Bristle Worm Brutality

[lucyg]

Hi,
Reently, our family have set up a second hand 100 gallon marine tank. We also recieved about 30 kg of live rock, which we managed to keep alive in a large plastic box in the garage, whilst we set the main tank up.
The previous owner did warn us of a few BWs, but we did not think too much of it. We found some huge ones (over 10 inches in length and as thick as your finger) when we were moving the live rock into the main tank. We have heard many different opinions on these worms and our family are disputing the value of these worms, i.e. I hate em and my dad loves em!

Tonight we discovered a murder scene! One of our defencless hemit crabs was being brutally devoured by one of the alledged tank villians. I fear that this small crime may be the first of a hermit crab massacre, but my dad recons that the hermit crab must have been dead or dying, and the BW just polished it off.
What is also on my mind is that we have just this weekend introduced our first ever livestock, cleaner shrimp. My dad is deeply in love with him, and I am worried that these evil beasties of the deep will end his life unfairly and prematurley.
I am asking the forum for some feedback on whether we should hunt these treacherous creatures down, or whether they are harmless marine friends doing a good cleanup job.

Thanks,
Lucy

 

[Ter]

are you sure it was not just a molt of a hermit crab? they look identical.. was the hermit crab fighting back? tryn 2 escape? did u see any of that?
it may just be a molt...
Ter

 

[lucyg]

are you sure it was not just a molt of a hermit crab? they look identical.. was the hermit crab fighting back? tryn 2 escape? did u see any of that?
it may just be a molt...
Ter

We are not perfectly sure, as we have not yet performed the full autopsy! But it looks very much like a whole excrab... You can see its legs and pincers.

Thanks for the reply though
Lucy

 

[Ter]

until your really sure.. and don't see your hermit count drop badly ( sometimes they are hard 2 find ), I wouldnt worry about it...
ignore the problem for now.. check your tank at night with a red light see what everbody is doing.
Ter

 

[SkiFletch]

Hermits VERY often molt within a couple weeks after they are moved from one setup to another. Hermit molts look almoast identical to the real thing so unless you actually saw the bristleworm rip the hermit out of its shell, chacnes are it was either a molt, or a dead hermit. Bristleworms will scavenge very well, but if you fight back, they will not hesitate to run away. They're opportunistic feeders, not attackers

 

[lucyg]

Managed to upload a picture to Photobucket

(just the tank, not the crab!)

 

[SkiFletch]

Oooh, nice lookin tank . What are your longterm plans for it?

 

[Ter]

Very nice.. them rocks stable? they don't look like it. Wouldn't want a cracked glass
Ter

 

[Mr.September15]

LOL I love how after he posts a picture you guys change the subject and ask him about the rocks and the long term plans . Just to put my 2cents in. KILL THEM ALL! BRISTLEWORMS DONT DESERVE TO LIVE! Well atleast the ones in my tank dont. If mine grow up to the size of yours. Oh man, I will boil every single rock in my tank! or just set up a trap and give them to a friend.



*sarcasm*

 

[Ter]

just wondering.. whats ur flow rate? is there a sump? what model of hob skimmer is that?
Ter

 

[Lynden]

KILL THEM ALL! BRISTLEWORMS DONT DESERVE TO LIVE!

Whoa, no wonder Earth is so f***ed up...



Bristleworms from the Pacific are almost always benevolent, but worms from Florida and the Caribbean tend to enjoy eating coral. The instances of this happening are still quite rare, and are certainly not enough to condemn all bristleworms; even the ones that chomp coral shouldn't be chased blindly and killed with drastic methods such as boiling rock. Rather, introduce a predator or two and have them be kept in check naturally. This method is better in every way.

People seem to be unaware of the fact that in any given piece of live rock, there is bound to be literally hundreds of bristleworms. Very few of them will ever cause anything near trouble; the vast majority of them do an immense amount of good for the environment by removing dead bodies and other sources of nitrogenous wastes. Kind of like the Asian Vultures, who are currently being persecuted by humans and being pushed towards extinction because of numerous rediculous "reasons" such as the belief that because they are predators, they must somehow be competing with us for resources. It is only now, when most of them are gone, that people are realizing how much we need them. The same idea can be applied to reef tanks and bristleworms.

-Lynden

 

[rhysiboy]

if you really feel concearned like i was when i saw a huuuge one creeping around in my nano i got two plastic cups and drilled some holes in the bottom of one and baited the other cup with some mysid. Within 10 minutes after the lights were out bamn i caught him. Then i got a hammer and squashed him.... was lovely
but my philoshophy is if you can see any in the day they are hungry and looking for food so i remove them and if i ssee them at night they are just doing what every other bristle does

 

[lucyg]

Thanks for the feedback

We had a family discussion and have agreed to carry out selective culling. The big ones will be caught to prevent the chance of livestock damage, but we will let the smaller ones continue their clean up operation. I plan to get some new live rock, so I suggest I will get a few more as well!!

To answer the other questions:

Future plans - Just a few fish with some soft and hard corals over the next 12-18 months.
The filter is a cannister type (RENA3) mounted under the tank
The skimmer is a Prizm (not very good I,m told)
There are 5 powerheads (3 on RHS and 2 on LHS) and I am still experimenting with the timers to make different heads come on at different times.
4 x 14k 54wT5s + 2 Actinic

Current livestock

Cleaner Shrimp
3 (now maybe 2) hermits
5 turbo snails
10 narcarisus snails

Great Forum by the way!

 

[Mr Miagi]

So are you saying you have no corals at the moment, but only plan to add them after 12 months?

If you dont have coral, and only planning them in 12 months, why dont you wait, buy some coral, and see if any actually gets taken. Its from my reading around the web giant bristle worms only consume soft coral, when they are large enough to consume coral, and shouldnt bother your hard corals.

This is just my opinion, but as Lynden pointed out, theres bound to be hundreds more, I fail to see what benefit selective kulling will have. All your doing is creating extra effort for yourself for little gain, having your hands in the tank more than what they need to be, and not acomplishing the removal of your bristle worms, because theres bound to be hundreds more.

You keep refering them as "evil" and "beasts", thats not going to help your view of them! Your dad is wise, and you should take note. LOL. (I know it might be hard, LOL) They form part of marine systems, and they would have taken advantage of your hermits Carapeace after a moult, or a dying hermit.

Another point to consider, most cases of worms taking corals were through the night, not at daylight. Most said they'd wake up to one less piece of coral. The fact he was out in the daylight suggests to me he was just being opportunistic.

Ar eyou sure they are Bristle Worms also, and not another form of worm? Got pics?

The best example is from Oregonreef.com. Warning, NOT for the faint hearted, LMAO. The Great Worm Incident is a fine example of what a coral eating worm from Fiji looks like.

 

[Mr.September15]

KILL THEM ALL! BRISTLEWORMS DONT DESERVE TO LIVE!

Whoa, no wonder Earth is so f***ed up...

The world is so f***ed up because theres canadians living on it . It was me being sarcastic once again Lynden. Don't get your panties in a bunch.

Great Forum by the way!

Thats how we roll...