At my wits end...what the heck is this?

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twinsmommy320

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
6
Location
Mississippi
Alright, I guess a picture's worth a thousand words. I could post all night about the horrible things that have been going on with the tank. I have lost 5 fish and a starfish overnight, so please dont judge my normally beautiful tank on how it looks now. Sending pics of two things, the first I think are bristle worms. The other pics, I have NO idea what these things are, PLEASE HELP!:(
 

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Welcome to AA!

The first picture is definately bristleworms. Good for your tank, just don't touch them.

The others - wow I've never seen that before - sorry!
 
first pic definitely bristle worms. They look pretty big too, yuck. and the second two pics i have no idea..but looks pretty harmless

Sorry for your losses...thats a lot to lose in one night!
 
Neilan- Thanks! So I read that bristleworms were okay in moderation, but could grow to be like 24" long and would eventually be harmful. Should I get some arrow crabs?

I am so sick of these other thready, hairy worms! I cannot for the life of me figure out what they are. As soon as they came about, I started having trouble.
 
Redneck, I believe you are right my friend! Gotta figure out what to do with all of it...any advice on how to at least cut down on this number? They are everywhere!
 
My lfs actually has tons of those white hair like worms now that i think of it.. they are actually kinda neat to watch looks like their sand is moving...theirs all stay in the sand though, never go on the glass. They are all over any left over food though..maybe you were feeding too much and they multiplied like crazy from that.

The bristleworms can be picked out of the tank with tweezers when they get too large. They come out at night mostly
 
Thanks Kelsey! Only recently have I seen them on the sides of the tank. Most of them are buried in the sand and as you can see, mine are a bright orange-red color.

All of our problems started when we changed food. Apparently, our fish dont care for it too much and we would feed our normal amount and assume stupidly that it was being eaten. Then the nitrate went through the roof, fish started dropping like flies, and we had to do a quick through water change. Still waiting to test the levels again. I was literally almost in tears when our clowns died. We have had them since we started. This is such a wonderful hobby, but when things go wrong, its def not fun, nor is it cheap :(

Thanks everyone!
 
Their numbers should be directly related to how much "food" they have. When you get your tank back to normal their numbers should drop somewhat and level out. I had lots of bristle worms when I first got my tank, they looked like an invasion after lights out. Now their not so bad. If you want to try to get rid of them they sell "traps" for the bristleworms, not sure how successful they are.
 
I've heard that arrow crabs eat them, so I am thinking about getting some. I really have no idea where to go from here, and I guess, in the grand scheme of things, worms are the least of my problems. My nitrates are through the roof. We have already done a 50% water change, used Instant Ocean Nitrate Reducer...next in our plan, vacuum. Never done it before, but about to learn quickly. We def have some survivors in the tank and Im working hard to make sure they stay that way...Thanks guys for all your help!

PS: My "bristleworms" are out all the time- night or day, lights on, lights off...is that strange?
 
just keep nutrients down and the bristle worms will reduce in numbers don't forget bristleworms are good for a tank.how often did you feed and what do have in the tank now,do you have CC or sand,and keep doing water changes until your trates are down to about 20-40ppm then cut down to 10% pwc weekly.
 
Thanks David! I just updated my profile so yall can better see my setup. We have a mixture of Fji Sand and gravel. Im not totally brushed up on all the lingo, so not sure what cc is, lol! I know the problem was in the feeding. We were using sinking pellets and the fish loved them, ran out, bought a different kind, they just do not eat them. So now I have all this mess at the bottom and not enough crabs or worms to deal with all the excess. Gotta purchase a vac, any suggestions? You guys are awesome!

PS: Here were my levels this morning: pH- 8.0 (trying to use buffer to raise a bit), Ammonia-0.25, Nitrite- 0, Nitrate- 80 (may even be a little higher than that). Def nothing Im happy about...Any product suggestions? Also I am using a test kit and those are the things included in the kit. Should I be testing for anything else? And are there any test kits that are simpler to read? The color charts dont ever seem to be dead on and its difficult to determine what my levels actually are.
 
arrow crabs will eat bristle worms...ive seen it at my lfs. I have not personally had one but i think they can get aggressive to other inverts ..and possibly even small fish

and it is odd that they are out night and day...maybe its just because their is too many...i'd personally just tweeze them out, i do it all the time ( i dont like bristle worms i think they are ugly and they leave their little pokies in the sand, I tweeze out any i think are too big...only leaving the smallest)

did you cycle your tank? doing daily water changes will help

CC means cleanup crew...snails crabs ect..bristle worms would be part of the clean up crew i guess
 
Also, i really like your tank stand, love the nice wood.

I also have a question to add to your thread. Is it okay to feed only pellets/flakes? I usually feed a mixture of brine, mysis, and blood worms, i will occasionally add a few flakes but maybe only 2 or 3 times a week
 
Best to eliminate the problem by cuttng way back on feeding. Fish and alll animals (even humans) live longer on a 30% reduced caloric intake. Feed only every other day at most and about half of what you are feeding now. Make sure the majority is gone in about 3 minutes.
 
They look like bristleworms and "hair worms". But remember dont touch bristleworms they give you the clap all over your hands :p (not really but itches and burns like a mofo!)
 
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