Okay, they're officially becoming a problem

Sarra

Sarra

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Dec 8, 2007
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I found a 13" bristle worm in my tank tonight. It stretched from the back of the tank tot he front of the tank, and had 4" left over! My pistol shrimp is going crazy snapping at the 4 or 5 larger bristles that are invading his home under a rather large rock, and his partner goby has been biting them like crazy.

Other than baiting the huge suckers out with food then grabbing them with tweezers, what options would I have with a 10 gallon tank in removing the largest ones? I don't mind having 10 - 15 smaller ones, but having more than 5 of these worms that are longer than 6" is a bit much. And for the record, i have no clue what thye're surviving on, I barely feed enough for my goby and shrimp, the rest eat algae or are filter feeders.

Edit, I do target feed my star as well so it doesn't get too hungry.

I'm worried that my goby will get injured by one of these massive worms.

Tank specs: 2X 10 gallon tanks linked via pump, numerous hermits, 2X porcelain crab, 1X huge mitrax crab, Yellow Rose Antenna Goby, pistol shrimp, some random small coral, and one sand sifting starfish.
 
Yup, that is a problem to me as well. Traps are simple and easy to make, but for around $10 the coralife bristleworm trap with bait works fantastic as well. When I used it in a tank infested I was catching about 30 worms a day with it, one worm every 10-15 minutes.
 
Okay, soda bottle it is.
 
how about adding an arrow crab or some type of small wrasse?? you might still need to trap the larger worms, but the crab/fish would help with the smaller ones for sure. i used to have an arrow crab, and he always had something in his claws he was nibbling on.
 
I think Arrow Crabs need more than 10 gallons. I also don't want it messing with my reef critters, Zoas and such.
 
i was just thinking you could get a small one and take it back to lfs after your bristle worms were under control. a lot of people do that with sea hares and other nudis for algae control. mine never messed with my other critters, but i never had corals while i had him, so i don't have any advice for you there. i hope you are able to get rid of them! i have several in both of my tanks, and i want to do clams/scallops someday, so i know i've got to get rid of them before i do that...
 
turkey basters are great weapons as well! you have to be sneaky, but i caught a ton of bristles with one when i had an issue in my old 20g.
 
"My pistol shrimp is going crazy snapping at the 4 or 5 larger bristles that are invading his home under a rather large rock, and his partner goby has been biting them like crazy." Classic, brothers in arms. lol. Don't u wish u have it on tape?
 
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