Bristle Worms UPDATED W/ Picture

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im gonna have trouble sleeping tonight after looking at that. Just think, it probably crawls out of the tank at night and slithers all around the house. Ever have any small pets go missing?...I think we have a suspect.
 
Brissle worm pic

My skin is absolutely crawling at this moment. My husband wakes me up at 6 am to tell me that there is this gigantic thing in our tank and that he didn't see where it began but he said it look like it was six inches long from the time that he saw it.

Needless to say we are going frantic because we don't know what it is, what damage it can do and we do know that the tank has been disrupted at night because of the change of the rocks and feather duster.

Would you please post your pic again of the brissle worm? And also tell me what kind of disruption it can have on our tank? We have lost two nudibranches and snails so far.

We're off to the LFS tonight to see if we can trap this thing. One LFS told us awhile back when I took in a pic of something that popped up one day and we haven't seen it since to get it out of the tank. Another LFS says to keep it in and see what happens.

Guess this little one grew!!!!!!
 
Where did the pic go? Dang old thread :D

Was this the thread with the worm curled up in the bucket?
 
Are bristle worms dangerous if they bite. I am allergic to bees, wasps, hornets, lion fish, spiders, you name it.
 
It's not their bite, it's their bristles. You might want to invest in some heavy underwater/SCUBA gloves.
 
I imagine there are some that might not, but there are so many species of them, I don't know which ones do and don't. I can say the common ones in our tanks generally sting.
 
Thanks, those are the ones I was worried about. I learned today not to pick them up. I thought if they just died they could not bite me. I would have been in for a surprise to find out it was the bristles that do the damage too. Glad I didn't touch them. Thanks.
 
If they die, the other clean up crew critters will probably get to them before you know, just be careful.
 
From what I understand (never went and grabbed one!), they don't "bite" and they don't really sting. Their "bristles" are what are the issue - if you brush up against them they'll break off and imbed in your skin. It's kind of like working with fiberglass insulation all day and having that itchy feeling... but worse.

With that said though, if I was allergic to bees etc... I wouldn't think about going into my tank without gloves. There are plenty of things in there other than bristleworms that can cause you problems. Lots of nasty bacteria in there to start with, and if you have corals... well... that's a whole different story. For most folks it's not an issue, but if you have any type of allergies to bees or any venomous insects/animals, I'd be very very careful around your tank.
 
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