Bristle Worms

I just did a thorough cleaning of my tank and sump this weekend. When I removed a large portion of Cheato (couple handfuls) there were two dozen or more bristle worms that came to the top of the ball that I was throwing away.

My question is: Should I have pulled them out and placed them back in the fuge?

I don't want to start a big debate, but are they better off out of the tank, or part of a diverse clean up crew?

Thanks,
Richard

I dont think i would have taken the time to pull them out of the cheato but they are just fine in a tank. They are great member of the clean up crew and are a great indicator of how clean the tank is. If your seeing a ton of them then your either feeding too much or not cleaning up the uneaten food/fish poo.

Thanks! I didn't realize that I even had any in the fuge area, so I'll make sure to keep it cleaner in the future. If I've got them in the fuge, then I've got them in the DT as well. I'll have to do some late night looking again (it's been a while since I've sat in front of the tank at night).

I like em. I have them in my main tank. I won't get rid of them unless they get almost a foot long and start causing problems. I'm going to put them in my sump to help down there too when I get it up and going.

Originally Posted by rgrking

I like em. I have them in my main tank. I won't get rid of them unless they get almost a foot long and start causing problems. I'm going to put them in my sump to help down there too when I get it up and going.

A foot long? WOW!!!! The longest I have seen were just about two inches or so. I can't imagine seeing a foot long worm in the tank....lol

Ive seen one crawling around my tank that was close to 18" long fully stretched out. I left him in there.


I have never intentionally removed a bristle worm. I think they are a very valuable member of the clean up crew, they keep the sand clean, the rocks clean, they take care of any fish unfortunate enough to not make it - in about a night I might add.

I've never had one cause any problems except for a sore finger because I didn't see it sitting there when I grabbed the rock.

I've been lucky not to get the bristles in my hand. I've held them a couple times, but I've became really careful now every time I put my hand in the tank.

Yea I wouldnt wory about bristel worms either, some times they will agrivate a softie coral if they try living under the coral but they wont hurt anything ,My small tank looks like something from the movie trimmors when I feed!!

They definitely are part of the clean up crew as long as they are kept in check. I have seen posts of some several feet long and was eating everything in the tank! I had quite a few foot long ones when fully stretched out in my 120g when it was setup. I put them all in the sump, great to get any wastes that my skimer didn't pick up and couldn't cause any harm down there.

well I HATE those ugly disgusting worms .......but they are good for the tank so I just put on super-duper heavy gloves when handling live rock ....and now I want to take a night to sit up late and check out the late-night tank critters .......we used to do it all the time but guess it got old after losing too much sleep......but every now and then is fun!

I also like the idea of putting the bigger ones in the sump........have you noticed any big ones popping out when feeding? do the girls like them?

Found any more monsters yet? I need to do a spring cleaning on mine.

I've not found any "monsters" but I haven't been hunting them either. I do see several start coming out of the rock work in the DT at feeding time. I guess it's a good thing to help keep any extra food from breaking down...

As for the girls liking them... NO! They think they're ugly and "icky"...lol

I found one tonight that was about 4" and put it in the sump. they are icky lol

I have them but any thing bigger then a couple inches are coming out of my main tank if I can get them in the sump is fine. After they get so big they can be a little grumpy.

I try and keep them in check. No matter what you do you will have them. I do have a peppermint shrimp that goes to town on them when they come out to eat. i will remove any that are 1.5 to 2 inches long. barbara is right they are ugly.

I actually have a question on this topic. I know I have some in my fuge, as I have seen them there. The only way they would have to make it to my DT though would be to somehow make it up through the return pump. Do you think they would survive that, or is it safe to say I may never have them in my DT?

anything is possible. I would bet there's a chance they can do that. They are really small at one point in their life.

Originally Posted by rgrking

anything is possible. I would bet there's a chance they can do that. They are really small at one point in their life.

Ok. I guess we will just wait and see.

Originally Posted by adamstipo

I actually have a question on this topic. I know I have some in my fuge, as I have seen them there. The only way they would have to make it to my DT though would be to somehow make it up through the return pump. Do you think they would survive that, or is it safe to say I may never have them in my DT?

I wouldn't assume that you don't have them. I would just assume that you don't see them. Remember that they can come smaller than you will notice and if you have any live rock, you probably had a hitch hiker or two.

Originally Posted by infamous6969

I wouldn't assume that you don't have them. I would just assume that you don't see them. Remember that they can come smaller than you will notice and if you have any live rock, you probably had a hitch hiker or two.

Well I have tons in my fuge I know that because I have seen them. The thing is I only have LR in my fuge not in my DT. I started with all DR in my DT. I guess we will see over time if they can survive the trip up the return pump. If they are anything like earth worms then they will take a trip up the pump, get chopped up and then I have several worms from one lol.