Bristle worm?

[wolfsbettas]

Ok I have done some reading and I believe this is a type pf bristle worm. However every picture of them that I have seen doesnt look like mine. I have so far 6 that I have counted living inside my live rock. They are out all the time, wether the light is on or not. So far they seem to enjoy the seaweed I put in for my hermit crabs. The largest one pictured here measures about an inch. Are they harmful to my tank? I have seen articles that say yes and some say no, some says deppending on the type of bristle worm but then offer no pictures of them. Can anyone tell me exactaly what kind of bristle this is and is it bad for my tank. Also it is a 12gallon eclipse with just the live rack and two hermits in it right now. If they are bad I want to add something that wont eat my hermit crabs but will eat the worms.. that can live in a nano..what would be best? Thanks here is the worm picture.. Shaz

[animalwhisperer]

This is a heated topic. I have dozens of bristle worms in my tank. I personally believe the vast majority to be reef safe. Most people think the worm is responible for deaths in the tank. Usually because they are on the inhabitant eating the decaying matter. Thus the assumption is made they were responsible. They are excellent cleaners. I usually catch them when they get big and feed them to my goby. The crabs will be alright. Hope this helps.



Tony

[wolfsbettas]

so the kind I have are the kind that will get large? I read that they can get up to 14 inches... ok so my next question is at what point do I worry about them. I dont have coral in my tank yet but wanted some of the smaller corals once I have done more research on them. I am still learning and everything I am finding in this tank is facinating. And so far everyone has been great to me here. Thank you! Shaz

[chargedtuna]

yeah, they get large. i had a HUGE one, pretty disguisting. never caught it, don't know what happened to it. i have never personally have anything die b/c of them, so to me, they're alright. that particular one was just gross

[Bifferwine]

I have a ton of little ones in my tank, my six line wrasse eats them. The small ones tend to live in the gravel, whereas the big ones tend to live farther up in the rock. I don't worry about them when they're little, they do a good job of cleaning up any leftover food that hits the bottom.

I have however had three so far in my tank that were at least 8 inches long and I made an effort to catch those ones and take them out because they were big enough that I started to worry that they might be capable of eating my immobile animals (although I never did see that happen) if they were the "bad kind". Plus they were disgusting looking and I was kinda grossed out by these giant pink worms crawling along the sandbed at night...

Right now, if I see a giant one, I'll try to catch it, but I don't worry about the rest of them.

[Bifferwine]

Let me add that a LFS here used to keep a container of bristleworms and when people would come into the store and say, "Oh bristleworms don't hurt anything" the LFS guy would put a mushroom or xenia in the container and those things would devour it. I don't know if it's because the worms were starving to death in the container or because they were the species that is not reef safe, but apparently they will eat stuff that can't get away from them in certain situations.

[gasman]

I have them in my tank also. I have not seen any problems with them I also have corals. If I am cleaning my tank and I see one I will suck it out other then that they stay.

[Chris]

If you keep a six line wrasse in the tank he will keep you worm free, if the worms are not to big to start with. Don't get attached to the six line, he wil jump the tank every 6 months. My tank had worms for years and I had never seen any problems with them. I always assumed they helped keep the sand bed clean.

[djnzlab1]

hi
That Dr that reccomend the DSF also reccomend bristtle worms over starfish, and those hermits, he says they are the best at eating decaying matter, and it makes sense about them eating a dead animal. I ve heard you can cut up the big ones and the become smaller ones they can regenerate parts lower animals are pretty tough .
Doug

[winyfrog1]

They will help to keep your tank clean for you. They are a maintenance worker in you aquarium. They will eat detritus, fish food, fish or crabs that may die in your aquarium. I have had full size ones in my tanks and just let them stay. they keep my tanks healthy.

They do not eat coral, if they have plenty of other food. In some tanks they can become a nusance, in which case as suggested add a sixline wrasse, or trap them.