Reef Worms

reefnut

Active Member
These Polychaete worms are commonly called bristle worms (because their name means "many bristles") and/or fire worms (because many of those bristles HURT if you get them in your skin). They are one of the most misunderstood and controversial hitchhikers of them all. Fact is there are thousands of species of Bristle Worms/ Fire Worms with only a few being predatory and a couple being parasitic. The predatory and parasitic worms rarely make there way into our systems. So the majority of the Bristle Worms/ Fire Worms we see are beneficial scavengers.
I have read reports that when a tank gets overpopulated with Fireworms they can become problematic. With moderate feeding and a good diverse population of other scavengers, this should not be a problem but sense they can reproduce both sexually and asexually… giving the right conditions, they could reproduce quickly.
 

reefnut

Active Member
The Cirratulids sp - aka Hair Worm are beneficial scavengers. Hair worms are often misidentified as spaghetti worms. They live freely in the sand and in rock crevices. There are two types of Hair worms, one with tentacles that extend from the head region to capture food and the other without feeding tentacles that feed by swallowing sediment particles and detritus. In addition they have gills along the body that extend out of the substrate. They reproduce sexually and given the right conditions can become quite abundant.
The second pic is courtesy of _Eric_3, very nice picture... thanks eric!!
 

reefnut

Active Member
Spionids are a family of small, thin polychaete worms that build their tubes from sand and other small particles. The Spionids pictured have two feeder tentacles that they stretch out to find food. They are beneficial scavengers that feed on detritus and small organic particles.
 

reefnut

Active Member
Serpulid polychaete is a family of worms with calcerous tubes that range from large Hawaiian Feather Dusters to Christmas Tree Worms to these tiny duster worms. They are filter feeders, filtering particles from the water column. This species is often found in sumps (as pictured) and other places of high nutrition. They are harmless for both reef or fish only system.
 

reefnut

Active Member
The Sipunculids- aka Peanut Worm feed on detritus, microscopic organisms and organics they extract from the sand. The peanut worm burrows into soft rocks and crevices often hiding during the day and coming out at night to feed. They reproduce sexually and given the right conditions can become quite abundant. I have recently discovered many in my tank and had a rare opportunity to photo one as it looked for food.
 

yosemite sam

Active Member
Spirorbid worms: These are tiny, coiled tube worms that can form on live rock and the tank glass. They are very small, usually only a few millimeters in diameter. These are harmless filter feeders, and are most often found in new tanks with high nutrients. They usually disappear, or decline in numbers, once tanks mature, and water conditions improve.
 

yosemite sam

Active Member
Flatworms: There are several types of flatworms, and most are harmless. There is one pest species, however, that people commonly find in tanks, red flatworms, planaria. Red flatworms are small, usually less than ½ cm in length, and are a rusty red color. They are slightly elongated or hourglass in form, with a forked tail. Flatworms can reproduce rapidly, and red flatworms pose a threat to corals because in large numbers they can smother them and block light. There are a number of ways to get rid of flatworms. Some fish, such as six-line wrasses, and Blue Velvet nudibranches will eat them, and in-tank treatments such as Flatworm exit also seem to work.
Here is a photo of some red flatworms: The second and third pics are of brown flatworms courtesy of Tizzo, fouth pic courtesy of ViPeR_930.
 

ophiura

Active Member
Feather dusters are one of those groups of animals that come both as hitch hikers, and as animals we buy to add to the tank. The difference is relative size. A tank can be crowded with hundreds of individuals of some smaller species of feather dusters that build mud like tubes. These tend to stay relatively small, but may bloom into huge population sizes as the tank progresses and matures. As available nutrients decline, the population of these worms generally decline as well. No action needs to be taken to remove them.
Other species of feather dusters may make their home in the rockwork, and may not be as numerous as other forms. All feather dusters are filter feeders, and trap small particles in the fine "feathers" of their tentacles.
Photos courtesy of Tizzo
 
Top