coraline and bristle worms

[michaeljr10wv]

K, so my 8g bio-cube has been running almost a year. I lost my clownfish a few months back. The tank has a few soft corals that are settling in.

Now my first question: I have coraline starting to grow on the live rock and the sides of the tank, but it's green...not the pretty reds/pinks i've seen...I don't dose anything...I do use reef crystals and do weekly water changes...how can i get the red to show up?

Now my second question: I'm over ran with bristle worms. I'm afraid to stick my hands in the tank. When I turn on the lights they are laying in the sand bed. What can i get to get them under control?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[greech]

Coraline comes in many colors (green, orange, red, purple, pink). You should start seing the purple/pink soon. Nothing you need to do unless you want to add some snails/hermits (or just their shells) or some rock rubble with purple coraline already on them. Scraping the coraline off the glass will also help it spread.

If you feel your BWs are out of control they sell traps but a mesh bag baited with a larger, meaty food will work too. Just drop the bag in right around the time the lights go off, check the bag with a flashlight in about and hour and pull the bag out. The mesh needs to be just big enough to allow the BWs to poke through and kind of get tangled in the mesh. I've heard panty hose works too because the bristles snag easily in the material. BWs are some of the best cleaners out there though so I would not recommend removing all of them.

 

[michaeljr10wv]

Thanks, can't wait for the other colors to fill in. the green is really growing...

Yes, my rocks are real clean...I just want to lower the popution..

Mike