help please

[ANC]

I bought some new LR the other day and have had it in a rubermaid tub sinc eI bought trying to find all of the nasty stuff that I dont want. I think that I got it all except this one bristle worm I found today. I have heard tha bristle worms are actually not a bad thing to have in the tank, but are there certain ones that should not be in there? The one that is in the ruber maid has a some what greenish body with the "bristles" on the sides. Help PLease!!!

[powderhound]

i have always heard good things about bristle worms. eat detrius the can get very big

[ANC]

I also have heard good things about them I just dont want to put it in the tank if there are predatory bristles.

[John Zillmer]

Rule of thumb is if a bristleworm is under 4-5" long, it is safe. The ones that predate on coral don't reproduce in captivity, either, I've heard, so at least if you were to get one in your tank, you wouldn't have an army of them.

[ANC]

Well if I can find it again it's going in thanks. I guess if something happens I can always find a way to get him out.

[mal1099]

Fast way to find nasties is to pour Carbonated water over your rock :) And i love bristle worms. well unless im moving a rock and find them :)

[sharrison]

Bristle worms are a good thing. They help break down the bad stuff.

[ANC]

Found him!!! he is actually a nice light blue color to bad I wont see him again lol. Thanks for the info. I just wanted to make sure there weren't any bristle worms that I shouldn't have in the tank and from the info I looked up and what has been stated here is that as long as they are not enormous they are good to put in.

[peteyp923]

Let the worm live!! lol

[Falconeer]

Are bristleworms different than feather dusters?

[tat2shawn]

are bristleworms different than feather dusters?

yes

[Slayer311sGirl]

Most bristle worms are fine, its just the gigantic ones you need to look out for that are like 6+ inches long.

[broberts]

Yes bristle worms are good for you tank as long as they are not to big.

[lordofthereef]

Found him!!! he is actually a nice light blue color to bad I wont see him again lol. Thanks for the info. I just wanted to make sure there weren't any bristle worms that I shouldn't have in the tank and from the info I looked up and what has been stated here is that as long as they are not enormous they are good to put in.

I wouldn't say you won't see him again. I see many of mine around feeding time and just after lights out :)

[Sisterlimonpot]

I have some bristle worms that are bigger than 6 inches. I'm not too worried about them. The only concern that I always have is when I put my hand in the tank I don't want to get pricked by one.

[LeslieH]

Everyone except reefers use the term "bristle worm" as a common name for any polychaete. These are marine segmented worms with bristles (which may be small & inconspicuous) along the sides of the body. Reefers tend to use it for what the rest of the world call fire worms. Feather dusters are also polychaetes.

[ANC]

I wouldn't say you won't see him again. I see many of mine around feeding time and just after lights out :)

You were exactly right. I feed last night when the lights went off like I normally do and wouldn't you know here he came out of the rocks. it was interesting to read up of the "bristle worms" and how they had such a bad reputation up until a few years ago. Oh well i enjoy seeing him move around at night very interesting.

[Sisterlimonpot]

Yeah I wouldn't worry about the bristle worm unluss they are gettting so big that they aren't hiding anymore.