Bristle worms

[Elitehunter1]

I have noticed a TON of bristle worms in my seahorse tank. I mean like 6 or 7 that I can see, maybe more. I've read some conflicting information online about them. Does anyone have any opinions ? Thanks !

 

[joy13]

I don't have seahorses but I do have bristleworms. I consider them a very important part of my tanks CUC. I have a couple in one tank that are probably about 9 inches long. They have never hurt any live fish or coral. I know they are there and know that when I move a rock or corals I have to be careful.

Some people hate them and will kill them all. I let them live to me they are a good indicator what is going on in my tank, if I see them all out and hunting it means something died and they will take care of. They are more than welcome to that after I learned my lesson about how bad a dead snail can smell.

 

[mr_X]

if you have a ton of bristle worms it's because you have plenty of food for them to eat. joy is right that they are a good indicator to what is going on. i would re-evaluate nutrient export and overall cleaning of that tank. too much food/poop is hitting the bottom and staying there.
the worms won't hurt anything though.
a lot of the info you see on forums is from new folks that aren't sure how to keep things alive yet. they see bristle worms eating a dead fish and think the worms jumped the fish in the dark..lol.
this does not happen. the worms are just doing what they do, and capitalizing on a nice meal, and the misinformed keeper blames the worms.

there are eunicid worms and other predator worms that prey on soft corals and sessile inverts like clams and snails, but you can see the difference. they have a noticeable head and eyes.