Bristle or fireworm?

[DirkDigler]

Hi I was concerned for my yasha goby not completely out so decided to drop a few pellets in front of its cave when I see my pistol shrimp come out at the same time from the same cave as a worm about the same size as the shrimp and my poor yasha! I lifted the rock in a panic and took out the worm quickly. My yasha luckily is still alive. My pinky is next to it for reference. Should I put it back in or leave it out and chop it into a million pieces?

 

[Slocke]

Common bristleworm. They are usually good but if you overfeed they can explode in population. Wrasse may help keep the population low.

 

[DirkDigler]

Thank you, I don't want it in my tank but Yea I should cut back on my feeding. I have a 32 gallon tank and have been feeding twice a day on most days but usually once a day. All my stock seem to eat all of the food that I provide. I imagine if there is one there is probably more, ***.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Thank you, I don't want it in my tank but Yea I should cut back on my feeding. I have a 32 gallon tank and have been feeding twice a day on most days but usually once a day. All my stock seem to eat all of the food that I provide. I imagine if there is one there is probably more, ***.

Lol, I got the same problem here. I try not to overfeed for this exact reason, and whenever I see them, I attempt to remove them, though I am never successful... Lol.

I would leave it out, but it's really up to you. They just eat leftover food and detritus, but get a reputation for eating fish, when they are only eating the remnants of a fish.

They can get their bristles in you, so that's why I take them out... They may also bite...

 

[DirkDigler]

Lol, I got the same problem here. I try not to overfeed for this exact reason, and whenever I see them, I attempt to remove them, though I am never successful... Lol.

I would leave it out, but it's really up to you. They just eat leftover food and detritus, but get a reputation for eating fish, when they are only eating the remnants of a fish.

They can get their bristles in you, so that's why I take them out... They may also bite...

Yea I was lucky since it had just popped out and it was in an independent rock from the rest so I just lifted it which sucked because I had exposed the yasha and pistol from its home and essentially ruined it. Still, I managed to get the darn thing out, I really hope it's the last one, my tank is a year old and crazy I still find random new things in the tank.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Yea I was lucky since it had just popped out and it was in an independent rock from the rest so I just lifted it which sucked because I had exposed the yasha and pistol from its home and essentially ruined it. Still, I managed to get the darn thing out, I really hope it's the last one, my tank is a year old and crazy I still find random new things in the tank.

Hate to break it to you, but if your tank is a year old, it's probably not the only one... Lol.

Did you recently add any new coral frags or live rock?

If you want to try to remove the possible ones in your tank, I would first go with a dim flashlight at night, and see if you see more.

If you do, you can manually remove them, or make/buy a trap.

Here's one you can buy:

https://a.co/d/hOCIWaj

Heres a what you could make:

(you would put food inside the bottle.)
 

Keep in mind that they are almost like a maid in you tank, eating leftover food, but they are not necessary to keep in the tank, and it is 100% your decision.

I would just make sure that you see more, before doing any of this lol.

Keep me updated!