Bristle worm trap

[TomToro]

I have an epidemic of bristlworms. I'm not talking about the small red or grey ones, I'm talking about huge 4 to 5 inchers all over the tank and they're multiplying fast. I'll post a pic of a 4 incher after I beg for advice.

Anybody make a trap to catch these things that won't catch all my small fish or shrimp?

Also my lfs said these bristleworms will eat my peppermint shrimp. Anybody heard of that? I've had a cleaner shrimp in there for a long time with no problems. This is the same guy that told me to use large Arrow crabs to get rid of my aiptasia. I have lots of leather, zoas, sps and lps in there. I thought I heard they would rip the corals open.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Germanman]

thats just a big regular bristle worm they can get to be over a foot long. at that size though they run out of food and start to eat what they can get. ur corals should be safe as long as they arnt hurt. id just buy a trap(but im lazy that way) i bought one and caught the population under control real fast. aslo arrow crabs will eat the worms but also dusters and some soft corals sometimes. sixline wrasse will eat small bristle worms and that way the babies cant grow up lol. i have one and it takes care of them good i just have a few here and there not as many as i used to.

 

[GVR-4579]

When they are that big i would say a needle nose pliers is your best friend. I purchased an arrow crab to help with mine, i have also used a sixline wich i think is the better alternative but yours are a bit on the large side for that. You could try making a trap out of a 20oz bottle for those larger ones, just cut the top off and insert itbackwards in the bottle, bait with some krill or something. I would just check it frequently and release anything you want to keep ASAP