Rainmaker69 Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Reading Karens "Everything died" thread and was wondering if Bristleworms can actually kill fish? Did not want to hi-jack so I started this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmith Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 The reading I've done has said they're a beneficial addition to your tank so I doubt they'd be able to go on a killing spree. I think they're more likely to clean up the mess after said killing spree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishBrain Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Beneficial as I understand aswell. So how many do you need for them to be UN-beneficial? I have TONS, some pushing 4" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pier Pressure Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 :smokey: Hey, guys, I thought this was quite a coincidence. I did some research on bristle worms and they are bad news. Can grow to be 24" long, attack corals and stuff, breed rapidly and take right over. That is why they sell those bristle worm traps. I also read a thread (sorry I do not have a link) where if a fish startles them they release those "bristles" into the fish and you have to remove them. I actually think that happened to somebody on canreef. Sorry I cannot be more specific with reference - I go into a bunch of different sites to get a general idea and can never remember where I got the info. Google bristle worms and a bunch of stuff will come up. No way did that little thing I saw kill all my livestock, though. Going hunting with a bottle trap just to see what happens. It would be nice to rule something out! Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmith Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 (edited) While I admit that the google search I just did did seem to come up with quite a few "bristle worms are bad" sites, I'm still going to stick with what I learned the last time I looked into them. The reason I looked into them in the first place is that I pulled a few from my tank: I posted the picture and asked about them on nano-reef.com and the few people who responded said they were fine. At that point I had already read enough posts and articles to think that myself. I put them back in and haven't noticed any problems...yet. Apparently "bristle worm" is used to describe thousands of species, most of which are harmless. There are "fireworms" which are bad but I haven't been able to find good comparison pictures. If you have them I think the odds are in your favour that they'll be okay, but it won't hurt to try to get them out. I didn't read all of this but at the end (5. Frequently posted questions) it says: Q: I've just noticed this ugly centipede-like worm crawling out of my sand/gravel/from under a rock -- is it dangerous?!A: Most likely not. As I mentioned above (several times) the vast majority of polychaetes are harmless, and many are beneficial to your tank. Unless the worm is more than ~6 inches in length OR approaching the diameter of a pencil, you shouldn't worry too much about having "bristleworms" in your tank. Remember that it is impossible to AVOID introducing some polychaete worms into a tank with live rock, and they're nearly always harmless. If the presence of the worms worries you, by all means keep an eye on them to see if they cause any real problems, but it is best to leave them alone until you see some evidence that they are causing trouble I also read that thread on canreef about a fish that swam into a hole in the live rock and came out with a face full of bristles. That had me worried but I think that's pretty rare. If, on the other hand, you run into something like this then you definitely have cause for concern. Edited April 22, 2007 by johnsmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murminator Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 I have never worried about bristle worms the are good for the tank and for attacking anything I think it is doubtful, but they will feed on dead stuff . When I was new into the SW I thought they were creepy and used to take them out but now they stay. The biggest one I have ever seen was a couple years ago about 4-5 inches stretched out and he is still in the tank somewhere :shock: At one frag meet I was doing a frag demo of some zoos and I pulled off around 30- 2 inchers from one rock and put them in the sump of the host of the party most people there have never seem that many before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pier Pressure Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Well going from this thread I am not going to worry about the two inch bristle worm I found in my saltwater set up. I also found a turquoise coloured slug thingy and he is super small, too. When I googled the bristleworms, of course all the bad stuff comes up first! No way did any of that kill my livestock. I think I may have just gotten carried away and overstocked the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noirsphynx Posted May 9, 2008 Report Share Posted May 9, 2008 I think I have a fire bristleworm in my tank and I'm definitely buying a trap to try and get him out before he gets bigger. I have also seen a white one but I'm not worried about him. I saw a pic of someone's hand on the net that had touched one so be careful, ouch. http://www.salt-city.org/showthread.php?t=667 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharuq1 Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 (edited) I've got some really long big bristleworms in my tank, and quite a few little ones as well. So far I have not seen coral damage that I could attribute to them, and they are awesome cleaner uppers. That being said though, my royal gramma looked like a dog that had found a porcupine a couple days ago. I did not remove the prickles, as I think I might do more harm than good, and today it looks like they have already dropped out. Will be keeping an eye on him. I believe one of the types of bristleworms that you need to look out for look like these: eunicid worm=bad news, watch for the 4 antennae, good bristles don't have 4 bearded fireworm by Mark Westermeir another fireworm Edited May 11, 2008 by Sam Chicklets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_sheebz Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 theres only certain types of bristleworms that will actually eat corals and fish.. i cant remember the name though, some kind of segmented worm. pink bristleworms are beneficial, they eat leftover food, mix sand...etc.. the only think bad about pink bristleworms are the nasty sting they give you haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_sheebz Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 theres only certain types of bristleworms that will actually eat corals and fish.. i cant remember the name though, some kind of segmented worm. pink bristleworms are beneficial, they eat leftover food, mix sand...etc.. the only think bad about pink bristleworms are the nasty sting they give you haha. ive had 20 inch bristleworms in the past, they were my babies haha. i think i have 1 left Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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