I think a bristle worm? Good or bad?

quik95lt1 · Sep 30, 2016

From my searching on the forum here I think I saw what appears to be a bristle worm this morning sticking about a half inch out of one of my rocks, when I went to look closer it retreated back into the rock. Width wise looked to be about maybe the size of a tong on a fork. Was what appared to be greyish in color with maybe yellowish legs? Hard to tell under blue morning lights and half sleeping eyes lol regardless is this something I should be worried about removing or should I just let it be? tank is only a few months old, has 40lbs live sand and 50lbs live rock, two ocelarris clowns, a scarlet cleaner shrimp and a hand full of astrea, nessarius snails and scarlet hermits

Thanks!!

Tahoe61 · Sep 30, 2016

Unless corals have been eaten or fish or inverts have gone missing I would not be concerned. An ID is pure speculation without an image, there are a lot of different worm types found in the average aquarium.

Basically people worry far too much over bristleworms and most other harmless hitch-hikers.

If you drop some pellets next to where you saw the worm it may come out to eat and you'll get a better look.

quik95lt1 · Sep 30, 2016

I have actually had 1 hermit crab go last week I found him out of his shell when I came home one night and then a couple days later all that was left were his legs.....I assumed it was just some crab on crab shell stuff though....other than that things have been perfectly normal short of an influx of green hair algae. The worm I saw looked WAYYYY to small to take out any of my tank inhabitants. I'll try and see if I can get a pic of it tonight when it gets dark

Tahoe61 · Sep 30, 2016

Hermits come out of the shell to molt, in the presence of other hermits the molting hermit is at risk of being eaten and having his/her shell stolen. Crabs and shrimp typically become reclusive for a day or two after molt until their exoskeleton hardens.

madweazl · Sep 30, 2016

Look like this? I've never seen one eat something that wasnt dead or dying. I did have one that would munch on macro algae occasionally.

quik95lt1 · Sep 30, 2016

madweazl said:
Look like this? I've never seen one eat something that wasnt dead or dying. I did have one that would munch on macro algae occasionally.

looked EXACTLY like that!!

madweazl · Sep 30, 2016

It shouldnt bug anything that doesnt need to be cleaned up

quik95lt1 · Sep 30, 2016

madweazl said:
It should bug anything that doesnt need to be cleaned up

right on ill let him be, I actually thought it was kind of cool looking, I have to move the tank in about two months so now im a little squeamish about removing the rocks and finding surprises lol.....I am going to get a pair of gloves ill tell ya that

quik95lt1 · Sep 30, 2016

thanks for the info also, on another completely unrelated note I noticed this AM that my freshwater tank had 4 baby cory cats swimming around, look to be like a month old.........apparently I have inadvertently and successfully bred new cory cats lol it was pretty awesome to see

bigroost · Sep 30, 2016

I haven't lost anything to one, but I did have a purple firefish swim around with a side full of bristles for a week or so. There doesn't seem to be any lasting effect from it, but I will probably start a little trapping when I get the time.

madweazl · Sep 30, 2016

quik95lt1 said:
right on ill let him be, I actually thought it was kind of cool looking, I have to move the tank in about two months so now im a little squeamish about removing the rocks and finding surprises lol.....I am going to get a pair of gloves ill tell ya that

They're really cool to check out. One of the reefs we had about five years ago had a couple of good sized ones. I came home from work to find one in my clam chowing down. I just figured it was hungry and went after the clam so I pinched the shell closed on the worm and took them both out of the aquarium.

The other was at least triple the diameter of the one pictured (it was the one that would munch on macro occasionally). After thinking about the clam, I knew it wasnt doing well at the time of purchase. The worm was just doing what it was supposed to do and was actually making a potentially bad issue, better.

ahiggins · Sep 30, 2016

It looks like a bristle worm to me.
We all have itty bitty ones....its just when they get too big or too many is when it becomes an issue.

erinmegan85 · Sep 30, 2016

Definitely sounds like a bristle to me! Like someone else mentioned your hermit might not be a goner. It may just have molted. I've mistaken many a hermit crab molt as a dead hermit only to discover that they are still alive. I've found that mine will tuck way up in their shell after they've molted until their new "skin" has hardened enough to where they feel safe.

Congrats on the cory cats as well! We had that happen in our freshwater tank once as well. We gave some to our local fish store for some credit, and now we're back down to the original two.

NanaReefer · Oct 1, 2016

quik95lt1 said:
right on ill let him be, I actually thought it was kind of cool looking, I have to move the tank in about two months so now im a little squeamish about removing the rocks and finding surprises lol.....I am going to get a pair of gloves ill tell ya that

Best gloves I've ever used for all things tank related.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=25864