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Do Coral Banded Shrimp Eat Bristle Worms?

Bristle worms really can be a pain to deal with for people in the fish keeping community and we commonly see people reaching out with various questions about the potential problems that they are having with the bristle worms in their tank.

The bulk of these questions are based around what you should do to try and deal with bristle worms in an aquarium with most people wanting to find something that will just eat the bristle worms in the tank.

We already have an article going over our ultimate list of what eats bristle worms in an aquarium as well as a dedicated article going over six line wrasse eating bristle worms.

Since then, we have noticed people reaching out and asking if coral banded shrimp eat bristle worms or not too.

Due to people asking about this and coral banded shrimp being one of the better options for eating bristle worms in an aquarium, we have decided to publish this dedicated article on the topic.

Our hope is that we will be able to help as many of our readers as possible who are having issues with bristle worms in their tanks.

Do Coral Banded Shrimp Eat Bristle Worms?

The answer to this question is a resounding yes!

Coral banded shrimp are one of the best possible options that you have for eating bristle worms in an aquarium.

These little guys will go after pretty much any size bristle worm and they have no problem whatsoever killing and eating them.

Not only do coral banded shrimp eat bristle worms, but they will also help to keep the population of bristle worms in your aquarium under control which is definitely a good thing.

If you are having issues with bristle worms in your aquarium, then we would highly recommend that you look into getting a coral banded shrimp or two as they will make quick work of the bristle worms.

Are Coral Banded Shrimp A Good Option For Dealing With Bristle Worms?

While coral banded shrimp are a great option for eating bristle worms in an aquarium, they are not necessarily the best option for everyone.

These shrimp can be a bit on the expensive side and they are also not the greatest at dealing with other pests in the aquarium such as snails.

Additionally, coral banded shrimp are not the most peaceful of shrimp and they can be a bit aggressive towards other shrimp in the aquarium.

This is something that you will need to take into consideration if you are thinking about adding coral banded shrimp to your tank.

That said though, coral banded shrimp really can eat huge numbers of bristle worms in their tank in a very short period of time.

If you are only looking for something to add to your tank to eat the bristle worms in there without worrying about any of the downsides mentioned above then coral banded shrimp are a great option.

Although it is very difficult to totally remove the bristle worms from your tank once they start to breed, coral banded shrimp will drastically reduce their numbers and in time, offer the best chance of you being able to get rid of them totally.

How Many Bristle Worms Will Coral Banded Shrimp Eat?

This really depends on the size of your coral banded shrimp and how many bristle worms are in your aquarium.

As a general rule of thumb, we would say that a single coral banded shrimp will be able to eat around 5-10 bristle worms per week in addition to its other food.

Of course, this number can be higher or lower depending on how many bristle worms are in your aquarium and how big the coral banded shrimp are.

If you have a lot of bristle worms in your tank then we would recommend getting a few coral banded shrimp as they will make quick work of them.

Do I Have To Do Anything To Get My Coral Banded Shrimp To Eat Bristle Worms?

Absolutely not!

Coral banded shrimp will naturally go after and eat bristle worms in your aquarium.

You do not need to do anything to get them to start eating the bristle worms in your tank.

As we mentioned above, coral banded shrimp are one of the best possible options when it comes to getting rid of bristle worms in your aquarium.