[Fishhead Junkie]

hey, been gone for a while but now i am back. i think my tank is being overrun with bristle worms. i keep reading they only come out at night but mine are everywhere if that is what they are. they are like in bunches in the gravel bed, on rocks. at first i thought it was string algae but it's not...they whip out in the water, grab stuff floating by. they are everywhere...i have a coral banded shrimp but i never see him eat them..i had an arrow crab which i was told would eat them but never saw that and i think my banded shrimp killed him. what does everyone suggest??

steve

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I suggest you look here and see if you can find a pic of the invading critter.
Xtalreef

[rlcline76]

Sounds more like a speghetti worm. Reddish? If they are speghetti worms, they will not hurt anything. If you are looking to reduce their population, you can watch how much you feed your tank. Wrasses eat different kinds of worms but I do not know if they will eat speg worms.

It's early for me. I'll try to remember to look it up later!

[Fishhead Junkie]

i cant insert any pics for some reason, WHY??? i have finally taken a pic of these worms and need to know what they are. email me for a pic and maybe someone can tell me what they are. fishheadjunkie@aol.com

steve

[rlcline76]

Are you going through photobucket?

[rlcline76]

Polychaetes

While I am waiting for your photo....

I'm also going to put this in the ID forum.

[rlcline76]

A good picture of a spehetti worm.

There ya go, FJ. These are harmless.

[Fishhead Junkie]

like i said in my email...you rock!!! thanks...i will leave them alone and let them do their job.

steve

[glampka]

Are those spaghetti worms good with meatballs or sausage?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I would cook them a very long time after tossing in several cayan peppers.When it is fully cooked throw out the contents and eat the pot .

[Fishhead Junkie]

i really wonder what those worms would taste like..hmmmm..i wonder if my 3 year old would try them for 25cents...thats alot of money to a 3 year old..could get a whole gumball for that.

steve

[NATIVEVAMAN]

A capitolist at 3?Whatch out he could grow up to be a republican lol.

[rlcline76]

Kid is working at Wall Street at age 5.

Steve, you asked what a bristleworm would look like. It should be in the links NATIVE and I gave...if not you could try touching your mystery worms...if it freakin hurts, you are in business! I don't do it that way, but it rules out a lot of things quickly...

[managemysite]

It's amazing what stores will sell, I have even seen some stores and websites selling bristle worms saying they are good for stirring up sand.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

And bristle worms do just that,stir the sand bed.For that reason I dont recomend them for a dsb.I saw a place on line selling mantis shrimp for 45$'s EACH.geeeeez you can get 2 really nice lobsters for that lol.I was in an lfs once when a guy with a new tank brought in a peanut worm that he didnt want in his tank.The lfs owner dropped it in a tank and sold it for 10$'s.There is no end to what an lfs or on line dealer will try to sell.And that is simply because there is no end to what an aquarist will buy.If you have an ugly coral you wish you never bought just change its name,call it a "montipora suckerous" or "atomic super hero coral.Put a pic of it on e bay and watch the bids roll in lmao.Dont forget to use the word "rare" in the discription.

[rlcline76]

Ok, how in the heck do you avoid bristleworms in a SB? If you got a tank, with LR...ya got worms. Ain't no way around it!

[NATIVEVAMAN]

You cant avoid them but you can have some well fed coral banded shrimp lol.