[Fyreflye]

Hello! I am new here, and need help getting what I have been told are bristle fire worms out of my tank. They have killed a clown and my anemone is looking bad. Suggestions?
Fyre

[pogodzib]

I see that you are new to the hobby. How long has your tank been setup and what are your water parameters? My guess would be that the clownfish and anemone are not being affected my the bristle worms. I don't consider the common bristle worms bad, but some of the larger type of fire worms can cause problems with fish and corals, but they are rare. Do you have any pictures so I can see what type of worm you really have? For getting rid of them, they make bristle worm traps and certain types of wrasses eat them.

[Fyreflye]

Thanks for the reply!!!
I have a 22 gal nano cube that I set up in November using filters and sand from an established tank of a friend. I have a maybe 3 lb live rock, 2 crabs 3 turbo snails, a clown a Kenyan tree and an anemone. A few weeks ago I noticed about 1 inch of an orange bristled worm sticking out of the reef, but it popped back into the rock before I got a good look. I also noticed, because now I was on the lookout, that when I siphon I get little "baby" worms from under the decorative shells in the tank. The pics are the "babies" I hunted up today so I could send you a pic. They are not the best, but hopefully they will help! BTW...the clown seemed to lose color before it died if that helps determine if the worms are to blame.
Fyre

[lflaherty]

There is a bristleworm trap, can't recall who makes it, but its a plastic tube that you bait, and it works in the fashion of a lobster trap. It is a little bit of work since you need to swap the bait so it doesn't foul your tank, and you need to empty the worms you catch, but it is much better than having a hideously bristleworm-ridden tank.

[allykay]

Arrow crabs are great for ridding your tank of the pesty worms. =]

[Mr_X]

those worms pictured are good for your tank. you should keep them. the anemone and clown were not harmed by them.

to rid your tank of a large population of bristleworms, cut back on feeding.
less food= less worms.

[Hosser]

Ive been told the same about bristle worms that they arent all bad, that said I would gather to think that too many IS a bad thing , try an arrow crab as mentioned above Ive heard they work rather well, but Ive also heard as with all problem ridding creatures they may or may not do what they were in tended for. Good Luck!

[jimw369]

Bristle worms are not bad but good if numbers are kept in check.

As far as the arrow crab. Research before you buy. Crabs a crab a crab. Dont know what you have in your tank but an Arrow can get big for a 30 gal eat slower fish and other invertebrates if it gets hungry.

[Hosser]

After I heard they eat bristle worms I asked a couple opinions on having them so I got one to keep for just a little while, Im using it to do some clean up and then giving it to a friend for his 75 gal. its done a god job scavenging for food and cleaned up quite a bit. A neat looking creature but a little oversized once its grown for a 30.