what is this

[jimsreeftank]

alt="" />what is it?

 

[ghbrewer]

Bristle worm?

Don't touch, those bristles will cause major inflammation.

 

[ghbrewer]

I have hundreds of the smaller ones in my office tank, they are great at cleaning up. I would remove them if I saw them get that big.

 

[ghbrewer]

Have you seen it eating any corals?

 

[jfoxx81]

look like a fireworm...if it is i wouldn't put it back in the tank or touch it with your hands

 

[jimsreeftank]

I was cleaning out my sand and found it didn't think it looked good

 

[ghbrewer]

Yeah, either way I'd get it out of there!

 

[jfoxx81]

Jimsreeftank;931819 wrote: I was cleaning out my sand and found it didn't think it looked good

lucky guy

 

[reefkeeper]

Jim, here's two great articles on identifying worms that will help. My rule is if in doubt it's out!!

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php">http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php</a>

[IMG]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/index.php">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/index.php</a>

 

[ghbrewer]

Reefkeeper;931827 wrote: Jim, here's two great articles on identifying worms that will help. My rule is if in doubt it's out!!

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php">http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php</a>

[IMG]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/index.php">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/index.php</a>[/QUOTE]

Great links! Thanks for posting!!

 

[raz0945]

Bristle worm-great clean up crew member, especial for those of us that overfeed! My yellow coris wrasse and melanurus wrasse love them as a snack.

 

[jennm]

Love thy worms. It's harmless to healthy, living creatures (except perhaps your fingers). They won't eat coral or live fish.

They will make short work of dead/dying tissue, whether it's fish, coral or invert, leftover food, etc. You WANT them to do that, because cleaning it up is better than leaving whatever to decay.

If you have a dense population of bristleworms, you're feeding too much. Seeing one or two here and there is no biggie. If your rocks come alive at feeding time, with them crawling all over... then it's time to cut back the food. Their population will respond to the amount of available food, so they can be a good indicator of that.

Jenn

 

[camellia]

JennM;932131 wrote: Love thy worms. It's harmless to healthy, living creatures (except perhaps your fingers). They won't eat coral or live fish.

They will make short work of dead/dying tissue, whether it's fish, coral or invert, leftover food, etc. You WANT them to do that, because cleaning it up is better than leaving whatever to decay.

If you have a dense population of bristleworms, you're feeding too much. Seeing one or two here and there is no biggie. If your rocks come alive at feeding time, with them crawling all over... then it's time to cut back the food. Their population will respond to the amount of available food, so they can be a good indicator of that.

Jenn

Constantly learning from you. I've never thought about watching the population regarding over feeding.

 

[jennm]

Happy to be of service.

I used to have a seahorse tank that was way over-fed (by necessity - and water changes were sufficient to keep up...) but the rocks would crawl with worms when I'd feed.

Jenn

 

[jrwhite07]

I just read this thread at work and thought how ive never seen one of these in my tank. Get home and hit the tank with my iphone flashlight like I do every night and there is a 3-4 inch one just like in the pic running back to a hole in the rock. Glad they are ok.

 

[rjrgroup]

1+ Good. I pulled a 5 foot one out of my tank at work a couple months ago... Well pieces of him anyway.

 

[k3nnyp]

rjrgroup;932237 wrote: 1+ Good. I pulled a 5 foot one out of my tank at work a couple months ago... Well pieces of him anyway.

Feet? Sounds more like a tape worm.

 

[jennm]

If it was literally a 5-footer then it wasn't a bristleworm.

Chances are it was a Eunicid worm. http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm">Like this one.</a> (It was a 6-footer - literally).

Eunicid worms are coral-eaters - they need to be removed.

I've only ever seen 2 of them. About as thick as my index finger and maybe 6" long (not 6 feet, thankfully).

Jenn

 

[jdavid]

I think what you have here is known as the bearded fireworm

 

[rjrgroup]

I'm pretty sure it was a bristle worm. I found it dead when I pulled the rocks out of the tank, it broke, I got a 1 1/2 foot section out of 1 rock and a 3 plus foot section out of another. It was flat, about thumb sized in diameter and very nasty.