over run with bristle worms!

[eddthompson]

i only have a small tank, 30 us gallons or so, and last night i pulled out 8 bright red bristle worms all over 4 inches, one stretched looked almost 10" !!

am i being paranoid? my tank has been fine test wise for nearly 2 years, but i have had a couple of fish die, all the coral, critters and cleaner shrimp have been fine, just the fish that make a habit of sleeping in the rocks with the bristle worms, could the worms be fish killers?

at night all you can see is bristle worms :thud:

edd

 

[sapgranth25]

some people will say it well could be bristle worms that are killing your fish & some people wont it`s a 50/50 thing with bristle worms as im in paranoid state at the moment about bristle worms as for months my coarls have been fine but the last two nights my star pol is getting eaten & last night & the night before i`ve seen a bristle worm on it now im considering a arrow head crab to rid a few bristle worms then i`ll take the arrow head back As i do see the plus side to bristle worms cleaning wise i just think i got the odd naughty one

 

[sapgranth25]

did you have a good look at the dead fishes? was there any marks on them?
because
from what i`ve been reading & seen pictures of if a bristle worm has killed your fish it may have left its bristles on the dead fish are slices so it can get inside & eat the fish etc

 

[eddthompson]

well, the dead fish was a carcass, pretty much stripped bare. fish alive the night before, fish a white carcass the day after.

its only realy one fish i have my suspisions over, a dwarf angel that rested in the rocks. but the wrasse that also sleeps in the rocks has been fine.

the other fish losses can be attributed to me going on holiday (why cant people look after fish tanks properly!!)

im now down to 3 fishes the worst loss was one of my clown fish, but that one was always a bit ropey, deformed and swam funny, i should have taken it back to the store but it became known as nemo due to haveing the deformed fin.

edd

 

[sapgranth25]

may only be a one off but if you have a fair few bristle worms then build a trap catch a few erm people say its to do with feeding them why you get so many maybe true so cut back on feeds are feeding as much food in one go...

BRISTLE :shark: WORMS
GETTING
NAUGHTY

 

[Crown Royal]

Most bristle worms are useful scavengers who get unfairly blamed for "killing" things.

Feed less and most of them should simply starve to death.

 

[fishcatch22]

hmmmmmm..... yeah, I think less feedings would help kill those red devils off. AH crabs work, too.

 

[Max]

Most varieties are harmless. They are excellent scavengers and if you did have a dead fish there would be bristles on it shortly no matter how it died. I'd listen to crown the less food their is in a tank the slower they reproduce.
hth

 

[eddthompson]

i feed very little though, probably half a frozen cube per day, and i dont switch off any filtration.

in the mornings i use a tiny but of marine flake which the fish eat, very little waste.

edd

 

[Max]

If you're feeding that small of an amount you probably won't have that many of them then. y A few species are pests but, most are harmless to living, healthy critters.
hth
Chris
p.s.
lol,love your sig!