Bristle worms

[FishyFishy!]

The big thing is that they eat detritis. When I find that they are overpopulating my display, I pull them out and put them in my sump/fuge, or get a 6 line to eat them up. I find them harmless (until you get poked by one... then I hate them).

The only time that I worry about them is if they are massive (bigger than 4" long or 1/2 cm thick) or if they look like fire or enucid worms, then they get flushed.

[Karsten]

I had the same issue. it turnned out I was feeding too much which aided in their fast reproduction

[asylumdown]

not sure it would be possible to do anything about them, even if you wanted to. They're pretty prolific, so even if you are removing every one you see, you're likely not even making a dent in their overall population. If you've got one, you've got thousands.

[Dearth]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

not sure it would be possible to do anything about them, even if you wanted to. They're pretty prolific, so even if you are removing every one you see, you're likely not even making a dent in their overall population. If you've got one, you've got thousands.

I recently took a rock out of my tank and turned it from live rock to dead rock over a course of a few weeks it was very porous and once the worms came tumbling out looking for a new home I counted over 300 worms that I could see most were less than an inch in length with only 14 over 5 inches so yea once they are in your tank your stuck with them whether you want them or not

[Aquattro]

I would pay for a bag of bristle worms! Not one to be seen in my tank.

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I would pay for a bag of bristle worms! Not one to be seen in my tank.

seriously? I can count about... 700 from where I'm sitting at my dining room table. You name a price and I'll ship you a tank full lol.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

If you've got one, you've got thousands.

so true. i see the odd one during the day and a few more when the moonlights are on. but i have a rock wall on the back of my tank and i can look behind all that rockwork anytime i want. the back is loaded with these guys.