Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Hello Bob,
I would like to know if you could please give me some information on bristle worms. I have recently found one in my aquarium and know where it lives. Does it really do any harm to an aquarium? I haven't got any corals, only a Heteractis magnifica and some Discosoma, so I don't know exactly what it feeds upon, although I seem to remember reading something about them being real reef pests. In any case, is there any animal (fish, shrimp, other invert...) that can eat them and does it multiply rapidly?
Thank you for all your help.
Anthony Dadas - England
Dear Anthony,
Almost everyone who has live rock in their aquarium has bristle worms. These polychaete worms come into the aquarium inside live rock and can grow large enough, i.e., about 25 cm, to damage corals, anemones, and clams. Aquariums with substrate that are overfed are very good breeding grounds for these unwanted pests. However, if this bristle worm is less than 5 cm, it should not be a problem. In fact, the bristle worm/fire worm, is one of the best scavengers in the aquarium. Yet, keep in mind it has poisonous setae or hair-like spines along its sides. If handled, these hair-like spines can easily break off and cause a painful experience if you pick one up without gloves.
If they do become large and noticeable, it is time to bait them out. I recommend taking a whiffle ball and inserting a piece of defrosted shrimp/fish flesh and wrapping the ball loosely with a lot of plastic fishing line. Use enough fishing line so the worm has some difficulty in finding its way through it to get to the bait in the center of the ball. Place the ball, weighted with a small weight, on top of a large net at the bottom of the aquarium late in the evening. Early, "very" early next morning, the worms should be intertwined/feeding on the bait. Simply grab the handle of the net and lift the whole affair out of the aquarium.
Another fairly good method in removing these pests is using a short length, i.e., about 10 inches, of PVC pipe. Drill some holes in its surface near each end, then place a piece of defrosted shrimp flesh in the center of the pipe and fill each end of the pipe with Eheim Ehfifix media. This course plastic media makes it slightly difficult for the worm to make its way to the center bait. Once there, the worm feeds and grows fatter and will find it extremely difficult to get out if you have used the right amount of media. By lifting out the length of pipe early in the morning and pushing a rod through the pipe, any worms inside can easily be extracted. There are also small traps used for trapping fish and/or unwanted crabs. They can also be baited and used to capture these pests.
Natural predators for small worms include the Banded Coral shrimp, Arrow Crab, the Dottyback Pseudochromis dutoiti/fridmani, and the Flame Hawk.
Hope this helps,
Bob Goemans
