Bristle Worms?

jcroteau · 11-02-2006, 07:18 PM

I just read a thread in which someone mentioned bristle worms. I've seen small worms come out of my live rock. Is this something I should be concerned about?

yoshi191 · 11-02-2006, 08:01 PM

I dont think you should be worried about them i had them when i first bought my live rock .. and after a week not even they were gone Or i could not see them one of the too ..

but i was told not to Touch Them tho

Dylan

kilsbypearl · 11-02-2006, 08:35 PM

Hi!
I am pretty novice at all of this as well, but a friend of mine who knows a bit more than me mentioned that these creatures are a favorite food for ...I think....Royal Gramma's, you would have to double check on that though and maybe someone else has some better information on it but at least thats a start? I had two I saw just a little while ago...maybe two weeks because we had bought some new rock about three or four weeks ago. But have not seen them since? i think our decorative crab or one of our hermit crabs got at them...we call him Soldier because he is so big and has a helmet shell lol

Hope that helps?

WhoDey · 11-02-2006, 09:03 PM

jcroteau,

Are you sure they are bristle worms? there are a lot of different kinds of worms that come on LR. I wouldn't be too worried about it unless they start to get kinda big or all the sudden you notice a lot of them. If this happens then simply buy a fish/crab/shrimp that loves to eat them and you will be ok. I have heard from some people that they are a good thing if kept at a low population. If you are planning on keeping soft corals then I would get something that would eat them or take then out yourself with something other than your hands. They have been known to nibble on types of corals, specifically injured ones.

-Nate

Shawn D · 11-02-2006, 09:11 PM

Can you describe more in detail about how they look? Bristleworms have all these little bristles on them.

jcroteau · 11-02-2006, 09:15 PM

They're about a 1/2 cm long, pinkish in color with lateral "swimmetts" I haven't looked at them under a scope but they remind me of a smaller version of the sea worms I've used for fishing.

Tommy Gun · 11-02-2006, 09:31 PM

Do they look a lot like a centipede? I noticed quite a few of these types of organisms coming out of my live rock when I first brought it home (usually at night time). Many of them simply died and I could see them floating around in the mornings. Since then, I would say about a month and a half ago, I have not seen too many of the smaller version, but I have seen some larger ones in my sand. I believe that my hermit crabs have caught a few but I have not really thought of them much until I read this post. I know that Aaron (if I remember right) had pointed me to a web site once that had a lot of pictures of different worms. I will see if I can find that post and forward that info to you, unless Aaron or whoever told me about it answers first.

gm333 · 11-02-2006, 11:26 PM

Yup they are bristleworms, not a bad thing if you keep them under control. My arrow crab makes short work of them. I still see them every now and then. If you use a flashlight with a red filter on it you will know how many there are in the tank. To make a red filter for flashlight use sveral layers of red cellophane wrapping paper and tape it, or rubberband it to the flashlight this will work well.