bristle worm

[silvaams]

I just added my first coral to my tank this evening, green mushrooms. I was just looking
to see how they were doing when I noticed a bristle worm coming out of
the new piece of rock my coral came on. What is the best way to deal with
these worms? Are the harmless or will they eat my fish?

 

[ErinCahir]

They're harmless and an excellent member of your clean-up crew.

 

[Neno reefs]

They are completely harmless, and a great member of the clean up crew :)

 

[Neno reefs]

lol ErinCathir beat me too it

 

[Treezer8]

They are harmless, and mainly come out at night. I like them in my tank because they are part of my Clean Up Crew. Unless you have some like huge monster bristle worm, or one of the dangerous kinds, then there's nothing to worry about.

Here's a picture of the most common ones, which are nothing to worry about

And here's a picture of the ones you need to watch out for. They are sometimes called Fire worms. Dont handle them with bare hands, they have a very painful and annoying sting.

Here's a site with a lot of good info on bristle worms, ways to trap them if you REALLY want to, and things that you can get that eat/kill them.
What To Do With Bristle Worms?

 

[silvaams]

Thank you for responses. I can remember about 4-5 years ago when I first came into the hobby I had lost all my fish to a 3' fire worm. It scared me away from the hobby for 5 years. So, I went into panic mode when I saw this worm last night. I will be sure to do my research, just wanted to see what all your experiences have been. Thanks again.

 

[Treezer8]

Thank you for responses. I can remember about 4-5 years ago when I first came into the hobby I had lost all my fish to a 3' fire worm. It scared me away from the hobby for 5 years. So, I went into panic mode when I saw this worm last night. I will be sure to do my research, just wanted to see what all your experiences have been. Thanks again.

Anytime!

 

[poksal]

In fact.... I was doing some frag work this AM and found two small bristle worms in the LR rubble I was working on.... I took my tweezers and promptly dropped them into my display tank...so they can do their thing.