I’m tired of the bristle worm bigotry

[sp1187]

Never has there ever been such a perfect cuc member of our tanks that is so hated. They only come out at night, breed perfectly to the scale of detritus in your tank, you only have to buy them once, don’t harm anything, and are wildly effective.

All of that said, some pompous nitwit insists on telling a beginner to “remove it immediately” (with three exclamation points) from their tank just about everyday.

I will tolerate this no longer and am proposing a complete ban on this kind of discrimination.

Bristles are a great addition to every tank, here are my pals doing the heavy lifting at night. View attachment 1930934

as my tank has no live rock from the beginning, these and spaghetti's were the first thing I added to my tank. (along with asterina's for the planned harlequin shrimp)

 

[sp1187]

If you don't have bristleworms your tank must be very new or was started with dry rock, ASW and never added any coral because bristleworms are all over the place. I probably have thousands and I like them, to a point. I can't keep crustaceans very long because as soon as they shed, the larger bristleworms kill and eat them. Once a year or so I build a trap to remove the larger ones. Then can get huge.

maybe you have solved another tank mystery for me. I've had 1 huge cleaner, 1 blood, 1 harlequin and 4 nem crabs completely disappear. no body parts to be found.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Can reefers who started with dry rock purchase beneficial hitch hikers? I have come across a few on frags during dips that I rush to pull and rinse before they are killed. Still havn't dealt with bristleworms but my opinion is "gross, they are icky".

 

[living_tribunal]

Does that mean they'll start flying soon ?

I get the feeling some peeps in this thread may not be able to cope with that.

The manner in which they swim is pretty similar to flying.

 

[living_tribunal]

[RP accent] Ahem. Pfft. I for one, shan't have anything to do with such foul, despicable creatures. Come in my tank or pond, and my arrow crabs and wrasses shall kill thee where thy stand, and pluck every last appendage out from thine wretched body.


(OOC "out of character") I don't do these worms, but there are many paths to success, each with its own challenges. As someone who's been a management consultant for a decade, I view it as a case study: "What do I do to manage detritus?"

Can we make this r2r accent a thing?

 

[living_tribunal]

Can reefers who started with dry rock purchase beneficial hitch hikers? I have come across a few on frags during dips that I rush to pull and rinse before they are killed. Still havn't dealt with bristleworms but my opinion is "gross, they are icky".

Indo pacific sea farms have a lot of mini detritivores for you. The worms they sell stay small for the most part . You can get mini brittle starfish as well.

 

[AquaBiomics]

Whats next, putting a nest of hornets in your living room to help control fly populations?

Someone earlier in the thread made a good analogy about a spider. As long as you stay in your web, little spider, you get to live. As soon as you crawl on me, the truce is over.

To extend that analogy, bristleworms are the spider thats not only left its web and crawled on me but has actually already bitten me repeatedly, and collectively given me weeks of pain recovering from their stings. (Analogy here folks, I know they arent actually biting me)

The truce has been over for years. This isnt squeamishness or a desire to have a sterile tank. This is much more important than any of that.

This is vengeance.

 

[living_tribunal]

Is this too much???

Looks just right to me.

 

[living_tribunal]

Also, I don't care about biodiversity in the tank. The goal of a tank for some people isn't for scientific curiosity. For me, it's merely a piece of art, and they're my pets. That's it. I like how my cat is a himalyan kitty, and his fur is completely aesthetic and serves no real purpose in Cali. And I like my authentic Noguchi table, even though the shape is utterly impractical, but hey: it looks nice to me. That's it's purpose for me. No more, no less.

Bristleworms are not my pets, because they showed up unannounced. When stray animals and bugs enter your house, are they now your pets? No, I load up on a sprayer of permethrin and show them what's what.

When I care about biodiversity, I grab my diving gear and go look inside the biggest tank.

Well I’m sure you’d like your art to be clean and free of graffiti or vandalism. Something that can clean every inch of rock work in your bob Ross landscape is kind of like the neighborhood Mormon kids, they are a little annoying but help out.

 

[theMeat]

Sorry if it’s been posted already. Worth a look see

 

[New&no clue]

Well I’m sure you’d like your art to be clean and free of graffiti or vandalism. Something that can clean every inch of rock work in your bob Ross landscape is kind of like the neighborhood Mormon kids, they are a little annoying but help out.

As someone who was born and raised in Utah ;Hilarious ;Hilarious;Hilarious

 

[driftin]

I bought them from IPSF when I restarted this tank, they are IMO a very valuable member of the CUC.

That said, they are part of a huge family of marine worms and I wonder if this is a situation where common reef terminology is mixing different animals into the same discussion. Like "bobbit" worms being discussed alongside "bristle" worms and "fire" worms.

 

[RalphTech]

There was one hiding in my foam filter in the 13G fluv nano. It appeared whilst squeezing the foam in the old water. I was newer to the hobby but knew immediately it was a bristle worm. I put the ugly beast under a microscope and was amazed by its natural technology.
Concerned about future encounters during weekly 5G water changes I decided to euthanize. God forgive me.

 

[RalphTech]

Do they actually eat them??? I don’t mind my bristles but if one stings me it goes down the toilet, that’s in the renter’s contract. But if my shrimp farm can digest them then I’m sure they would enjoy the change of menu and added protein

That's a good solution: violation of renters contract eviction. There's no contract template on internet. Do you have one for all inhabitants or just bristles? That would expose to BWorm discrimination risks.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I pulled out this 8” worm out of a 20 gallon tank yesterday. It’s “free” to any one who will pay $399 shipping.

Ahahahahaha!!

 

[Dennis Begley]

I have a bajillion of the small ones in both the display and frag tanks.

I also have 2 huge worms - not sure if they are 'bristle' worms but they rock. The one in this video is probs 4ft in length when stretching out.

That sucker is HUGE. King of the reef? At least he didn't grab the fish. I like fish but my tank is mostly a coral and invertebrate tank including my collection of bristle worms. The worms freak my wife out. I think they are kinda cool. But that is one BIG worm.

 

[Dennis Begley]

This is my issue also

Get some rubber gloves. You shouldn't be putting unprotected hands into your tank anyway. Who knows what is in your tank and could be a possible threat to you like bacteria.

 

[footgal]

That's a good solution: violation of renters contract eviction. There's no contract template on internet. Do you have one for all inhabitants or just bristles? That would expose to BWorm discrimination risks.

Of course all my renters sign a contract, however, it is tailored due to the needs of the individual. Coral renters must have good polyp extension and be healthy all the time, violation of these terms means the offender must have a dip or operation performed. Free-swimming inhabitants must eat at least once daily and be very happy, violation of these terms could lead to QT or dip protocols. But my worst offenders are definitely the anemones, always violating their contracts by walking all over the place but I let them stay because they pay all their rent and fees on time

 

[Dennis Begley]

And people wonder whats wrong with their system. It's this new thinking of eradicating everything they didn't put in the tank themselves. The ocean is full of biodiversity, some of which we haven't even discovered yet.

Biodiversity whether unsightly or not, is part of owning a THRIVING reef tank.

I agree. I am delighted to see new creatures and life spring up in my tank. I've been in the hobby for 30+ years. Way back I use to look for real live rock cause I knew there would be life forms on those rocks.
I upgraded to a 90 gal from a 40 I'd had setup for many years. It's been interesting watching the worm population explode than settle down.

 

[ostrow]

air dry finger ,dab gently w duct tape

Gloves