bristle worm?

[lumpy]

I have several of what I think are bristle worms. When I described them to my LFS guy he said that bristle worms are red in color and what I was describing was grey. I've included to pics below. For the first time I found one of these guys with a reddish tint too him but I've also included a picture of one of the larger grey ones.

On one of the images I've also circled what I think is a baby trochus snail. Although it seams kinda big for the amount of shell its got so far. Anyone else get these guys?

 

[lumpy]

here is the image with the snail adjusted so you can see it better.

 

[Cheeser]

yea its a bristleworm. most people say theyre good guys but i would worry if you start to see alot of them. ive seen them eat some of my lps that were doing fine until i started getting an outbreak of bristleworms.

 

[ErinCahir]

Bristleworms are a valuable member of your clean up crew. Leave them be.

 

[Ted]

good cleaners, start wearing gloves if you have your hands in the tank..Sting from them sucks...

 

[Waddi]

good cleaners, start wearing gloves if you have your hands in the tank..Sting from them sucks...

But... buttt they are so furry and friendly!!!!!! :mrgreen:

 

[Ted]

But... buttt they are so furry and friendly!!!!!! :mrgreen:

and they tickle your tongue if you pop one in your mouth:^:...trust me do not touch one..

 

[ErinCahir]

Yeah... have you met Waddi? If it can hurt him, it has.

 

[Waddi]

Hahahahaha, yeeeaa, just a little. I try and avoid the things that have a potential to hurt... Doesn't work.

 

[Bifferwine]

Bristleworms can come in pink, gray, red, tan, orange...

 

[lumpy]

ok well so far they haven't done any damage to corals. So not too worried about that but i am getting some rather large ones and I'm definantly noticing an increase. I'm not sure I want a bunch of these guys in my tank. Is there anything that munches one em?

 

[bjohanson1234]

And to answer your second question, that isn't a baby trochus snail, it is a stomatella. A great addition to the tank. They are little eaters of fish:pooh:

If you start getting tons and tons of bristle worms, it usually means you are over feeding your tank. There is a lot of left over food and fish poop that they are consuming. I have never had them eat anything that wasn't already dying either.

 

[poksal]

The other day I watch one of my Emerald crabs drag one into a cavern. ... .. .. I had no idea they could sting... glad I now know.. wow.. I almost grabbed one.

I hope my two Emeralds are molting.. haven't seen either for a few days.

 

[mojuave]

Ok this was a very good post for me because I came here looking for that answer but, here is my problem. I have these in my new 75 gallon tank and there are many of them I mean a lot. Now this tank at moment is fish only so should I do anything or let it go? Also while we are talking 75 gallon I am also being over run by starfish like things that are white small body but long skinny tentacle like legs. There are literally hundreds throughout tank.

 

[poksal]

I'll let someone with more experience answer, but they aren't all that hard to trap.

 

[Waddi]

Get some pantyhose put some table shrimp in. Overnight, and be careful when you take the out. I have been stung a few times. It aint nice.

 

[Amba]

They could be astrena

 

[rlsdsurfer]

I know this thread is old but ...are there any 'bad' species of bristle worms? LFS guy said if it was a solid one color red/pink they were bad for your reef?