Uh, oh.

[Drumachine09]

Well, i took the plunge and went out and got a mushroom coral. on the ride back, i noticed a small red worm on my peice of LR that it is attatched to. I googled it, and turns out, i have bristle worms. i am still drip acclimating, so they arent in my tank yet, and i KNOW they are bad. I have posted this on a reef forum, but it is not frequented as often. The only thing i have found is that the traps in the stores dont work. Are they safe to touch? or do i need tweezers? how do i kill them?

[Drumachine09]

Well, i took the plunge and went out and got a mushroom coral. on the ride back, i noticed a small red worm on my peice of LR that it is attatched to. I googled it, and turns out, i have bristle worms. i am still drip acclimating, so they arent in my tank yet, and i KNOW they are bad. I have posted this on a reef forum, but it is not frequented as often. The only thing i have found is that the traps in the stores dont work. Are they safe to touch? or do i need tweezers? how do i kill them?



Well, i called the lady at the LFS and she said it will actually help you tank. I have so many conflicting opions, its stressing me out. REPTILE GUY! COME SAVE ME!

[Rue]

...don't know whether to offer congrats or condolences...

[Drumachine09]

...don't know whether to offer congrats or condolences...
Well, i figured that if someone said they were bad, and they make traps to remove them, i might as well get rid of it. I thought i had one. I had 5. I put the LR chunk in a tupperware full of tank water, and used a pair of tweezers to pull them off of the rock, and a razor blade to cut them in half lateraly, and then i trashed them. my coral iis now sitting on my dead rock that i bout today, and it is still closed. Hopefully it will open soon, because i want to see it!

[unleashed]

Don't worry about bristle worms. They clean up fish waste etc and just add to the biodiversity to the tank. However, you may want to remove larger ones as they can look unsightly and have been known to attack corals. I currently have some in my tank which are nearly a foot long.

As for removing them, if they are small, you can buy special bristle worm traps from your lfs.

When it comes to larger ones, all you need is an old soda bottle without the lid. Submerge it and make sure it sits on the bottem with the open nozzel on (preferably) or near a piece of LR. put in some bait (mussel, clam, shrimp etc) just before you turn out the lights. Come back a few hours after the light has been turned off and voila! trapped bristle worms.

[Drumachine09]

Well, i got it all figured out. Heres a pic of shamus (my damsel) and his shroom. Its the purply blob on the end of the grey blob...lol


[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Rue]

Shamus is adorable...and so is the blob, er I mean the 'shroom...

[Drumachine09]

Shamus is adorable...and so is the blob, er I mean the 'shroom...



ShHHHH, the blob is insecure!

[2manyfish]

Shamus is adorable and your mushroom will be nice looking too when it stops being so shy!

Bristleworms are good. The only worms you don't want are fireworms and euchnids (sp? it's late, I'm tired and I can't spell and not going to look it up either!) which are different from the bristleworms. Those will eat corals and the euchnids will get friggin huge!!! So don't kill the regular bristleworms next time. And just so you know if you touch them you can get the bristles stuck in your hand. They won't harm you but they are irritating, much like the very small needles on a cactus. To remove them you can either carefully dry the area and use duct tape to take them out or you can use vinegar to dissolve them (like in a bowl or on a cloth to soak the area). But they won't bite you or anything...

[Drumachine09]

Shamus is adorable and your mushroom will be nice looking too when it stops being so shy!

Bristleworms are good. The only worms you don't want are fireworms and euchnids (sp? it's late, I'm tired and I can't spell and not going to look it up either!) which are different from the bristleworms. Those will eat corals and the euchnids will get friggin huge!!! So don't kill the regular bristleworms next time. And just so you know if you touch them you can get the bristles stuck in your hand. They won't harm you but they are irritating, much like the very small needles on a cactus. To remove them you can either carefully dry the area and use duct tape to take them out or you can use vinegar to dissolve them (like in a bowl or on a cloth to soak the area). But they won't bite you or anything...


Its hard to tell. I get so much conflicting info, i dont know who to trust. i just (by accident) started a war on another forum as to " are bristle worms good or not". Thanks for the help. I think i saw another one of the little buggers in the tank, so hes still hanging around.

[unleashed]

i got stung by a worm once and my arm was paralyzed for a whole day. Never knew what kind though

"2manyfish" is right. You should never get rid of regular bristle worms until they get big. As I have said before, big bristle worms = bad and small bristle worms = good

[Drumachine09]

i got stung by a worm once and my arm was paralyzed for a whole day. Never knew what kind though

"2manyfish" is right. You should never get rid of regular bristle worms until they get big. As I have said before, big bristle worms = bad and small bristle worms = good


note to self: stay away from worms. lol

If i got paralyzed, no one would fine me for about 12 hours. Im content in my room with my laptop and my 2, soon to be 3 fishtanks.

[unleashed]

note to self: stay away from worms. lol

If i got paralyzed, no one would fine me for about 12 hours. Im content in my room with my laptop and my 2, soon to be 3 fishtanks.
just remember. If you get a bristle worm's bristles in your body, use vinegar to remove them, nothing else. You see, vinegar is an acid and the bristles are calcium which gets dissolved in acid.

[Drumachine09]

just remember. If you get a bristle worm's bristles in your body, use vinegar to remove them, nothing else. You see, vinegar is an acid and the bristles are calcium which gets dissolved in acid.


Neat! Ill have to remember that! I dont plan on handleint them though. Dangint, ilooked over and shamus knockd over the shroom. Dumb fish, lol

[Chrona]

Neat! Ill have to remember that! I dont plan on handleint them though. Dangint, ilooked over and shamus knockd over the shroom. Dumb fish, lol

Or perhaps dumb owner for not cementing it ;)

[Drumachine09]

Or perhaps dumb owner for not cementing it ;)


Or maybe it was the smartarse on the other side of the countries fault:hmm3grin2orange:

[unleashed]

Also, if you ever think of getting Zoanthid polyps, never ever touch them. The slime they produce is extremely toxic and even if the smallest amount finds its way into your body (into a cut, mouth, nose, ear etc) it could kill you. A reefer I know was recently hospitalised and was in a coma for two weeks due to Zoanthids.

Apart the above, Zoanthids are real pretty.

[unleashed]

Also, if you ever think of getting Zoanthid polyps, never ever touch them. The slime they produce is extremely toxic and even if the smallest amount finds its way into your body (into a cut, mouth, nose, ear etc) it could kill you. A reefer I know was recently hospitalised and was in a coma for two weeks due to Zoanthids.

Apart the above, Zoanthids are real pretty.

[Drumachine09]

Also, if you ever think of getting Zoanthid polyps, never ever touch them. The slime they produce is extremely toxic and even if the smallest amount finds its way into your body (into a cut, mouth, nose, ear etc) it could kill you. A reefer I know was recently hospitalised and was in a coma for two weeks due to Zoanthids.

Apart the above, Zoanthids are real pretty.

I saw some pictures of some guy wanting to trade some pretty pink zoas. They look so neat, but i imagine they are extremely expensive.