Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board  

Go Back   Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board > General > Reef

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-23-2004, 04:26 AM
Scavenger's Avatar
Scavenger Scavenger is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Nanaimo, British Columbia
Posts: 623
Scavenger is on a distinguished road
Default 20 gallon bristle worm control.

Well after seeing my new little reef through tough times (substrate change and not so sucessful fragging) I celebrated the fact I only lost the one leather coral by buying an nice chunk of tonga branch rock.

Well, well, well, about an hour before lights out, what did I see but about 10-20 one inch(ish) bristle worms crawl out to scope out their new digs.

Now what to do?

Coral Band Shrimp? Well he'd beat up on my smaller cleaner shrimp

Copperband Butterfly? Too Big and Too finicky for my fledgling nano.

Hawkfish? So far my favorite option. I think a longnose is the answer, but don't want to overload my system.

So far fishwise: I yellow coral (clown) goby. 1 false perc. 1 bangai cardinal. All so far are not to full size and I hope to move all to larger tank once constructed and set up. Guessing May(ish)


Any opinions on what I should do?I wish to use my 20 gallon to seed my larger tank when built, so I don't want to introduce a large population of bristle worm if possible.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 01-23-2004, 04:29 AM
LostMind LostMind is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Port Moody
Posts: 821
LostMind is on a distinguished road
Send a message via ICQ to LostMind
Default

Whats wrong with bristleworms?

Everything I have read about them says they are a vital part of your clean up crew. Your tank will sustain as many bristleworms as there is food for them, so unless you are doing something wrong, they shouldn't overrun the tank.

I even bought bristleworms from saltwaterconnection when I made an order there. I would be happy as a monkey in a banana tree if I saw bristleworms come on my rock.

But I am strange
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-23-2004, 04:46 AM
Scavenger's Avatar
Scavenger Scavenger is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Nanaimo, British Columbia
Posts: 623
Scavenger is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by LostMind
Whats wrong with bristleworms?

Everything I have read about them says they are a vital part of your clean up crew. Your tank will sustain as many bristleworms as there is food for them, so unless you are doing something wrong, they shouldn't overrun the tank.

I even bought bristleworms from saltwaterconnection when I made an order there. I would be happy as a monkey in a banana tree if I saw bristleworms come on my rock.

But I am strange
???? Whoo maybe I should read some more, all I have read lists them as a no no, bad thing, slash, reef pest. I'm quite new to reefing and have only others knowledge to draw on. If bristlworms are a benefit to the reef system, I would like to learn more. I could see them doing a cleaning job , but from what I've read, I thought they also ate coral fish and occational crustation.

Gee wizz I'm really starting to enjoy the challenges of reefing and I have a growing respect for those who have accumulated and share their knowledge in this area. I wonder though, how many would be reefers gave up before they had the internet to draw information from.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 01-23-2004, 04:51 AM
golden69_ca golden69_ca is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: edmonton ab
Posts: 175
golden69_ca is on a distinguished road
Send a message via MSN to golden69_ca
Default

i dont know how many people on the board go out and get books but a good investment is Reef invertebrates well worth it and it has a great section on worms .
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-23-2004, 05:43 AM
BCOrchidGuy BCOrchidGuy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Coquitlam, BC
Posts: 2,172
BCOrchidGuy is on a distinguished road
Default

There are some harmful bristleworms but in my opinion the pink/brown ones are fine, as long as they don't over run your tank then they just look ugly. Don't overfeed, and their numbers will stay in check.

Doug
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 01-23-2004, 05:52 AM
Aquattro's Avatar
Aquattro Aquattro is offline
Just a guy..
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Victoria, BC
Posts: 18,053
Aquattro is a jewel in the roughAquattro is a jewel in the roughAquattro is a jewel in the roughAquattro is a jewel in the rough
Default

Unless the worm is 3 feet long and eating things you'd rather it didn't, they are fine. I go to great lengths to get bristle worms in my tank...awesome cleanup crew.!!
__________________
Brad
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 01-23-2004, 06:32 AM
LostMind LostMind is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Port Moody
Posts: 821
LostMind is on a distinguished road
Send a message via ICQ to LostMind
Default

yah, the book reef inverts is where I found out that bristleworms are good.

Some people thought bristleworms were nasty critters because they ate the stuff that died. So people thought the bristleworms killed the dead animal, when it is very likely that the critter just died and the bristleworms are just doing their cleanup job
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 01-23-2004, 06:37 AM
smokinreefer's Avatar
smokinreefer smokinreefer is offline
Gold Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: burnaby,bc,canada
Posts: 1,441
smokinreefer is on a distinguished road
Send a message via MSN to smokinreefer
Default

yeah, id say keep em... they are great for a clean up crew...
now having said that... since ive never had a problem of not having enough of them... i seem to get bristles stuck in my fingers everytime i pick up a rock from my tank... then the worms seem to accidently drop in my toilet! oops! i just cleaned one of my return pumps and i found a bunch of em living in the pump housing!

when my buddies would come over they would always look around my tank and wait for the big suckers to start crawling around!

when i catch big ones i usually toss them... if there is a demand, i could sell them to you guys!! hahahha seriously though if you guys want them, i can let you know when i have caught a few big ones and you can come pick them up!
__________________
- S H A O -
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 01-23-2004, 06:38 AM
EmilyB's Avatar
EmilyB EmilyB is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Scenic Acres NW Calgary
Posts: 4,253
EmilyB is on a distinguished road
Default

Bristleworms - It's a good thing...
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 01-23-2004, 06:21 PM
slylie slylie is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Toronto
Posts: 1
slylie is on a distinguished road
Default

sell them.

Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 02:26 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.