Reef Discussion

[camillo]

so its been two days now and one of my clowns has been missing..he hasn't jumped out of the tank, but i can't find him anywhere..he looked really healthy as well..was eating and swimming fine..im wondering if this big bristle worm that i spotted not long ago could have something to do with it? i heard that if their big they can be a threat to fish?

 

[MTG]

i have one 45cm long and it has never caused an issue with any fish. fish do die randomly its not good when it happens.
he could still be hiding somewhere one of my fish disappeared for a month once! thought it was dead for sure.

 

[camillo]

i have one 45cm long and it has never caused an issue with any fish. fish do die randomly its not good when it happens.
he could still be hiding somewhere one of my fish disappeared for a month once! thought it was dead for sure.

yeah thats what i thought..i looked at pics of bristle worms on the internet but and mine dosnt really look like any of them..im thinking it could be a fire worm..in which case thats bad news isn't it?

 

[MTG]

A in the picture below is what it should look like.

 

[MTG]

and this is what happens when you touch them :worship

 

[MTG]

from http://www.salt-city.org/showthread.php?667-KB-Bristleworms-Fireworms-Friend-or-Foe

Good or Bad?:
Originally bristleworms were all considered to be bad. Most literature warns
that they can attack and eat clams, anemones, corals and even fish.
Recently, most hobbyists have come to the conclusion that small bristle
worms pose no threat to other tank inhabitants and are in fact good scavengers
and add to the biodiversity of the tank. The worms as well as their larva also
serve as a food source for larger invertebrates and fish. You can even buy
bristleworms from some sources. Large bristleworms are starting to be better
understood also. Some large bristleworms can be aggressive predators, however,
this is not the norm. Many large bristleworms seem to fall into the harmless
scavenger category.

 

[MagicJ]

I doubt that the bristleworm was the cause of the fish death, but it may be the reason why you can't find the body.

 

[n0rk]

Bristle worms are great scavengers, not particularly good as predators however. They'll merely destroy the evidence... they're sort of like the yardies that crush the bodies gangsters bring them ;)

 

[jashay]

damn matty! I didn't realise bristle worm got that big! let alone could do that to your fingers, nice.. :confused: 45cm, god, how thick is it? and do you see it often?

I had a clown go missing recently too, dont know what happened but his mate is fine, never found the body but do know there is a fair few bristle worm in my tank, I actually had to pull out all the rock work in my tank and rescape recently as my BTA decided to move and get itself caught under the rocks, is fine now, he is out and open :D (lucky!).

anyways, thought I may have seen some evidence of a dead fish if there was, but nope, not a thing.

is there a solution/medication that could be used on bristle worm like salifert for flat worm? thats if ya wanted to get rid of them?

 

[MagicJ]

is there a solution/medication that could be used on bristle worm like salifert for flat worm? thats if ya wanted to get rid of them?

jashay, not sure you why would want too but there is nothing that I know of that would specifically kill worms. I wouldn't like to deal with the subsequent water quality issues - you are potentially killing off a significant volume of bio mass but, oh shit, you don't have any scavengers left :confused:

 

[n0rk]

damn matty! I didn't realise bristle worm got that big!

 

[jashay]

jashay, not sure you why would want too but there is nothing that I know of that would specifically kill worms. I wouldn't like to deal with the subsequent water quality issues - you are potentially killing off a significant volume of bio mass but, oh shit, you don't have any scavengers left :confused:

yea I know what ya getting at there mate :D as I said though

thats if ya wanted to get rid of them?

@nork - JEEBUS! didn't realise they got that big! so I guess that answers the other question, would you see it in the tank often? or would it just be hiding in all the rock work without a need to come out.

 

[n0rk]

Have a read about it here, http://oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

Steve Weast's tank was a lot bigger than most and the specific setup facilitated that particular worm... but the story is fascinating.

 

[jashay]

Have a read about it here, http://oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

Steve Weast's tank was a lot bigger than most and the specific setup facilitated that particular worm... but the story is fascinating.

cheers mate :)

but GOD DAMN! thats crazy, very interesting read though. I now have a fear of bristle worm! that thing could chew a finger print off!

 

[MTG]

n0rk what type of worm is that ? Looks different to a bristle worm

 

[camillo]

yeah..thats the same coloration of the worm i spotted in my tank..and i didn't think mine was a bristle worm.

 

[n0rk]

Matt, there's in excess of 10,000 types of "Bristle Worm" ;)

 

[MagicJ]

Matt, there's in excess of 10,000 types of "Bristle Worm" ;)

Do a write up on 50 a day and you will be just about finished by June next year ;) And, you will make Matt happy!!

 

[firebird]

camillo-this may sound a bit strange but I know you've got the hang on filter and skimmer-is there any chance the clown may have jumped into them( if you left the lids off)-stranger things have happened

 

[camillo]

camillo-this may sound a bit strange but I know you've got the hang on filter and skimmer-is there any chance the clown may have jumped into them( if you left the lids off)-stranger things have happened

i already checked in there and nothing..buttt i did find the body late last night..i got a flashlight and looked under my cabinet..turns out it did jump out of the tank and somehow land slightly under the fish tank cabinet so i couldn't see it..atleast it didn't die from bad tank parameters..but i definitely want to put some sort of hood on my tank now.