Symbiotic relationship??

kanicky

kanicky

Member
Okay, so I doubt a bristleworm and a Highfin Goby would have a symbiotic relationship, but check this picture out:

I was sitting in front of the tank, feeding the fish, and right next to the Highfin, out comes this HUGE worm. I called for Nick and was like, "Get it out!!" What does he do? Runs for a camera!

He tried to use the pinchers to get it out, but of course, it immediately backed into its hole again... now we have a trap set for it, but I was wondering if anyone could confirm or deny that it's a bristleworm?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by 1journeyman
http:///forum/post/2490732
It is.
Harmless and beneficial scavenger. Leave it be. Imagine the amount of detritus it eats...
I completely agree. Leave him in there. He will dig through your sand and eat the detritus in the tank. They are very beneficial
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by cars&sharks
http:///forum/post/2490806
dont put your hands through the sand, bristle worms dont play nice, they'll sting/ bite or whatever they do.
The hairs of a particular species of Bristle Worm (aka "Fireworms") can lead to a nasty burn as they contact skin. No Bristle Worm to my knowledge has the jaw capacity to bite a person, and none of them actually have stingers.
Sep is correct, though. There are potentially worse things in a tank. Using gloves is recommened.
 
kanicky

kanicky

Member
Thank you for all of the replies
I noticed while re-reading my initial post, that I neglected to add that this worm is in my seahorse tank.
Can they hurt the seahorses and/or the fish? Should I try to remove it now?
I should also add that when we took this picture, the Highfin Goby was not bothered by the worm's presence in the least. In fact, it appears they share they same hole/rock...
 
E

emeralcrab

Guest
I have a bristle worm bigger then that in my 30g. I have watched it eat a whole piece of krill before, so they are excellant scavengers. Mine lives under the foot of my big sebae anemone. Although my jaw fish does not like him coming into his home, I think of it as little Pedro's maid. Goes in and cleans up after him. I would however like to catch it and place it in my 150g aggressive, because I can't have a regular clean up crew in there. It would be nice to have some big bristle worms working in there.
 
alix2.0

alix2.0

Active Member
i dont think they will harm seahorses, i know a lot of people have LR in seahorse tanks & im assuming that unless they started out with only base rock they too have bristle worms... i would say as long as you dont have way too many of them just leave it. it will eat detritus and stray food.
& your goby is tooo cute!
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by EmeralCrab
http:///forum/post/2491270
I have a bristle worm bigger then that in my 30g. I have watched it eat a whole piece of krill before, so they are excellant scavengers. Mine lives under the foot of my big sebae anemone. Although my jaw fish does not like him coming into his home, I think of it as little Pedro's maid. Goes in and cleans up after him. I would however like to catch it and place it in my 150g aggressive, because I can't have a regular clean up crew in there. It would be nice to have some big bristle worms working in there.

there are traps on the market that seem to work they are Specifically for worms
 
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