Bristle Worms

[iechy]

Have any of you ever seen bristle worms swimming in your tank. I was looking in last night with a flashlight and there was a bristle worm contorting all through the tank. i'm not sure if it was actually swimming or just caught up in the current but it was really weird to see. I normally only saw them in the sand bed by the glass.

 

[jonthefb]

i have witnessed this also, but mine was as you stated caught up in th ecurrent while i ws doing some cleaning. kinda funny though, cause then my hawkfish swims over for a bite, and spits it out, adn then the lawnmower blenny follows suit as well, and spits him out too. the guy lands on the sand and starts burying himself right away. very funny to watch!
good luck
jon

 

[tjkohler]

I found my first bristle worm the other night. It was about 2-3 inches long with a red/brown 1 inch front and a black 1-2 inch back. I was so excited I yelled for my wife to come. "You're excited about a worm?!" She then walked away shaking her head .

 

[iechy]

LOL I got the same thing. Somehow my wife wasn't amused when I woke her up to see it. I can't get her to appreciate the implications of things like that. She likes the coral and the fish and all but the importance of worms and bacteria are lost on her.

 

[megadon]

My wife lost a few hours of sleep when I showed her a worm in my tank, it was translucent and about 8" long and pretty thick. He hides under a rock and I can lure him out with some Silversides. I also saw my Emerald crab eating one, ripping it up and shoving it in his mouth.

 

[beth]

I fail to understand why people don't get as excited about worms as do we hobbyists? What is the matter with these people?!

 

[minireef75]

I did the same thing last night...I'm pretty new to this whole hobby and have never seen anything like those worms...mine are all small like 1-2", maybe one about 3"...but I woke my wife up to show it to her...she was like .."you woke me up for that!!!!!"..I laughed and laughed...my local lfs gives me all of the free crud out of the bottom of their live rock holding tanks...my tank was void of life other than what I bought...I added about 5 pounds of that stuff to the tank (a ten gallon nano)..now there are weird worms and bumble bee snails and all kinds of weird pods...tons of cool stuff...most people tell me that these bristle worms are dangerous to a reef tank and to get them out immediately!!..others say they are great for a reef...what do all of you think? one guy even told me that the actually eat the rock..whatever...

 

[phoenixrising]

I follow the school of thought that they are good for the reef system. I have lots of them in my tanks and I've never had a problem with a rogue.

 

[saltyrich]

Very good for your tank. Check out all the threads about this topic. Dangerous bristleworms is old news.

 

[jedimaster]

I have a foot long bristle worm in my tank its really creepy to watch at night, my 6 year old son thinks its cool

 

[jonthefb]

there are worms, fireworms specifically, that can be problems in tanks, but are very uncommon. Bristle worms do bore through live rock, making it more pourous, and this action, in ht ewild results in sand. same thing in our tanks. they are scavengers, and will eat any leftover food, but mainly feed on detritus. a great part of the reef ecosystem!
good luck
jon