Wife found this little guy

[ReeferJay86]

Well, my wife had me on FaceTime to feed my fish, she stumbled across this guy coming out of an empty shell.

I think it might be a bristle worm, but not quite sure. Not sure how long it’s been in there as well. The shells were given to me along with my hermit crabs that I bought from a LFS. Are they good to keep or should I toss it out.

 

[samnaz]

Bristleworm.

 

[Pistondog]

looks like you are correct.
I think they help keep things tidy.

 

[Fishurama]

Looks like a bristle worm. They are good CUC and clean a lot of hard to reach holes and even snails cant get. Some people dont like them though.

 

[User1]

Looks like a bristle worm. Some people dislike them. Some love them. I find they are very helpful because:

1. Natural part of cleanup crew
2. Good indicator of high nutrients (population based on amount of food source)
3. Natural food for some animals (Copperband Butterflyfish, some wrasses)
4. Diversity

Honestly I would keep it but that is just me. I really can't get past the benefits they provide to our system and I've never worried about them as long as I've been in this hobby. And I've had a few times whereas they became too many

 

[ReeferJay86]

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I like bristleworms in my tank but I have had to pull a handful of bristles out of my fingers a few times

 

[ReeferJay86]

Thanks for the fast reply. I’ll tell my wife to toss it back in and keep an eye out for multiples

 

[ReeferJay86]

I like bristleworms in my tank but I have had to pull a handful of bristles out of my fingers a few times

Ouch

 

[Rp8]

they can get big for a worm, and multiply pretty good. its your preference, but if you change your mind, they are fun to try to catch lol