Fire worm!! predator?

[comcast newserver]

Hi Foks,
Im have an infestation of fire worms, any ideas what i can do - i have a few corals and i dont want to use chemicals so im wondering about some predator strategy
johnb

[comcast newserver]

yeah my book said they were the same -- i thought...ill look it up again and
let you know if thats right and which book too
johnb

[Dragon Slayer]

most likely bristle worms that you have. while I as well as many others will tell you they are perfectly harmless and one of your best members of the clean up crew, I will try to refrain and just answer your question.

if they are small there are a few of the wrasses that eat them, the 6 line being one of the most common. Coral Banded Shrimp eat them as well as flat worms if they aren't feed via the tank feedings. also the same goes for the arrow crabs, if they don't get feed directly by extras when you feed the tank, they will eat BW's.

hth
kc

"comcast newserver" > wrote in message news:JeSzb.306008$ao4.1049822@attbi_s51...
Hi Foks,
Im have an infestation of fire worms, any ideas what i can do - i have a few corals and i dont want to use chemicals so im wondering about some predator strategy
johnb

[Pszemol]

Collect as many of them and carefully pack and ship them alive to me... :-)
I will thank you later. BTW - where are you located?

"comcast newserver" > wrote in message news:JeSzb.306008$ao4.1049822@attbi_s51...
Hi Foks,
Im have an infestation of fire worms, any ideas what i can do - i have a few corals and i dont want to use chemicals so im wondering
about some predator strategy
johnb

[Wayne Sallee]

In article >, "Mike
Imbler" > writes:

>Wayne, could you describe how you fixed your tank? I'm not familiar with
>potassium silicate, but I'd like to have your solution on file in case I had
>a small leak like yours!

I disolved silicate with potasium hydroxide.
It's not like resealing the tank with silicone rubber, but it beats having to
clear out the tank to reseal it. I simply used a hyperdermic needle, pushed it
down through the sand, and into the silicone where the tunnel was dug by the
worm, and injected the potasium silicate. I've had to repeat this a few times,
as it gets cleaned out by critters, but it should become stronger over time,
and it's just a small area.

What happened is there is a small air passage in between the glass on the
bottom left corner, but the silicone on the inside sealed it up, but when the
worm dug through that, the small imperfection air space was exposed, and it
slowly leaked.


Wayne Sallee
http://members.aol.com/waynesallee/weblink.htm

[Mike Imbler]

Thanks Wayne! That's a trick I'll file for the future.
Mike
"Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
"Mike
> Imbler" > writes:
>
> >Wayne, could you describe how you fixed your tank? I'm not familiar with
> >potassium silicate, but I'd like to have your solution on file in case I
had
> >a small leak like yours!
>
> I disolved silicate with potasium hydroxide.
> It's not like resealing the tank with silicone rubber, but it beats having
to
> clear out the tank to reseal it. I simply used a hyperdermic needle,
pushed it
> down through the sand, and into the silicone where the tunnel was dug by
the
> worm, and injected the potasium silicate. I've had to repeat this a few
times,
> as it gets cleaned out by critters, but it should become stronger over
time,
> and it's just a small area.
>
> What happened is there is a small air passage in between the glass on the
> bottom left corner, but the silicone on the inside sealed it up, but when
the
> worm dug through that, the small imperfection air space was exposed, and
it
> slowly leaked.
>
>
> Wayne Sallee
> http://members.aol.com/waynesallee/weblink.htm

[Shane Kennedy]

what does a fire worm look like & why is it bad. i have some red
worms that look like fishing worms from the tackle shop, only shorter
& more red. are they bad guys?

[Wayne Sallee]

In article >,
(Shane Kennedy) writes:

>what does a fire worm look like & why is it bad. i have some red
>worms that look like fishing worms from the tackle shop, only shorter
>& more red. are they bad guys?

No they are not the bad guys. Some people don't like bristle worms. Bristle
worms look like red fat worms with white brisstles on the side, kindof like a
cattapiller, but only a narrow row on each side. I like brisstle worms, but
they can often get quite numourous in some tanks. Some people don't like them
at all. They also will irityate your hands if you touch one. The fire worms
look the same, but are much larger. Usualy you won't find any fire worms in a
tank. Often bristle worms are mistakenly called fire worms.

Wayne Sallee
http://members.aol.com/waynesallee/weblink.htm