Is it better to have worms?

[Earl Karl]

So in my 29 gallon macroalgae tank, I have a healthy population of bristle worms. But I also have fireworms and I literally saw a big one chasing after my turbo snail and chomped it. The snail could not beat it with its turbo speed, but I got rid of the worm before it killed it. However I have a weird setup. My macroalgae tank only has an air filter, mainly to get the pH up. There really is no filtration besides the tons of macroalgae, crocea clam, and live rock, so detritus settles on the rocks (not on the sand due to good flow). I have micro brittle stars and bristle worms that do a good job consuming the detritus. But I am afraid that one day the fireworms will go after my clam. I plan on buying a six-line or coral banded shrimp (still deciding), to take care of these guys. However, is it worth getting rid of these worms? I know they won't eat them all, but I have heard their effectiveness.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yea, I don’t like it when they get big.

look into the worm traps. There is such a thing as too much.

Prettty cheap and effective.

 

[Earl Karl]

Oh, I completely forgot about those. Thanks!

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

I only worry about the big ones. They can get predatory. Fire worms or bristle worms in my experience. I don't try to get them all out, just the trouble makers. I feel like getting them all out would be next to impossible.

 

[Tahoe61]

Are you sure these are common bristleworms. I have had huge ones and never believed it capable of killing a snail or a Tridacna. They clean up decaying tissue from already dead or dying inverts but never had a bristleworm be predatory.

 

[XNavyDiver]

I've got a bunch in the refugium but as far as I can tell I don't have any really big ones, maybe 1-2 inches are the biggest I've seen and the do a great job of keeping things clean.

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

They don't prefer to be predatory but as they get bigger they need more food. If their preferred foods aren't available or just aren't cutting it for what ever reason, then they look for other foods. It's that or starvation. I don't have fish in my tank so I don't feed any foods therefore no scraps for them to clean up. If they can't live off of snail detritus or algae, then they are going to hate my tank. I don't think I currently have any larger than 2 inches long, but I don't usually seem them go predatory until they reach 4 inches at least.

 

[Dogtown]

I’ve never liked worms in a tank. Sure, they might help with clean up crew work but worms aren’t what I keep a tank for. A little prazi pro will kill them. Just have to be careful And go slow cause you don’t want to kill them off too fast. Others who were not careful created an ammonia spike. Might be worth reading up on for ya.