Dip to kill Bristle Worms

[Reefer1978]

Good morning my friends. I have a question - I am setting up a new tank, and I don't want any bristle warms in it. Now please, don't let this thread get into a discussion of them being good cleanup crew. I red many posts about that and I am making a decision not to have any.

So, I'd like to transfer my coral from my tanks to this new tank, but get rid of all bristle warms. I tired Bayer (milky water, 10 minute dip) on two mushrooms. It's been 5 days and Magic Carpet looks unhappy still, not opening fully, alive, but not prospering.

Should I continue with Bayer, or should I do something else? Again I am looking to fully get rid of bristle warms on the transfer.

 

[brandon429]

BW are probably the second most sensitive organism to peroxide in typical doses just after lysmata.

the same ratios everyone uses successfully 1 mil per 10 gallons of 3% rock dipping will likely kill all your bw and peroxide doesnt harm filter bac in the least.

 

[Reefer1978]

BW are probably the second most sensitive organism to peroxide in typical doses just after lysmata.

the same ratios everyone uses successfully 1 mil per 10 gallons of 3% rock dipping will likely kill all your bw and peroxide doesnt harm filter bac in the least.

Brandon that's awesome. Would a quick dip in 10% peroxide solution do the trick and what would be the length of that quick dip? Usual 10-15 minutes?

 

[brandon429]

Id do it for that long agreed, it wont harm the cycle status of the rocks and if worms are in there i bet they climb out and die like a cartoon with x's over their eyes and tongue out

most corals attached will tolerate the 1 mil per 10 gallons of 3% just fine we see in thousands of posts though they may act mad for a while. xenia and any anems wont like it but I dont recall them dying over it

 

[vetteguy53081]

My remedy is arrow crabs. Eat them like candy

 

[Reefer1978]

My remedy is arrow crabs. Eat them like candy

Tried multiple times... and tired wrasses - no luck.

 

[brandon429]

I dont like them either, one night I saw three crawling into acan mouth to get food out.


i never had to dip to rid my tank of them, one single boxer crab hunted them all and pulled them out of the rock in a week/pico reef small hunting ground.

 

[Reefer1978]

I dont like them either, one night I saw three crawling into acan mouth to get food out.


i never had to dip to rid my tank of them, one single boxer crab hunted them all and pulled them out of the rock in a week/pico reef small hunting ground.

Maybe I am just unlucky with the natural predators. But I tried a few recommendations and none of them worked.

 

[Reefer1978]

Test MC with 10% peroxide dip for 15 minutes went into the tank... Also doesn't look happy, but I will be monitoring it over the next few days to see which one does better.

 

[SPS2020]

Hard to tell from this picture, but when I stretched this monster out he was around 22" long! This was a tank that had been up for around eight years which I broke down earlier this year. I'd be afraid he would dip ME in the peroxide dip! LOL

 

[I’ma tempermental coral]

In the process of acclimating and dipping new coral a couple of weeks ago my daughter noticed my Aussie white tip torch gaping its mouth. In a moment of panic I yanked him and tossed him in the dip not sure what was the cause of this sudden issue to an otherwise healthy torch. I don’t normally leave my torches in dip very long so he got a little motion in the dip and then moved over to the rinse. Upon a little light swirling in the rinse, low and behold a bristleworm floats out of his mouth! ;Jawdrop Any way since this little fiasco he has been happy and healthy and continued down his path to a couple new mouths so I can only assume the dip I used not only killed the worm but also didn’t harm my torch. This was also my first time using Polyp Labs Reef Primer. Obviously I was impressed lol.

 

[Reefer1978]

I can't say peroxide was any less impactful to the mushroom than Bayer. New transfer specimen, after 10% peroxide to 90% tank water dip for 15 minutes, is ticked in the new tank for 4 days already.

 

[marcosnano]

Id do it for that long agreed, it wont harm the cycle status of the rocks and if worms are in there i bet they climb out and die like a cartoon with x's over their eyes and tongue out

most corals attached will tolerate the 1 mil per 10 gallons of 3% just fine we see in thousands of posts though they may act mad for a while. xenia and any anems wont like it but I dont recall them dying over it

how long should 3% 1 mil per 10 gallon dip last for, to kill worms and algae, but not to harm corals and beneficial bacteria? 10 minutes?

 

[brandon429]

These last few years i haven't guided any doses of peroxide into the tank for algae because it often grows right back

What kind of worms are you targeting/ why are they bad

 

[Idech]

I use Revive Coral dip and leave the corals in for 15 minutes. I pour a capful in about 1 cup of water, maybe a little less. The worms just drop to the bottom of the cup.

 

[marcosnano]

These last few years i haven't guided any doses of peroxide into the tank for algae because it often grows right back

What kind of worms are you targeting/ why are they bad

Bristle worms.

They are bad because my wife is scared of them lol

 

[brandon429]

the system's filter bacteria will not be harmed by pretty much any normal dosage of peroxide, the 1:10 dose amount/1 mil of 3% for every ten gallons of water may not wipe them all out, I'd suggest taking a rock out for a test run in a cooler or other container of water dosed to the right amount, set rock in and wait ten mins to see if bristleworms come out. a few people lately have injured their hammer corals dipping in peroxide so I'm hesitant to add it to full reef tanks although the filter bac and most other corals won't be harmed/fish aren't harmed by that low dose amount. I recommend trying to rid the rocks of the worms in test systems vs the main tank.

Ive seen pom pom crabs grab onto bristleworms and flat pull them up out of a hole and eat them in one pass, some predators for the worms seem like a safe option.

 

[marcosnano]

I have only 2 corals glued to rocks, GSP and zoa, so they are only one going into dip.

I worry more about beneficial bacteria because I'm starting new tank with those rocks.

 

[Reefer1978]

I have only 2 corals glued to rocks, GSP and zoa, so they are only one going into dip.

I worry more about beneficial bacteria because I'm starting new tank with those rocks.

I was never able to get rid of bristle worms, once you have them, you will have them. The only thing that works is population control. A plastic bottle with some food inside (i.e. scallops) overnight seems to work well.

 

[ReefED!]

Old thread that I stumbled across

My first video was on peroxide dips and how effective they are at killing bristleworms



Also , Fenbendazole obliterates them completely from a system - every last one.

When I upgraded my tank, I first nuked my previous tank with fenben in preparation

When I transferred things over there was not a single BW ever found - and I peroxide dipped everything