bristle worm

Bristleworms are awesome cleaners...but they do hurt like heck if you p*** one off, LOL! We frag so many rocks that come in from mariculture facilities that are full of worms that we keep a gallon of white vinegar on hand all the time...if the little buggers get their spines imbedded in your skin a good soak in vinegar with dissolve them.

 

Thankfully I have never had this happen! but thats always good to know! Now im prepared. Thanks

 

Although the initial "sting" is painful it's the risk of infection from leaving the "bristles" in the skin that is the real risk for most people...since the "bristles" are calcium based, soaking the effected area in straight vinegar will cause them to dissolve...it's about the only way to "get them out" as they are nearly clear and so tiny you can't even see then, let alone get at them with tweezers.

 

Thats good to know. Gotta love acid/base chemistry especially in this hobby

 

They are beneficial and cool looking but they are a pain when you get stuck by these. I got "stuck" by a huge on while cleaning out sand of a FOWLR tank a couple of years ago and I spend DAYS pulling out those little things.

 

If you really want to get rid of them just feed less. and yes a six line wrasse will help but they can be kind of mean. depending on the size of your tank you could get a melanurus wrasse. i had an infestation and between the melanurus i bought and i cut my feeding in half, i haven't seen one since

 

I literally have hundreds in my tank. Its crazy watching them all at night. Most are really small but ive seen a few that were a couple inches long!!

 

If you get stuck by the bristle worm, try using some duck tape, it's usually pretty good at removing the bristle if you did not apply to the area when it's still soaking wet. Just let the area dry, apply duck tape and pull after a couple minutes.