{"product_id":"bristle-worm-trap","title":"Bristle Worm Trap","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA simple, reusable trap that thins out a bristle worm population overnight — no flashlight hunts, no tearing your rockwork apart.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat a bristle worm actually is\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBristle worms are segmented marine worms (polychaetes) that arrive in almost every tank as hitchhikers on live rock, frags or sand. They live down in your substrate and rockwork during the day and come out at night to eat detritus, uneaten food and dead tissue. Rows of fine white bristles line each side of the body, and those bristles break off in skin like fiberglass — which is exactly why you want a trap instead of your hand. Read the full breakdown on our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/printedreef.com\/blogs\/blog-posts\/bristle-worm\"\u003ebristle worm guide\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy you would want to remove some\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA modest population is genuinely useful. They are part of your cleanup crew, and they turn waste that would otherwise rot into something your filtration can handle. The problem is that they breed to match the food supply. Overfeed for a few months and you go from a handful of worms to hundreds, and that is when reefers start seeing the downsides:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBig worms crowd corals at feeding time and pull food right off the flesh\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVery large individuals can irritate or damage LPS and clams they climb across\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA heavy population means a lot of biomass competing for oxygen and adding waste of its own\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey make hand-work in the tank unpleasant, because a brush against one leaves bristles in your fingers\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe goal is to knock the numbers down, not to eradicate them. Trapping a dozen large ones over a few nights makes a visible difference without stripping a useful animal out of your system.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eHow to use the trap\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBait it.\u003c\/strong\u003e Meaty food works best — a piece of raw shrimp, a cube of frozen fish food, or an algae wafer. Bristle worms hunt by smell, so the stronger the scent, the faster they find it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSet it after lights-out.\u003c\/strong\u003e They are nocturnal. Place the trap flat on your sand bed or wedge it between rocks near where you see them come out, and leave it overnight.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHold it down.\u003c\/strong\u003e Tuck it against rockwork or set a small piece of rubble on top so flow and snails cannot roll it over.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCheck the window in the morning.\u003c\/strong\u003e The clear top lets you see what is inside before you disturb anything.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLift it out and empty it into a bucket.\u003c\/strong\u003e Do not reach in with bare hands — use tongs or gloves. Rinse the trap, re-bait, repeat for a few nights until the catch drops off.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThen fix what caused it\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrapping treats the symptom. The population exploded because there was food for it. Cut back on how much you feed, siphon detritus out of dead spots during water changes, improve flow behind your rockwork, and keep your mechanical filtration clean. Do that alongside a few nights of trapping and the numbers stay down instead of rebounding in a month.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 4.4\" L x 2.3\" W x 1.4\" H\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e 100% reef-safe PETG with a clear window on top\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eColors:\u003c\/strong\u003e Black and orange\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReusable:\u003c\/strong\u003e rinse and re-bait as many times as you need\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDesigned, made and supported in-house in Chicago\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is our V3 design, reworked around feedback from our own customers and the Reef2Reef community — a wider entry, a better one-way path in, and a window that actually lets you check the trap without pulling it out of the tank.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Printed Reef","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43876200284223,"sku":"PR-BWT-BLK","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0579\/9745\/9519\/files\/I2A4898-Enhanced-NR-Edit.png?v=1789413549","url":"https:\/\/saltyamigosaquatics.com\/products\/bristle-worm-trap","provider":"Salty Amigos","version":"1.0","type":"link"}