# Holy Copepods, Bristle Man!



## JLong80 (Aug 15, 2007)

So, I was doing a red light inspection of my newly established 55-gallon FOWLR because I was looking for my pesky bristle worm which I'm trying to catch with a trap I made from a water bottle. I think I saw two bristle worms and some other tiny wormie, but they didn't seem to like coming out while I was looming over them. I would just rather address them now before I find out that I have bad wormies.

What was really interesting was that after a while of holding my red light over the corner of the tank, I eventually ended up with a swarm of little specks that were attracted to the red light. I never realized how many copepods I had, especially in a tank only a few months old! And to think that I was about to spend money for them at the LFS to add to the refugium. :roll:

This night viewing thing is just as fun as staring at my tank during the day, except my eyes can't handle it very long. :shock:

J-S'n


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## SKAustin (Aug 1, 2006)

Bristle worms are not pests. Contrary to what some may say, they are actually quite beneficial to the system. They are scavengers, and consume detritus, left over food, and livestock carcases. unless your bristle worms are as big as a pencil, I would leave them there to do their cleaning.


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## JLong80 (Aug 15, 2007)

yeah... the more I think about it, and the more I read, I think that I'll probably end up leaving them for the time being, I certainly could use the extra help keeping the tank clean. but I will be keeping an eye on everything at night, I hear that those worms grow and multiply very quickly.


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## SKAustin (Aug 1, 2006)

I wouldnt say they are fast growers, but I dont bother them unless they get very large. When they get large, they're pretty easy to catch. A pair of Kent Marine's grabbers, a large chunk of meaty food banded to a small piece of rock, and some patience. Find out where it comes out, put the food nearby, and have the grabbers make a arch over it's exit. when it comes out far enough, pinch it with the grabbers and move it over to the sump. (a refugium is a great place for the big ones)


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## JLong80 (Aug 15, 2007)

that actually addresses a question I was about to post another thread about... What livestock is normally recommended to place in a refugium. Mine is a very small hang-on refugium though, I'm not even sure it would be big enough for a large worm. My heater barely fits.


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## JLong80 (Aug 15, 2007)

interesting... my bumble bee snail is hanging out around where the worm comes out of the rock... Is it possible that the snail is a natural predator of the bristle worm?


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

bumble bee snails are predators and will eat other snails too.


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## JLong80 (Aug 15, 2007)

*hmmmm....*

this might explain a few other problems as well... like my poor little starfish :-(


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## JLong80 (Aug 15, 2007)

seriously though, these pods are everywhere! I'm gonna have to consider getting that red mandarin after all!


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

mandarins will deplete a pod population in no time. i believe in the wild they eat 400-500+ pods a day.


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## JLong80 (Aug 15, 2007)

*sigh....*

way to bring down the party...

but you're right, I guess I should stick with the easy stuff now anyway... its just too darn easy to get excited about all of these great species.


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## JLong80 (Aug 15, 2007)

okay, so quick update on the bristle worm...

I saw it again a few days ago and it is gigantic! I'm talkin' easily the size of a pencil, and on top of that I saw 4 more on the other side of the tank a few minutes later... two of which were almost as big with two other small ones. Now I really believe what I read before about how quickly they grow and multiply.. and the problem is that I didn't know there were so many in that rock before, and a few weeks ago, I lost my blue dot jawfish who was living under that rock. I'm not saying that the bristle worms killed it but I'm sure that they were probably bothering it, especially now that I think of how it was trying to leave its burrow even though it was too scared and kept going back... after it moved into that burro it had stopped eating like it was during the previous month, but I'm pretty sure that those dang'ol bristle worms were pestering old blue dot at the very least.

Either way, now I have a bottle trap that isnt catching anything, and I've got some tweezers even though I can't really get to them where they come out.

I don't care what everyone else is saying.... Gosh Darn these yucky bristle worms to Heck!


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## fighttest (Jun 25, 2009)

bahaha i love it when people curse but dont say anything bad, its so cute


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