Help! Are fire/bristle worms harmful?

[myre]

I have three questions, today I noticed that i am missing a damsel fish...I had six now I am down to five...could he be hiding in the rock..could he have died there? Also, I noticed this worm in my rock, I think it is a bristle/fire worm...will this hurt anything in my tank, should I try to get rid of it, will crabs eat it? Also, would it be ok to get my own hermit crabs and snails from the tide pools, I have had friends who did this.

 

[bang guy]

1 - It could be hiding. If it doesn't come out for food then expect the worst.
2 - There is a species of Fireworm capable of eating a sleeping Damsel. They're quite uncommon but they do exist. In my opinion you should look elsewhere for the reason.
3 - Hermits are opportunistic scavengers/predators. If you have nothing in the tank that they can kill & eat then they're probably OK. Most Hermits will eat snails if the snail has been weakened or is otherwise vulnerable.

 

[myre]

Would a crab eat the fire worm? Also, I think that I found my damsel fish under a rock, but I think the worm is too small to have eaten it, and the only reason I noticed the worm is because it came out to eat the fish food I put in the tank.