Worm identification

[fuddruckers]

Cleaning my sump, and discovered this little guy, I'm thinking it's a bristle worm, and was gonna toss it in the main tank, but I'm also worked it might be a fire worm, which I would rather avoid adding to my tank, anyone able to tell which it is?

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[raz0945]

It looks like a bristle worm to me, I have lots of them in my tanks they are part of the natural clean up crew.

 

[fuddruckers]

I have zero issues putting it in the tank as long as its not a fire worm that will eventually eat my softies, that I have an issue with.

 

[picoreefguy]

definitely a bristle worm nothing to worry about in terms of it eating your coral but they can prick you with their bristles if you're not careful. id say chunk it in the toilet and hope that it was the first and only one in your tank (*not likely)

 

[camellia]

I'd toss it too, they hurt!
I had a lot of big ones in my ladt set up. Before I moved the live rock to my new tank I left it on the counter for 5 minutes and they came pouring out. I've yet to find one in a year and 1/2 in my tank now.

Is the a Brittle star next to it? They don't hurt anything, leave them!

 

[jennm]

Bristle (not bristol) worm.

Very little difference between it and a fireworm, other than the sting.

Love thy worms. He's a good cleaner-upper. Just don't pick it up with your fingers.

Jenn

 

[indecloudzua]

Can bristles eat fish as well or just the fireworms. Has a pygmy angel disappear from my sump with no trace. I know o have bristle worms in there. Not sure if I have a fireworm as well

 

[jennm]

Both will eat DEAD fish. They don't kill fish with the exception of slow moving dwarf seahorses, that I've seen (I saw a bristleworm pluck a dwarf seahorse right off its holdfast and it didn't attempt to get away).

Think about it - the worm cannot swim or propel itself quickly so it can't 'catch' a fish. It will sniff out and find a dead fish on the bottom of the tank or lodged in the rocks.

That is why they are good to have - they are detritivores - they eat uneaten food, waste and yes, dead things.

They can't kill or eat what they can't catch. The living are mostly uncatchable.

They'll clean up dead and dying coral tissue too, but I've never seen them harm healthy corals.

Jenn

 

[indecloudzua]

That's what I thought but also thought he might have been snagged at night when he was sleeping in the rocks. It's the only thing I could think of considering there was no trace of him left. Thanks for the info jenn

 

[jennm]

Worms always get the bad rap because they're usually caught holding the smoking gun

I suppose a worm could attempt to take a bite out of a sleeping fish but one would think they'd feel the pinch and wake up and dart away.

Mantis shrimp and nuisance crabs can ambush a sleeping fish, worms, not really so much, at least in my experience. They just aren't fast enough or designed to do that.

Jenn

 

[indecloudzua]

Yeah, I'm just at a loss at what happened. No crabs or shrimp in there. Guess I could leave out a piece of frozen shrimp in there abs see if anything else comes out of the rock.

 

[jennm]

Sometimes they just die. How long had you had it? Wild caught fishes don't come with a birth certificate.

 

[indecloudzua]

Had him for a month. No issues and seemed pretty healthy.was swimming and eating normally the night before. But like you said they can just sometimes die