Bristle worm trap

[Paul B]

I kind of like bristleworms but now I just have too many of them. Whenever I move a rock I notice it is loaded with the little slimers. I recently had a small clam up on the rocks and it fell onto the gravel. The worms sucked it out in no time so now it is war. Over the years I have made dozens of bristleworm traps and just about any design works. You can even put a piece of clam or fish into a piece of stocking and they will be stuck all over it.
This design I made in about 5 minutes and put it in the tank last night with a piece of clam. It netted 5 worms over night. I will use it for a few weeks to reduce the population to manageable levels.
It is just an acrylic tube about 1 1/4" in diameter but any pill case will work. I stuck in a smaller tube about 3/8" in diameter. Any tube will work as long as it is small enough to keep out the crabs and snails. The tube needs to extend into the container a little so the worms can't figure how to get out. Lobster traps work on the same principal. And lobsters are smarter than worms.
The worms have a great sense of smell and will find the bait but the end of the tube should be at sand level. For this model I bent the tube down to hit the sand.
I also have a strung on it so I don't have to stick my hands in the water.
Have fun

 

[Paul B]

This morning I collected about 20 worms

 

[TanksNStuff]

Paul, how do you put the bait in and /or take the worms out?

Does one end of the acrylic tube open?

 

[Paul B]

On that quick model only the end without the tube is glued on. The tube end is on with a rubber band so I can easily open it. That end also has 3 small pieces of acrylic glued in the end cap so it stays in the center and doesn't slip off letting the worms out.