bristleworms eating zoas...

[JGoslee]

Thats good to hear. Good job.

 

[Azurel]

Search wetwebmedia for bristleworms....

 

[revhtree]

Awesome I need check mine.

 

[Angel]

This may help you identify.

http://www.ronshimek.com/Animal Groups 2b Annelids.htm
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php page two of a three page article on polychaete worms.

If not in one of those two, check on this page: http://www.ronshimek.com/Online Articles 1.htm

 

[surfn]

I just moved my lotr paly frag cause it' doing crappy and when I picked it up tons of bristleworms came out of the little rubble it's on. More so than other rocks I pick up. I'll have to keep an eye on things.


Anothing thing I've always thought is that when people say that fish/inverts eat this or they eat that. I always think, well in the wild they eat those things, but do they pick up new habbits in a reef tank when they can't get their natural food. So just because people are like, bristle worms don't eat zoas, maybe they don't. But maybe in your reef tank they don't get whtat they normally eat so they look for other types of food.

I'm not saying that they do or don't eat zoas, but just that they could even though they aren't known for it.

i think you are exactly right. they've exhausted their normal food supply, so they start going after other stuff.

this can be caused by an unnatural population explosion, or these worms getting larger than their wild counterparts due to no natural predators in the reef tank.

remember, in the wild, there is tons of diversity to keep other life forms in check.

 

[Ike]

I just moved my lotr paly frag cause it' doing crappy and when I picked it up tons of bristleworms came out of the little rubble it's on. More so than other rocks I pick up. I'll have to keep an eye on things.


Anothing thing I've always thought is that when people say that fish/inverts eat this or they eat that. I always think, well in the wild they eat those things, but do they pick up new habbits in a reef tank when they can't get their natural food. So just because people are like, bristle worms don't eat zoas, maybe they don't. But maybe in your reef tank they don't get whtat they normally eat so they look for other types of food.

I'm not saying that they do or don't eat zoas, but just that they could even though they aren't known for it.

I agree to a point. However, if you saw the mouth of the average Bristleworm you'd find it really hard to believe they could eat any somewhat healthy Zoanthid.

 

[surfn]

I agree to a point. However, if you saw the mouth of the average Bristleworm you'd find it really hard to believe they could eat any somewhat healthy Zoanthid.

its my understanding that the mouth of a bristle worm is surrounded by bristles it uses to basically scour a surface.

zoas aren't being eatin' whole by the worms, but scratched enough on the outside it causes significan stress, and pieces of missing skirt.

i'm not saying bristle worms are the only culprit, i think its gota be a combination of asterina's, birstleworms, and pods that have used up their food sources and munching on the mucus/algae that resides on the zoas.

 

[Ike]

its my understanding that the mouth of a bristle worm is surrounded by bristles it uses to basically scour a surface.

zoas aren't being eatin' whole by the worms, but scratched enough on the outside it causes significan stress, and pieces of missing skirt.

i'm not saying bristle worms are the only culprit, i think its gota be a combination of asterina's, birstleworms, and pods that have used up their food sources and munching on the mucus/algae that resides on the zoas.

If it's PE types that you're having the most problems with I wouldn't look much further than pods. Although I would have called my self crazy a couple of years ago for saying that... I had amphipods decimate 3 different types of PEs and some Lunar Eclipse a few months ago. Since adding a mandarin the ones that had some polyps left are making a strong comeback.