I don’t have Bristle Worms, I have Bristle SNAKES

[MichaelReefer]

Ahhh! Napalm them!

 

[Pkunk35]

Wow those are huge and I would love to see an arrow crab eat that thing.

I used to have really long bristleworms in my tank and were very difficult to catch out because they would never fully leave their rock being able to stretch across almost my whole tank (a 20g).

I can tell you that mine would dive into acans mouths to eat food I had given and is pretty horrifying to watch and why i started to remove them with tweezers.

Good luck with getting them out!

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Wow those are huge and I would love to see an arrow crab eat that thing.

I used to have really long bristleworms in my tank and were very difficult to catch out because they would never fully leave their rock being able to stretch across almost my whole tank (a 20g).

I can tell you that mine would dive into acans mouths to eat food I had given and is pretty horrifying to watch and why i started to remove them with tweezers.

Good luck with getting them out!

Ah! That’s awful. Mine haven’t started stealing that I know of. I definitely don’t have any predators for them in this tank though. I will be doing lots of night hunting though!!

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Something simple and cheap I have tried in the past is using something like a small pipe with a piece of pantyhose attached to the other end with some food in it. When the worms go in they get stuck. I have never tried it on ones that size though.

That’s a good idea! My nephew tried fishing for them yesterday by holding an algae chip with some tweezers outside one of their holes & another set of tweezers in the other hand. They’re quick if you don’t get them right away & amazingly strong.
I’m worried about not getting the whole thing and potentially ripping it where there are toxins or other nasties released. Also, I think most worms with segments are able to grow new worms if they’re broken.
just typing this is making my skin crawl.

 

[boacvh]

Wow. Can't believe the size!

Perfect thread for you @djvicariboston !

 

[Brit’s Fish]

I feel you here! I had a few “bristle pythons” in my tank that have either died off or are much less active now that I’ve backed off on my feeding. I never had any issues with the big guys... only had one bristle worm that I think was a fire worm munch on some zoas. I actually liked the little monsters...

At some point, they grow large enough that they’re just “pets”. Lol that guy is HUGE!!

 

[Mono]

Are there any fish like a wrasse that will eat them and keep their population under control???

 

[mjleffler]

I know! I actually miss seeing him roam around... hopefully he’s doing okay somewhere in the rockwork of my 20gal

 

[king aiptasia]

I’m not sure how I should go about handling these giant guys. I have Bristle SNAKES... I can’t even call these 6-7”+ guys worms. My tank is a 7 month old 13.5 gallon Fluval Evo. These guys only live in one of the 3 rocks (that I know of) because one is a CaribSea LifeRock arch that doesn’t have the kind of holes they like, the other is creating a sort of bridge & is way off the substrate. The substrate is crushed coral, so I’m sure they’re loving that.

They just live in this one large piece of purple live rock. The only corals actually attached to the rock are some GSP and Xenias, so I would not be sad about parting with them. The rock is full, I mean FULL, of anthropods and probably plenty of other types of pods that I see on my glass all the time. I’d miss them but they’ll regenerate from what’s left.

I’m sure you can guess where this is going... do I just throw this rock out? These guys are HUGE. I have seen as many as 4 of them, all about the same size out after the lights go out. I can’t catch them with tweezers because they’re surprisingly strong and fast. I have never seen a single baby bristle worm like I have in another tank. I think these guys are out-competing any competition they might have. One of them is cohabitating with my High Fin Goby and pistol shrimp. They don’t seem to bother each other except that my goby got “bristled” the other day and had a few of them in his face and on top of his head. They’re gone now & he’s fine.

What would you do if you were me?

id pick em all up and mail them to me in new jersey lol

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Are there any fish like a wrasse that will eat them and keep their population under control???

Reportedly, 6 line wrasses will eat them but you never know if the one you get will eat them or not. I’m sure that other, larger wrasses would pick them off too. These guys could practically wrestle a wrasse lol

 

[Brit’s Fish]

id pick em all up and mail them to me in new jersey lol

Oh geez! I could send you tons of little ones.

 

[king aiptasia]

Reportedly, 6 line wrasses will eat them but you never know if the one you get will eat them or not. I’m sure that other, larger wrasses would pick them off too. These guys could practically wrestle a wrasse lol

I would not be concerned by these guys at all, they get bigger the longer they live and they are just cleaning your tank for you

 

[Mical]

If you get tired of trapping them, 6 line wrasse will devour them. In my 60 gal I had live rock from the Caribbean and within weeks I had thousands, I mean thousands! It was a horror show after lights out. Trapped hundreds daily but disposing of them was just as much of a nightmare. Bought a 6 line based on rec's here and he tripled in size in weeks and eliminated 90% of bristleworms.

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

I feel you here! I had a few “bristle pythons” in my tank that have either died off or are much less active now that I’ve backed off on my feeding. I never had any issues with the big guys... only had one bristle worm that I think was a fire worm munch on some zoas. I actually liked the little monsters

That is insane.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

I feel you here! I had a few “bristle pythons” in my tank that have either died off or are much less active now that I’ve backed off on my feeding. I never had any issues with the big guys... only had one bristle worm that I think was a fire worm munch on some zoas. I actually liked the little monsters...

Disgusting.

 

[Hermie]

Dude, I know this doesn't help much but I witnessed a hilarious interaction the other night, something caught my eye floating near the substrate, I thought it was a large flatworm, so I watched it for a second. A nearby zebra hermit crab (1cm) reached out and snagged it like it a kid netting a fly, the crab appeared confused for a second wondering just what it caught. It was a 1" bristleworm. The crab tried to take a bite out of the worm but immediately dropped it and ran away. It was hilarious.

 

[TheOldSalt]

I've never seen a very huge bristle worm like these in my tanks. Maybe 4 inches or so, tops.

I did have a Palolo worm, once, though. He was almost 5 FEET long!

 

[Mical]

That is insane.

This is a bristleworm nightmare ->

 

[king aiptasia]

I've never seen a very huge bristle worm like these in my tanks. Maybe 4 inches or so, tops.

I did have a Palolo worm, once, though. He was almost 5 FEET long!

jealous, my biggest prize has only made it to 5 inches after a year of many snacks

 

[Brit’s Fish]

This is the one I’m gunning for tonight. He’s too big to go down a straw into a trap. Mind you, just the part I can see is 5” long. Considering the grip he had on the rock, I’m betting there’s a lot more in there. Yuck.