This is a bristleworm isn't it?

[Lost_N_Space]

This is a bristle worm isn't it?? He's only about an inch long but proving a bugger to ger rid of. http://members.cox.net/black_heart/Bristleworm.jpg

[six.line]

That guy doesn't look like a bristle worm. Can you zoom in any more?

[rustybucket145]

??

[rustybucket145]

I'm not really sure what I am looking at or supposed to be looking at. But if it is a bristleworm why do you want to get rid of it? They are beneficial detrivores and sand stirrers. Always be sure to get a positive id before you remove a beneficial 'critter' from your tank.

And as a side note..... The featherduster in your pic is nothing more than a type of bristleworm.

[jpslickorocks]

assuming you are not talking about the feather duster worm in the pic I think it is a penut worm from what I can see on the rock. Not harmfull at all

[sabodish]

agreed peanut worm

[Lost_N_Space]

I was told by the guy at the LFS that I needed to get rid of it if it was a bristleworm. I also did some research on bristleworms and didn't find anything that said I should keep it but did find a number of atricles that said bristleworms will eat the corals and destroy a reef. Not knowing, I decided to ask.... I know the picture isn't the greatest but I took it in total darkenss to get the picture of him streatched out of his hole like that. I can zoom in but it's far too pixelated to make out any detail. For those who don't know what to look at, I'll see if I can't draw a circle around it to make it more clear.

[BethanyM]

looks alot like a peanut worm to me. I wouldnt bother trying to get rid of it. It is beneficial and its very likely you have alot more. Same for bristleworms as well.

[CompNrdCR]

Bristleworms are great poop eaters =)

[finding nemo]

Two pictures of a bristle worm which I just sold.
They are great for the tank as stated by others.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/karenssaltwater/bristle2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>


<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/karenssaltwater/bristle1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

[Salamander]

Peanut worm...

[Amphiprion]

Sipunculan (peanut "worm").

[e-dog]

Oh what the heck! It's a peanut worm.

[Lost_N_Space]

Wow was I missinformed. I started questioning if I had something in the tank that was chowing on my Xenia about an inch above the base. I just assumed that it was a bristleworm but I'm now wondering if I have something else that's having a field day with the Xenia which was doing awesome until two nights ago. Now it's got a large area about the size of a marble where something's been eating on it. I'm worried I might lose it. I just don't know what's doing it. This is frustrating because I lost my frogspawn about a week before and now the Xenia.

[finding nemo]

Lost, you have something else in your tank eating it, after lights out about an hour get the ole flashlight out and see what is on the prowel.
Bet you will find something else doing the damage.
Bristleworms will eat dead xenia but not living from what I have experienced.
Let us know what you find.

[Lost_N_Space]

Last night I turned out the lights on the tank and stayed up a little longer waiting with a flashlight. I watched a little TV and occasionally went over and checked first with the night LED light. If I didn't see anything, I left everything alone. Finally, when I was about to give up and go to bed, I saw a worm on the small rock the Xenia attached to. It was pretty skinny and had a segmented body. It's color was a medium gray. It moved pretty quick for a worm. I was going to catch it and examine it but it was so fast, I ended up squishing it. I don't know for sure if it was dead or not but it won't walk the same again if it isn't. It fell down into the LR and into a large hole. I attempted to get it with a siphon hose but wasn't able to so it will remain a mystery unless it limps back to the Xenia or one of the other corals. I did also notice a strange thing that I hadn't noticed before with my pineapple brain. There’s an small area where it looks like it died. No bigger than a BB. out of the top of the dead spot there are two little antennas sticking up and moving around. I'm not sure if that's normal or if it's some kind of a pod that's eating the brain or living off of it. I did snatch a sundial snail out of the tank when I first got in my new zoo's. I still have the snail only not in the tank. I've been keeping an eye open for other critters that might be in there. I didn't have a hospital/isolation tank when I got in the new corals so they went into my ownly tank. I've since realized the value of a hospital tank and set one up as I'm now fighting Ich for the first time ever. I'm sure it was just luck before that I didn't get it in the tank.

I'm giving the fish garlic soaked food, doing daily water changes, cleaning the glass daily, I've tripled the dose of Reef Vital DNA and I've added a few more cleaner shrimp. Being this is a display tank and the isolation tank I set up is only a small 24 gal tank, it won't support all my fish while I try to rid the display tank of the problem. I've really painted my self into a corner on this one and I hope it won't end up costing me all my fish. The worst infected, as far as I can see, is my powder blue tang and of course that's my favorite fish. Honestly I'm rather frustrated at this point and I've only been battling the Ich for a week now and I'm sure I have a lot longer to go. Yesterday I got in a chemical called Probiotic Marine Formula and I've added that to the tank but it doesn't seem to have helped any. I've also lost one coral but it was only a frag of frogspawn. I'll say that there are too many products out there that say they'll work when they don't and my UV light might be helping but not enough to get rid of the Ich. I'm probably way off topic now so I'll end this. I'm just a little frustrated today unlike most days. Thanks for all the help with the identification of the peanut worm. It's nice to know I have some good guys in there with the bad.

Sincerely,
Brian K. Gamble

[RichConley]

The one eating the xenia could be a Eucnid (sp?) worm.