Aiptasia and bristle worm

**rockstarnsc83** · 01-08-2009, 12:19 PM

I have a tank ive had going for 7 months now at least. hermits, snails, emerald crab , fighting conch, assorted feather dusters and such. My question is I hear that aiptasia is a pest anemone. I have squirted the joes juice on them and they were gone onl to come back. its 3 to 5 of them in my 29 gallon. Are they deadly? do they kill inverts, fish , etc?

Then there is a bristle worm i see comming out the rock..hes plump and ive seen him stretch out about 10 inches. is he deadly? will he kill fish, inverts , etc?

thanks

**CarmieJo** · 01-08-2009, 01:09 PM

Aiptasia can get out of hand and overrun a tank. They can crowd out more desirable corals. I have not heard of them killing fish, etc.

Bristle worms are usually beneficial but 10" is pretty big! What color is he?

**PhotoJohn** · 01-08-2009, 01:37 PM

are you sure that is a bristle worm? I have hundreds of them, they are good, but I have never seen one over 5inches. Mine are pink and brown.

**rockstarnsc83** · 01-08-2009, 04:07 PM

its a bristle worm..ive researched and thats how I know its a bristle worm. plus I thought so cause of all the bristles. i mean hes hides in the rock..hes shorter and fat but can stretch hisself way out. I dont wanna say what color he is right now since hes in the rock..ill wait for him to come out and answer that precisely. but hes around an orange type color I believe.

**PhotoJohn** · 01-08-2009, 11:26 PM

i think he is probably just a big good guy

**rockstarnsc83** · 01-08-2009, 11:27 PM

so I should leave him? He looks cool comming out the rock to find food.

**CarmieJo** · 01-09-2009, 01:07 AM

I probably would keep him.

**PhotoJohn** · 01-09-2009, 04:35 AM

i doubt he will hurt anything

**saltaddict** · 01-09-2009, 06:55 AM

I had wonderful luck with peppermint shrimp eating the Aiptasia from the DT as well as my refugium. I have never used a chemical so I can't weigh in on that one.

Bristles are good just be careful when you grab the rocks to move them as the bristles get lodged in your hands if the is on the surface and makes contact. They really hurt.

I had a bristle that was about that size several years ago and finally had to remove it because it freaked me out to stick my hands in the tank!!

**lograce.com** · 02-06-2009, 04:09 PM

They are definitely freaky!

**THEJRC** · 02-07-2009, 02:17 AM

the aptasia are amazing filter feeders and will do a great number to lower nutrients... but the biggest problem is they will crowd and sting corals, not to mention are a complete pain to get rid of. Not all peppermint shrimp will feed on them and if you feed well often the shrimp will feed on available food rather than the aptasia. A shot of kalk paste will wipe them decently enough though. I'd worry about the aptasia before the bristle worms for sure.

in either case I wouldnt freak out about either, if the aptasia drive you nuts that much I'd research and wipe them nice and calmly (I use pickling lime... ) anyhow thats the plankton fanatics two pennies.