Bristleworms good????

Bristle worms are part of a healthy marine system. Every tank has some to a certain degree. The more you feed the more you have. I have seen a couple post where individuals say they have none, maybe if your tank is young and you used dry rock and sand but eventually one will find it's way into your tank and it will reproduce.

They get a bad rep because when witnessed they are seen eating other tank inhabitants, well those tank inhabitants are dead or dying. Some people find bristle worms visually repulsive (sorry everything is not ballons, butterflies, in the real world, get over it).

If a hobbyist has an issue with an over abundance of bristle worms you can take some steps to decrease their numbers. Arrow crabs love to eat them, some wrasses like 6-line also enjoy munching on smaller worms. Most importantly decrease the available food source.

Not all Bristle worms aka Fire worms are reef friendly but the vast majority are, the exceptions happen but rarely.

JM2C

 

i have never taken any out of my tank but keep a close eye on my coral if they stop opening check under the coral this is my only worry i have a worm i named he's so big when i found him he almost gave me a heart attack he's well over 18" and has never ate my coral. now if you want to get rid of a few you don't have to kill them i have moved some from older tanks to new ones to help cuc just place a womans mesh stocking in the tank with some food and bingo just lift it out they get stuck in there just long enough to get them out, then take them to your lfs or see if he will take them ps i also believe they shift the dsb to the right amount of shifting to keep a dsb in great shape

 

Haha, that reminds me of this line:

"I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy..."