bristle worms

[cmiani2002]

I noticed at least one bristle worm in the tank, and i have had quite a few snails, hermit crab and even 2 sally lightfoot die inesplicably.
I think there must be an infestation and probably a few quite large one too.
Anyone with success storied? what is the best treatment short of taking everithing out of the tank??
Thanks

[drummereef]

I HIGHLY doubt any bristleworms have killed your snails and crabs. Yes, they would do a good job of cleaning out the shells once they have died, but wouldn't kill them. There's something else going on in your tank that hasn't been examined. Can you post your water params?

[cmiani2002]

HMM.....well.i read that bristleworm may prey on snails and crustacean....but, what do I know????

My water parameter are:

Ph 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
nitrate 15
Calcium 400
salinity 1.024 (was at one point all the way up to 1,028, and tought that was the cause of death, but i brought it back down and afterward added a Sally Lightfoot that lasted less than a week, i acclimated for a little over one water)
temp 79
Tank is a nanocube 24 gal, typical setting with two CF light at 36W each.

[goldmaniac]

Related to this -

I have a Sand Sifting Starfish I originally put in my refugium. after about a month or two, I noticed some of his arms had been nibbled down a little bit, I'd guess 1/4 inch has been eaten off most of the arms.

I put the star in the main display tank, he's not any worse, but still not regenerating, and now all arms have been munched on.

I know i have lots of bristleworms in the refugium, and some in the 1" of sand in the display tank.

Bristleworms? anyone heard of bristleworms eating on a sand sifting star?

[gabegmonkey]

my best guess would be that the star is slowly disintegrating and the scavengers are eating the parts as they rot away... Bristleworms generally won't pose any predatory threat unless they're HUGE...(think 12-24 inches or longer)

[the other tang]

I have always been told that bw are good unless they are the big ole honkin red ones. Yes that is the scientific name, discovered by Bubba 1927. I do believe that is a good rule and have never had an issue with any bw in my tanks, they are good for clean up. Remember no food no worms, you control their population. I had a near infestation once, fed lightly for two weeks and fixed the proble,. I did see nitrates up a bit but it was not too bad.

[drummereef]

Originally posted by cmiani2002
HMM.....well.i read that bristleworm may prey on snails and crustacean....but, what do I know????

They will only prey upon them if they are dead or dying.

[Lev F.]

You may have Oenone fulgida (sp?), it looks like a bristleworm, and it preys on mollusks.

[Reefer Steve]

I beleive there is only one species out of the thousands that can actually do any real damage. I've read several articles also stating that bristleworms lack a jaw. That being said I dont see how they could kill much of anything. They feed off carrion.

[goldmaniac]

ok, so I had never thought bristleworms would prey on a sand sifting star, I never tried to control BWs in my 'fuge, thought they were generally good, and good to hear from others that I'm not wrong. thanks everyone.

Still wondering what's happening to my star, but that's not for this thread...

\no hijack

G.

[plyle02]

I have tons of inverts, SPS corals, Clams, Fish, etc..... I also have some very large bristleworms, in fact tons of them.... Please feel free to send me any that you want to remove from your tank, I will gladly find them a home in my tank, lol... I too, used to think they were feeding on my inverts, but they only clean up the messes left behind. In fact, bristleworms help keep my tank, sand and LR looking premium. You are probably victim to some other prey type invert that has gone unnoticed in your tank. The addition of a six-line wrasse will help keep populations in check, but I would not remove these wonderful scavengers from your tank. Just my experiences and opinion......

[goldmaniac]

agreed; my six-line wrasse does a great job keeping my display tank in good/great shape.