Help, what type of Creature did I find.

[sld7530]

I was cleaning my filter and removed the foam as I was rinsing with hot water there was some kind of pink creature. Afraid that I had harmed it with the hot water I rushed to put him back in the tank and haven't seen it since.
It was pink In color, about 2 inches long and had hair like structures on its body. It kind of reminded me of a star fish leg. Like I said it was found behind the foam insert in my fluval 305 filter. Any idea how this got in there? It was much to big to be sucked up through the slots on the filter(in less it grew to that size while living in the foam).
Also is there a chance it is still alive and just buried itself In the sand? If so should I be looking to get it out?
Thanks!

 

[meowzer]

Look up bristle worms
If it is that you DO NOT ever want to touch them.....their bristles will sting you.....BUT they are also part of your tanks natural clean up crew
just don't touch them

 

[sld7530]

I think thats what it was!!
second question do you How did it find its way into our filter?
I still have not seen it after we were done cleaning the tank. Will it stay alive buried in the sand?

 

[geridoc]

Bristleworms are a good thing. They start quite small, so it probably got sucked into your filter as a small worm, and was growing there. Many new saltkeepers freak out when they see these worms eating a newly deceased fish, and conclude that the worm killed the fish. Actually, the fish died from something else, and the worms are doing what they are supposed to do - clean up the mess. As long as their population doesn't get out of hand, just think of them as an interesting organism that you got for free. If the population seems to explode, or you start to see very large ones, then you should reconsider how much food is going uneaten by your fish, and cut back some on your feeding.