How big before bristleworms become a problem?

Borat · Nov 9, 2024

the number of bristleworms you have is proportional to the amount of uneaten food. there is nothing wrong with bristleworms themselves - they are good CuC, but if you want to bring the numbers down - think nutrients!

bristleworms population self-controls itself based on amount of edible food available, so if you reduce nuntrients - the population would dwindle by itself.

Reef Puncher · Nov 9, 2024

Borat said:
the number of bristleworms you have is proportional to the amount of uneaten food. there is nothing wrong with bristleworms themselves - they are good CuC, but if you want to bring the numbers down - think nutrients!

bristleworms population self-controls itself based on amount of edible food available, so if you reduce nuntrients - the population would dwindle by itself.

There is if they are freaking burrowing into your corals as is the case with multiple people now. Everyone on Facebook keeps telling me they are harmless. crap they are. They are killing my torches

Reef Puncher · Nov 9, 2024

VintageReefer said:
The timing I swear is incredible

So. I have a high end lobo frag, about 2.5” that I’ve been growing out and it’s been doing great for months. Until lately. It’s been showing skeletal edges. And mouth gaping.

No idea why. I’ve been feeding. Water conditions great and stable. Didn’t know what’s going on.

Well I had a torch come in yesterday and not looking great so I did a kfc dip and while I had my supplies out I was looking at the lobo and thought I’d hit it with some coral revive. I dipped in a kitchen cup and nothing happened. As expected. No pests. I was about to return it to the tank and something stood out to me when looking at the base

Seemed to be some red marks in this old glue covering up the skeletal base

I looked closer…nooo….is this several bristleworms living in the underside of my corals skeleton ? YES

Keep in mind I just did a 15 min coral rx dip and they were unphased. I doubled the dosage and blasted with a baster and added another 15 min to the timer. I could see them moving around but they would not come out.

I then tripled the dose and waited 15 min more. Progress starting.

Then I added some lugols. I know they HATE iodine. Added 5 drops to the cup

Then in addition to the worms, this slender worm came out FAST. No idea what this is

I figured the iodine is working well and j added another 2 drops and waited 10 min. All bristle worms came out from the glue then this guy, out of nowhere, came out of the actual skeleton, not the glue

In the end, I got them all. The skeleton now passes a magnified visual inspection and this was what was expelled from the dips

All these came out from the inside of the coral. The skeletal base on this is ridged and I believe the original owner covered in glue in attempt to seal it.

Now I will wait and see if the efforts have positive results.

In the end these guys survived a normal 15min regular strength dip and it took 1 hour, at 3x coral rx concentration, plus iodine added at double strength to make them all leave

Seeeee. I knew they did this. Everyone on Facebook says I’m crazy.

JulesH · Nov 9, 2024

When they get this big:

ReefED! · Nov 10, 2024

VintageReefer said:
I have tried direct application and I can tell you my go to…lugols iodine

In a cup of clean saltwater, a few drops of Coral rx directly does nothing at first. Seems it takes a few minutes before it begins to annoy them.

A single direct drop of lugols…that makes them flip out. They hate it. Lugols is most effective if you get the concentration strong enough in the water. Instant reaction

So iodine makes them mad

Which would seem to indicate that iodine based dips should work too

Merge_595 · Nov 10, 2024

JoJosReef said:
I began my reefing journey a few years ago as many do: visions of a pristine reef with wavy corals and anemones hosting natural instinct-competent clownfish. Maintenance of a pest-free environment was, of course, a top priority, and among those critters categorized as pests was the unsightly bristleworm. As the story goes, the first tank was problematic, and I eventually came around to embrace full ocean live rock and sand and all the critters that don't spell imminent death. Curiously, I went bristleworm-free until my third and current tank. They are fine They do a great job. Acceptable tenants... until they're not.

My question is, do bristleworms become problematic once they are very large? I've read that they regulate their own population based on availability of food, but will a large hungry bristleworm just let itself starve or begin to experiment with living foods? At some point, simple biomass would become a problem, no?

I don't harbor ill feeling toward them, but I also don't have any ethical dilemma in culling the population. I see them like an algae scrubber--removing some of them and turning them into fertilizer is essentially nutrient export.

This is one of the yasha goby's back doors. When I feed corals at the end of the day and the lights are dimming, these guys start pouring out like they're crawling out of the pits of hell! Some are becoming quite large.