What eats bristleworms?

I've heard that Hawkfish do. Does anything else eat them? I'd rather avoid the
Hawkfish 'cause they also eat things like peppermint shrimp.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are permanent.

Arrow crabs and 6 Line Wrasse.
But why George ?!?!?!
Bristle worms are our friends...

"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:R8tYg.9721$gx6.538@trnddc05...
I've heard that Hawkfish do. Does anything else eat them? I'd rather avoid
the Hawkfish 'cause they also eat things like peppermint shrimp.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are
permanent.

I found my clean up crew rid my tank of the brisle worms. Blue and red Claw
Hermits as well as Turbos Snail and emrald crabs. I didnt set out to get rid
of them, the Clean up crew went into over time and really did a number for
me.

"TheRock" wrote in message
news:3gAYg.3117$Z46.2840@trndny05...
Arrow crabs and 6 Line Wrasse.
But why George ?!?!?!
Bristle worms are our friends...

"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:R8tYg.9721$gx6.538@trnddc05...
I've heard that Hawkfish do. Does anything else eat them? I'd rather
avoid
the Hawkfish 'cause they also eat things like peppermint shrimp.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are
permanent.

TheRock wrote:

Bristle worms are our friends...

Why?

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are permanent.

Small bristle worms can be ok but they get big. Today I found a huge one
that I just set a trap in hopes of killing. Yes, I've read about the pros
and cons of bristle worms; but I don't want something that big in my tank
that's very mobile with strong stinging abilities.

Just a while ago my lights went off. I waited a bit then grabbed the
flashlight. My astrea snails, red, blue and other assorted hermit crabs
were walking around the little bristle worms without even trying to eat
them. I'm not so sure yet if hermits care about bristles. I'll keep
watching though. I will say that I have a lot of hermits but my bristle
worm population is rising.

B


"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:RtBYg.8413$6D3.2566@trnddc01...
TheRock wrote:

Bristle worms are our friends...

Why?

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are
permanent.

George Patterson wrote:
TheRock wrote:

Bristle worms are our friends...

Why?

Hi George,

Check out these three articles by Ron Shimek:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/index.php Basic
bristleworm information

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php Large worms
found in aquaria

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rs/index.php Small worms
found in aquaria

The second and third links are the most 'on-point' about how to regard
your worm population. The bottom line is that the vast majority of
worms that you're likely to have are beneficial scavengers or
detrivores and that the few exceptions are not too difficult to remove
manually.

Vermicularly yours,

Alex

TheRock wrote:
Bristle worms are our friends...

George Patterson wrote on Mon, 16 Oct 2006:
Why?

Because they are scavengers, that help clean up waste materials (e.g. excess
food) in the aquarium.

To turn the question around, why do you want to get rid of them?

-- Don
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
Don Geddis http://reef.geddis.org/
If you were a pirate, you know what would be the one thing that would really
make you mad? Treasure chests with no handles. How the hell are you supposed
to carry it?! -- Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

Don Geddis wrote:

To turn the question around, why do you want to get rid of them?

Too many of them. I was thinking about getting a hawkfish, until I found that
they eat things like the cleaner shrimp that I also would like to have. The
various answers so far to my question (especially the Geek's links) have
convinced me to keep them.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are permanent.

George Patterson wrote:

Don Geddis wrote:

To turn the question around, why do you want to get rid of them?

Too many of them. I was thinking about getting a hawkfish, until I found that
they eat things like the cleaner shrimp that I also would like to have. The
various answers so far to my question (especially the Geek's links) have
convinced me to keep them.

If you're seeing a lot of bristleworms while your lights are on it
could be a sign that you're overfeeding or, possibly, might not have
enough water flow. With inadequate water flow the food will settle
quickly on your live rock and substrate where the worms (and other
various creatures that make up the "live" part of your live rock) will
grab it.

If you feel that you have too many of them, you can put
some food in a panty hose, and remove the excess worms
that way.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



George Patterson wrote on 10/16/2006 10:28 PM:
Don Geddis wrote:

To turn the question around, why do you want to get rid of them?

Too many of them. I was thinking about getting a hawkfish, until I found
that they eat things like the cleaner shrimp that I also would like to
have. The various answers so far to my question (especially the Geek's
links) have convinced me to keep them.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are
permanent.