What the heck ? ?

Pat 7412 · Mar 8, 2017

Ok , so im having a little bit of an algae problem ...so I was removing some tuffs yesterday, I grabbed a tuff , pulled it off a rock and set it on a paper towel.. wile walking to the dumpster I noticed some small orange things moving ..they where in the root part of the algae .. and I tryed looking them up ,but nothing matched ..maybe cause there larvae. ...
Any ideas ?

Sandroni · Mar 8, 2017

It almost looks like a nudibranch...

Reefapprentice · Mar 8, 2017

Might be a section of a bristle worm who got ripped in half.

Pat 7412 · Mar 8, 2017

Reefapprentice said:
Might be a section of a bristle worm who got ripped in half.

No, thats complete , I should of taken a pic of them in the algae base..they where lined up in a row ..maybe 15 of them ..and they started to flop around .. (freaked me out

)

TbyZ · Mar 8, 2017

should have left it in, it was eating the algae.

Tahoe61 · Mar 8, 2017

Bristle worm.

Maritimer · Mar 8, 2017

Think Tahoe61 and ReefApprentice have the right of it. It's either a part of a bristle worm or a complete baby one.

They're great scavengers, which can get into places nobody else in their size class can go ... but they can also be . . . kinda gross.

~Bruce

ahiggins · Mar 8, 2017

agreed, looks like a bristle worm

Pat 7412 · Mar 8, 2017

Ok...let's say it is a bristle worm..
Any harm ? Over population problems? Any threat to fish coral ?

Pat 7412 · Mar 8, 2017

My coral seem fine with no damage, fish are fine , and I the right side of my tank has all kinds of small feather dusters that are fine too, (have no idea where the feather dusters came from too..)

ahiggins · Mar 8, 2017

yea theyre a great cuc member but I dont like them because I have my hands in the tank all the time moving things around and they sting like a ***** so I always pick them out. Ive found a few that were 5-7" long.
They give me the creepies

Salty1962 · Mar 8, 2017

Tahoe61 said:
Bristle worm.

+1

Zack K · Mar 8, 2017

If you really don't like them 6 lines wrasse's love em.

Maritimer · Mar 13, 2017

Pat 7412 said:
Ok...let's say it is a bristle worm..
Any harm ? Over population problems? Any threat to fish coral ?

No real threat to fish or coral that I know of, but they do sting - those bristles are like old-school fiberglass insulation (which old-school aquarists used to use as filter-floss!) and they're pretty annoying. Depending on your feeding methods, they _can_ overpopulate. There's a video circulating out there from someone whose plumbing is _completely_ clogged full of the things! In reasonable numbers, they're great cleanup crew, and some wrasses do enjoy them as a snack.

~Bruce