eggs that are great food for filter feeders. Often you won't even see them unless you have tank that are predators free. I love to have several large worms that clean up my over feed and release food for my fish and corals. Bristle worms is a great source of natural food for a lot of my fishes.
With that said, it you really want something to control them, have a wrasse or two. Melanurus, Leopard and China Tamarin (Anampses neoguinaicus) wrasses are the ones in my tank that are bristle worm eating machines. Any worm stray too close to the surface of the sand or venture too far out from deep in, under the rock are fair game. They just pull them out then chow them down. They are very beautiful wrasses that are suitable for medium to large tank (60+ gallons)
Any of the wrasses below will keep the number of bristle worms in check. Arrow crabs and Coral Banded shrimp can be use but they are aggressive and can really put a dent in your snail population. Well fed wrasses is not likely to work too hard to kill your larger snails.
My Male Black Leopard and Female Meleagris Leopard wrasses
My China Tamarin Wrasse, initial Male. Here he is hunting for worms under a rock.
This was suppose to be a Melanurus Wrasse, but this ID (5 inches in the picture below) is unlikely to be correct. I have not able to ID her yet. She is very full in this picture, goring on bristle worms among other food i feed the tank.
With that said, it you really want something to control them, have a wrasse or two. Melanurus, Leopard and China Tamarin (Anampses neoguinaicus) wrasses are the ones in my tank that are bristle worm eating machines. Any worm stray too close to the surface of the sand or venture too far out from deep in, under the rock are fair game. They just pull them out then chow them down. They are very beautiful wrasses that are suitable for medium to large tank (60+ gallons)
Any of the wrasses below will keep the number of bristle worms in check. Arrow crabs and Coral Banded shrimp can be use but they are aggressive and can really put a dent in your snail population. Well fed wrasses is not likely to work too hard to kill your larger snails.
My Male Black Leopard and Female Meleagris Leopard wrasses
My China Tamarin Wrasse, initial Male. Here he is hunting for worms under a rock.
This was suppose to be a Melanurus Wrasse, but this ID (5 inches in the picture below) is unlikely to be correct. I have not able to ID her yet. She is very full in this picture, goring on bristle worms among other food i feed the tank.
Dragon174
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I recently broke down my tank after a crash. I was surprised at the size of some of the bristle worms. What really concerned me was the number of fire worms in my Fuge. Found one I. My sand. I really want to prevent them from getting into my tank once I put it back up so I’ve just set up a qt tank that everything will be dipped before going in. Not sure what to do with the few pieces of live rock that I want to pick up to help seed the tank so that I don’t have any hitchhikers.
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