I've got WAY TOO MANY BRISTLE WORMS!

[sfin52]

coral banded shrimp would be my first choice. A bristle worm trap may be another way to go

 

[Dennis Begley]

Bristle worms are a symptom of another issue, too much food, and not the problem. Other than they are ugly as hell, your tank apparently needs more clean up crew. My wife won't view my tank because of the worms I have. They serve a purpose. Remove the clean up crew and who deals with the excess waste in your tank. As long as none of them are catching your life fish I wouldn't worry about it. I have seen some in my tank that are 4-5" long. Wonder what I am not seeing?

 

[RJ F.]

My 6 line wrasse takes care of mine if I had any

 

[SDK]

This can be looked at two ways:

Generous feeding will increase the BW population in a given aquarium...

But also true:

High BW populations help facilitate generous feeding. Probably greatly increasing the amount you can feed without causing other issues..

I have personally never removed them, and let their population fluctuate to match what I am doing with a particular tank. If you are feeding heavily for whatever reason, these are very desirable residents to have in your CUC. Almost nothing else you can buy will scale up when needed like these will, and they are free if you start with good rock....

 

[stevieduk]

What is the best fish/invert to eat these guys?

your feeding to much , cut it down for a few weeks and they will eat each other

 

[Oldsalt]

You should be happy. They are doing a cleaning job for you.

http://www.oceanarium.com.au/item.toy?iid=650075

 

[Fourstars]

I wish I had a handful for my sump.

 

[Oldsalt]

I wish I had a handful for my sump.

Better in the display tank. Eventually may make it to the sump.

 

[Bob the Bass]

This can be looked at two ways:

Generous feeding will increase the BW population in a given aquarium...

But also true:

High BW populations help facilitate generous feeding. Probably greatly increasing the amount you can feed without causing other issues..

I have personally never removed them, and let their population fluctuate to match what I am doing with a particular tank. If you are feeding heavily for whatever reason, these are very desirable residents to have in your CUC. Almost nothing else you can buy will scale up when needed like these will, and they are free if you start with good rock....

your feeding to much , cut it down for a few weeks and they will eat each other

Unfortunately I am not the one who feeds the tank in question, just the one who does the dirty work. That being said I agree the bristle worms keep the tank clean but I don't have a lot of fish in the tank so I'm looking to add a few wrasses and inverts.

Just wondering what eats them not to irradiate them but just to monitor the enormous population.

 

[Oldsalt]

I have a 6 line wrasse and he does a great job eating the newer bristleworm arrivals. If I "accidentally" :eek:overfeed, the big ones come out when they feel safe. If they see my 6 line coming, they're gone fast!! My wrasse is smart. He bends around the corner and waits for one to become very extended while it's munching down on anything uneaten, then the he pounces and enjoys his catch. My bristleworm numbers stay pretty constant now that I've become a scheduled feeder. Their numbers are a good indication of excess nutrients.
Even though my tank is 350 gallons, I hesitate introducing another wrasse of any species. I have been trying to find a Neon Goby without luck here in Perth Western Australia. They are supposed to do an excellent job of cleaning other fish as opposed to the cleaner wrasse that almost always wind up dying too soon from hunger.

I'm guessing that almost any wrasse with a good reputation will do a good job eating excess bristleworms.

 

[Oldsalt]

I wish I had a handful for my sump.

Can they be bought in the USA? That link I put up is a local business about 2 hour's drive from me (Perth Western Australia). Mine were hitchikers on live Fiji reef rock.
It's frustrating here sometimes because I want to buy Chaeto that is for sale online and allowed into every state and territory except Western Australia!! Customs reckon that we reefers are to blame for Chaeto algae blooms so they ban its import. However, I tried to add some to my eBay Australia cart 10 days ago after giving up over the past 7 months and this time it was approved for shipment when I entered my address (I didn't get the notice that excepts WA this time!!). Maybe they've lightened up? I'm not questioning them either. I just got notice that it's arriving tomorrow. I just hope that it isn't accompanied by a man with handcuffs or booklet of fines.
BTW - the estuaries south of me have a lot of Chaeto growing, along with Gracilaria which Tangs love. I'm seriously thinking of taking a dip with a snorkel and net this weekend while it's still warm.