extra large Bristle worm..... ????

[ripper171]

so.... i can acknowledge that with a healthy saltwater aquarium comes little bugs crawling around - copepods - and ugly worms living under rocks - bristle worms...

Now my question here is..... i have like a million bristle worms.. of all sizes.. but one in specific.. he's about a foot long and nearly a 3\8" in diameter.. creeps my GF out when crawls out from under my Xenia's.

Is it a danger to the aquarium? in my eyes.. all its going to do is eat decaying matter.. usually takes down my Coral banded's exo shell in about a minute or two.

Is this SUPER large bristle worms and alllllllll the other smaller ones dangerous? should they be kept to smaller numbers?


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65gal, 100lbs figi rock, yellow tang, 2 clowns, coral banded, 2 damsels - all small to med size. 25+ crabs\snails


Thank you so much for any input.. i'm not sure if this is getting out of hand or is healthy

 

[Heathd]

so.... i can acknowledge that with a healthy saltwater aquarium comes little bugs crawling around - copepods - and ugly worms living under rocks - bristle worms...

Now my question here is..... i have like a million bristle worms.. of all sizes.. but one in specific.. he's about a foot long and nearly a 3\8" in diameter.. creeps my GF out when crawls out from under my Xenia's.

Is it a danger to the aquarium? in my eyes.. all its going to do is eat decaying matter.. usually takes down my Coral banded's exo shell in about a minute or two.

Is this SUPER large bristle worms and alllllllll the other smaller ones dangerous? should they be kept to smaller numbers?




-----

65gal, 100lbs figi rock, yellow tang, 2 clowns, coral banded, 2 damsels - all small to med size. 25+ crabs\snails


Thank you so much for any input.. i'm not sure if this is getting out of hand or is healthy

Your standard bristle worm is really no threat. Its the fire worms, and the black ones that you gotta watch out for.

Bristle worms are nothing to worry about. They eat left over crap, and may irritate your corals if they come in contact with them, but its nothing bad enough to actually hurt them... maybe make the polyps close for a second. I have never had a bristle worm predate on any of my inhabitants, and they will only multiply to the extent that their are available resources.

And they get huge. I was busy digging them out of live rock since I had a fireworm in one of my now broken down tanks, and never realized how big they got until then.

 

[Pazzoman]

....that giant one should be removed....they can damage corals and attack small fish.

 

[Heathd]

I know opinions will vary, so here ya go. Lots more info on the net then just this, but this sums it up pretty well.

http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/bristleworm.htm

 

[Kevin8888]

http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchworms.html

Worm ID page... has pics and a brief statement as to if safe or not.

 

[ripper171]

okay... well i got some pics finally, thanks for he input everyone... i've done some external research too.. and i'm a little afraid i've got a colon of fireworms!

can anyone help with the i.d.?? sorry for the picture quality... i had to act fast... hands little jittery

 

[Heathd]

I think it could very well be a fireworm.

 

[knifegill]

i'm a little afraid i've got a colon of fireworms!

Sigworthy!

 

[Kevin8888]

doesn't look like fireworm to me, they tend to be bright pink, earthwormy colour, or very dark brow... this looks more tan to white... Most ID pictures on most sites are wrong, flat out honnesty here, everyone sees bristle worms and assumes fire... then takes a pic and removes. Though that doesn't mean they aren't carniverous... hard to tell from the pic... to get a specific ID, but they are not FIREworms, but they could be a different carniverous veriety.

 

[Heathd]

I thought it looked sort of grey, which would align it with a breaded fireworm.