Red Bristle Worms

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david540i

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Are red bristle worms bad for a reef tank? Can they be beneficial to a tank? I've heard they are NOT good, yet some people look for these in their tanks.

Please advise, I got some feather algae that is filled with Red Bristle worms. I wonder it is going to HARM my reef tank.

Also, are there any inverts/fish that will eat them?
 
I do seem to have a refugium that is a bristlworm breeding ground, but so far none have made it to the display tank. They will eat waste in the refuge, so they are beneficial for that. Sixline wrasses and I think Copperbanded butterflys will eat bristleworms.
 
99.9% chance they are good and a .1% chance bad. Most are harmless detritus eaters.

A couple of the fireworm species are bad.
 
Just don't TOUCH any bristleworm!

I've seen beautiful tanks, that happen to have huge bristleworms. They do eat junk - but if they get big enough, can eat a sleeping fish.

I like to keep mine in the overflow boxes, because they keep the box clean. When they get big enough to crawl up that tall wall, there are a couple of hungry fish waiting for them!
 
Sorry for the "Me Too" post, but unless they're one of the VERY rare Caribbean species that are HUGE, I consider them good. I've even gone so far as to take some from my refuguims and PUT them into my display tank. (Not that I needed to, there were plenty there.)

If you've got live rock, you've almost definitely got bristle worms, one way or the other. They're excellent scavengers, and really help clean up.
 
Great! I was just worried because when i purchased my LR from Fish Paradise, when ever Mr Ly found any bristles, he'd throw them on the floor and let them dry up. Although I'm not sure on the species.

Thanks for everyones input. There's plenty of them left in a baggie, hopefully they aren't dead when I get home. I left them in a baggie with plenty of feather and other algae and water when I saw them in there.

Guess I'll throw a few in my display, sump, and in the nano. :)
 
if you ever want to get rid of them, I hear coral banded shrimp will eat them, and I've seen my dad's yellow goby and my pink spot goby eat them
 
Thanks, I threw in 4 or 5 of them into the display last night and before they could reach the LR or sand, the Tomato Clown and Puffer got ahold them! :shock: To much supprise, the clown actually swallowed them and the puffer spit them out.

After feeding fish, I tried dropping 4 or 5 more without a problem. They burried themselves in the sand just as fast as they hit it.

I am still alittle scared that they will OVER populate, which is why I asked what will eat them. I'll keep the Coral Banded Shrimp in mind.

THANKS ALL! :D
 
They will only overpopulate if you feed way to much! they are limited by food so use it as an indicator. If you have a ton your probably feeding to much.
 
I got my LR from another peroson and it was plum full of bristleworms. I know that are good to have some but I hate to look at many of them. I have been taking the really big ones out with tongs.
 
Hahaha.. I'll have to keep that in mind!

One thing I've found out was that they are NOT burrowers!!

I threw in a couple in my new nano and tried to cover them with the sand. Within 30 mins they where all up on top and looked dead. Opps!! So I poked them around they started moving around again. Good Sign!

Check it out! http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=12972
 
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