Bristelworms - To Be Or Not To Be

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Are bristleworms harmful in my tank?

Bristleworms form a valuable part of your cleanup crew. They will quickly seek out any dead organic material. Whilst often blamed for the killing of livestock, it is more likely that the fish or coral was already dead, and bristleworms were just first on the scene to recycle the dead specimen. Bristleworm populations will vary in accordance with the availability of food, so if you feed your tank heavily there is a good chance that the population of bristleworms will increase greatly to make use of the available organic resources. Bristleworms should be considered to be a valued part of a biodiverse microcosm.

Can Bristle Worms sting me?

Most certainly, yes! They need to be treated with due respect. The bristles that give them their common name are made of very fine needles of calcium carbonate, may contain toxins, and are very irritating to the skin. Due to their being so fine, the bristles are very hard to remove. The sting is not necessarily very painful in the first instance, but if not treated promptly can lead to prolonged swelling and discomfort that may last for some weeks.

If you are unfortunate enough to get stung, the recommended treatments are:

- Avoid trying the brush the bristles away or pull using tweezers, as this is likely to break the bristles off and make them harder to treat.

- Run the effected part under hot water (as hot as is tolerable without burning yourself) to inactivate the proteins in any toxins.

- Proceed to soak the effected part in vinegar for 5-10 minutes, followed by rinsing in plenty of fresh water. Repeat if necessary. Being calcium carbonate based, the bristles will dissolve in the vinegar's mild acid.

How can I get rid of Bristle Worms?

1. First ask yourself why you would want to. Bristleworms are a valued part of a cleanup crew, so there shouldn't be any reason to want to remove them.

2. If you have a large population of bristleworms, chances are that you are feeding too much to your tank. Reduce the amount of waste food being left in the aquarium, and their population will decrease over time. If the reason for overfeeding is to cater for specialist feeding requirements of your other inhabitants (eg seahorses or mandarins) then establish methods for feeding them from a dish, container or "mandarin diner" so that excess food can be removed.

3. If you can see a small number of bristleworms, then chances are that you have many more that you can't see. Even if you wanted to remove them all, it would be very difficult (if not impossible) to do so.

4. If you are determined to try, it is possible to make a trap from a bottle with some pieces of food (pieces of prawn or fish) inside. Leave it in the tank for a few hours after lights out, and you will be able to remove some of them that way. Remember not to touch them with your bare hands!

Πηγη - Reefpedia.com