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MeReefBeef
05/03/2009, 10:56 AM
admin i just moved this post b/c i wasn't getting any answers.

Can anyone help me ID this worm, it hitchhiked into my tank with one of my corals i'm not sure if its a bristleworm or a fireworm. They seem sensitive to the light. a little bit worried. Thanks for your help!


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/510/171027worm2.JPG
singold
05/03/2009, 11:08 AM
Bristleworm. Good scavenger.

This is what fireworms look like:
http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l349/singold/fireworm.jpg
joeychitwood
05/03/2009, 12:14 PM
How long is it? I agree with singold that it looks like a bristleworm. In old marine tank textbooks, bristleworms were described as dangerous with the advice to remove them. However, as mentioned, they are helpful scavengers when in moderate numbers. Rarely, they can develop large populations.
Lightsluvr
05/03/2009, 12:29 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14943146#post14943146 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by joeychitwood
Rarely, they can develop large populations.

They might become a pest only if you overfeed your tank... (speaking from experience)

As long as they remain at the bottom of the food chain (relegated to cleaning up after the fish), they seem to very helpful addition to CUC. Like dental floss for your live rock... :D

LL
joeychitwood
05/03/2009, 12:34 PM
There was a very entertaining thread several years ago with photos showing a large bucket of writhing, squirming bristleworms removed from a single tank. It was truly creepy.
MeReefBeef
05/03/2009, 03:28 PM
i have a nano and i feed the single fish in there 2-3 times a week. only a few morsels. Thats it. the worm is about an inch long
reefnetworth
05/03/2009, 03:50 PM
goto: www.melivsreef.com Mark has pic's and descriptions for just about everything...:thumbsup:
reefnetworth
05/03/2009, 03:53 PM
i do agree, it looks like a bristle to me also!
mitziem
05/03/2009, 10:14 PM
Hmmmm seeing that pic and hearing that might be a bristleworm makes me wonder what is in my tank which i thought was a bristleworm but doesnt really look like that. What i see now and then is about 2-3 inch from what i can tell and looks like a small bristle brush with things sticking out all around it and the way down almost like they are spiraled around it. Not sure on the length..generally see it poking out a rock.