More bristle worm questions (1 Viewer)

[BP]

Hello everyone,
I would like to know if anyone, besides myself, has been a victim of the bristle worm mafia. I put about 3 peppermint shrimp into my 20 gallon fishless tank and everything was fine. About 15 minutes later, the worms had wrapped around the shrimp and the crabs were coming from all over. Maybe it was not the worms that time but I know for a fact that they ate my large hawaiian feather duster over the course of about 3 months. I would like to put more shrimp in but I hate losing money that way. Any suggestions on removing these darn worms, or atleast get rid of quite a few.

Thanks,
Brandon

 

[Guest]

You could try luring them out with food and just picking them out one by one.

 

[Guest]

About 15 minutes later, the worms had wrapped around the shrimp and the crabs were coming from all over.
Never seen nor heard of that. Do it again and get some pictures, Peps are $2 in season and I am sure Dr. Ron would love to see it. Were the lights off? Bristle Worms usually come out at night

Maybe it was not the worms that time but I know for a fact that they ate my large hawaiian feather duster over the course of about 3 months.
Highly doubt it probally slowly died because of lack of food. What were you feeding it?

Trying to help,
Tom

 

[Guest]

get yourself a cbb(coperband butterfly) mine not only took out my aiptasia like a charm but my bristle worms too! i havent had a problem with them since, although i gotta admit, i do kinda miss them seeing as how they are a fantastic addition to the cleanup crew.

hope it helps, steve

 

[BP]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm not really looking to add a fish that size to the tank though. I've had it set up over two years now and still haven't added a fish since my mandarin died( over a year ago).

Tom,
I don't want to waste any more money on the peps if they aren't gonna make it but I'll try adding them when the season comes around. As far as the feather duster goes, I had him about 6 months or so but we he could not go in his tube that's when I realized he didn't have much tube left. I pulled the tube out of the rock and found several bristle worms touching/eating on him. That's why I figured they must be the culprits. As for feeding, I was trying to target feed for a while with brine for the whole tank but then started feeding Phytoplankton, you know that green liguid from Kent. I don't think he liked that too much though because when the current brought it to him he would close up and go into his tube.

Thanks for reading,
Brandon