What is the best method to trap brittle worms ?

[reef93]

I think I have more than a hundred of them in my tank and they are HUGE and BOLD. They come out catching the mysis shrimp when I feed the fish. I tried to bait them with cooked shrimp put in a small container, but it looked like they never got in my trap. What can I do to get them ?

[spit.fire]

calcium hydroxide works pretty good for killing them haha

but if you're not careful you can nuke a tank with it, theres a few fish and inverts that will eat them but they wont come close to eliminating a population unfortunately.

[mark]

stop feeding your tank so much and the numbers will drop

[lastlight]

I was trying to catch my cleaner shrimp before I did a red bugs treatment. Inverted pop bottle which it sounds like you've tried. Just make sure it is wedged in a way that it slopes into and touches the rockwork. The worms will need to be able to go right from rock to bottle I think. I caught one of my massive ones but no shrimp.

For some reason I decided to toss it back in... I'm sure they cleanup well for a tank. My only regret was aimlessly tossing it back in. Landed on my favia and left a bunhc of bristles in its tissue for a few days.

Good luck!

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Use Krill, it works the best for me.

Make a trap out of a 2oz plastic container and lid like you would get for condiments from a fast food restraunt. Cut the lid with an "X" like the lid of a beverage cup for the straw. Push it in lightly so the "X" is pointing inwards. The night before you insert the trap, spot feed the fish, this way the worms will come out more cuz they are hungry.

Worked for me... Second choice is a coral banded shrimp, an Melenarous wrasses, and arrow crabs.

Ken - BWA

[Madreefer]

Put a peice of UNCOOKED shrimp in a nylon. The bristtle worms go in and cant get out.
http://www.aquariumlighting.com/reta...faf640ab20d29f
These work as well, i just put dry fish food in it as bait

[reef93]

Originally Posted by BlueWorldAquatic

Use Krill, it works the best for me.

Make a trap out of a 2oz plastic container and lid like you would get for condiments from a fast food restraunt. Cut the lid with an "X" like the lid of a beverage cup for the straw. Push it in lightly so the "X" is pointing inwards. The night before you insert the trap, spot feed the fish, this way the worms will come out more cuz they are hungry.

Worked for me... Second choice is a coral banded shrimp, an Melenarous wrasses, and arrow crabs.

Ken - BWA

I actually started to make a container trap last night because I couln't find the right one the night before. And guess what I got this morning ... a worm almost 10 inches long with a half inch width, plus another 4 fatty ones 6 inches long inside my trap A total of 5 from my harvesting. I caught the 10 inch that was themostwantedbiggestbugger living inside my rock right in front of the tank. It really makes my day, Ken Thank you so much, thank you ... I will continue to do that until all of them are gone. The next step is I am going to find a nylon material to add more traps for some small places too.

[RuGlu6]

Why are you trying to get rid of them?
They are good cleaners for your tank. Especially when food get trapped under rocks and pollute your water these guys are great help.
When i set up new tanks i always get these guys to help keep water clean.
Bristle worms are least of your worries, they don't touch corals or fish unless its dead, but then hey, you want them to eat the dead fish if you don't know about it it will pollute your water.

[reef93]

I wish I don't have any of them in my tank. Lots of different cleaning crew will do the same job for cleaning your tank, without having what looks like these creepy worms. l hope someone in the future can invent something that can kill them instantly inside your reef tank instead of baiting them out one by one.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by reef93

I wish I don't have any of them in my tank. Lots of different cleaning crew will do the same job for cleaning your tank, without having what looks like these creepy worms. l hope someone in the future can invent something that can kill them instantly inside your reef tank instead of baiting them out one by one.

Oh come on ! if something looks creepy does that mean we shuld kill it?
I think they are magnificent creatures ! when light hits them at right angle the show very nice colors !
Besides crabs and snails die off quickly when there is not enough debris and pollute even more. But worms are tough enough to survive hunger strikes.
http://www.bonaireinsider.com/images...Earle_0211.jpg
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http://www.frierworks.com/annelidsec...tle%20Worm.jpg
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http://lh6.ggpht.com/_pLMxhm76Dqw/RP...8/P1010023.jpg