Need some help

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bigsmooth

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 2, 2005
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Deer River
I was looking at my GF's saltwater tank and saw what looked like a centipede in there. it was white and had lots of legs. Any idea on what this was? harmful?
 
Shoot us a picture...that is way to vauge. We have all seen millions of strange little critters.
 
Likely a bristle worm of some kind, it's probably a harmless scavenger. You never know though, we found one in a tank that had grown to over 4 feet and was as thick as my thumb.
 
SimonL;4791396; said:
Likely a bristle worm of some kind, it's probably a harmless scavenger. You never know though, we found one in a tank that had grown to over 4 feet and was as thick as my thumb.

+1 here.

It most likely is harmless unless you have it in a reef tank and it starts to grow quite large. They are actually beneficial because they scavenge on uneaten food scraps and other detritus laying around in the tank.

I have heard many crazy horror stories of these guys getting absolutely huge over a long period of time of eating. However, in most aquarium settings you will never have them reach a size that will make them problematic.
 
If its a concern to you, then tweezers could be used to pull it out. Also many species of wrasses consume these types of worms.
 
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