What in the world is this worm?!

[JonChicago]

I've never seen this thing before! Had to be 6-8 inches long and it wasn't even completely out of the rock it was coming out of. Blueish with spikes along the entirety of it. Any ideas. Should I try to get it out of the tank next time I see it? Is it harmful? I'll attach pics and a video

 

[Peepers]

Is it a bristle worm?

 

[JonChicago]

Is it a bristle worm?

I'm pretty new to all this stuff so I have no idea. Just a scary looking worm haha. Hoping to get some insight from R2R on it and what to do

 

[AdamB]

Bristle worm. They are a good cleanup crew but if they get over 3” I remove them.

 

[Mary Carmen]

Don’t let it touch you. Their bristles hurt.

 

[Righteous]

 

[tuesdayd]

Yup, a bristleworm. Like Adam said, a good cuc member. Not to be confused with a fireworm.

What is that!! A R2R guide to common new tank hitchhikers.

One of the greatest things about starting a reef tank is getting your live rock in and admiring all the diversity within it. The rock comes to life different creatures. This is a guide that I, along with a very well known critter identifier @KJ , have put together for the new reefer on what...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[vetteguy53081]

+1 bristleworm. Not welcome in my tank but many do like them.

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

I have bunches of them in my tank and sump. Some larger than the one in your picture. They don't seem to bother anything.

 

[JonChicago]

Bristle worm. They are a good cleanup crew but if they get over 3” I remove them.

Thanks. I looked into some ways to catch it and going to try this weekend

 

[JonChicago]

I have bunches of them in my tank and sump. Some larger than the one in your picture. They don't seem to bother anything.

I think I'm still going to try and get it out. If the girlfriend saw it she'd never want to spend the night here again lol. My bed is a few feet from the tank.

 

[JonChicago]

Don’t let it touch you. Their bristles hurt.

Thanks. I have a plan with a stockinette sort of fabric with some shrimp inside I read about online. Hopefully he gets caught up on that and out he comes.

 

[OrionN]

Bristle worm. They are a good cleanup crew but if they get over 3” I remove them.

I disagree with this. I often see multi worms that are longer than several feet in my tank, 420 gal, at night. They never bother anybody, but clean up dead body really quickly.

If your tank is several years old, put some fish flesh as bait tied to something that cannot be move, look at night with a light. You will see how big they are in your tank.