Help id!!

[BabyDee17]

I found this little guy today, he's a hitchhiker of some sort. Im hoping hes not bad.. I need to id to figure out if I should get him out of my tank asap or not.. Thanks!

 

[gizmo 7-7]

It looks like a bristle worm. They can be bad. They can damage your coral, inverts, and even fish. I had some in my tank and they wrapped around the base of my featherstar and killed it off. They make traps that you can buy at your lfs.

 

[rdnelson99]

Nothing wrong with them in moderation. They are a good part of the clean up crew and eat the left over food. If you don't want them, pluck them out with a tweezers if there is only a couple. But if you have a bunch it means you are overfeeding and you wont be able to control them unless you feed less. Try not to touch them though, they will give you a good sting for a bit.

 

[BabyDee17]

Oh thankyou. I gotta get him outta there. He disappeared but ill find him. Thankyou again.

 

[gizmo 7-7]

One of my tanks was pretty infested with them. They normally hide in or under the rocks. I was able to get a lot of them out by just lifting up one of the rocks, since they were all just sitting there. I sucked them up with a coral feeder. I also heard that you can use soda water on the rocks to get them out (I never tried this though).

 

[Ricksreef]

They are a good part of your cuc and don't harm corals or anything that is alive in your tank.Just don't overfeed and the population will stay in line.They can get big as you see in photo.

 

[mr_X]

One of my tanks was pretty infested with them. They normally hide in or under the rocks. I was able to get a lot of them out by just lifting up one of the rocks, since they were all just sitting there. I sucked them up with a coral feeder. I also heard that you can use soda water on the rocks to get them out (I never tried this though).

The reason your tank was infested was because you were overfeeding.
Common bristle worms won't hurt anything that's healthy.

I gotta get him outta there.

No you don't. It won't hurt anything. People spend all sorts of money for "clean up crews" and then throw away valuable members that they got for free. These are nothing more than relatives of the earth worm with some spines for protection.

 

[gizmo 7-7]

The reason your tank was infested was because you were overfeeding.
Common bristle worms won't hurt anything that's healthy.

Thanks for the info. But from my experience, I believe they have caused damage to some of my coral and inverts. I have seen them crawling around some polyps (soon after most of them died off). I also noticed my featherstars slowly started falling apart and then I noticed the bristle worm wrapped around the base of it.

 

[mr_X]

Do you think it could have been that they were crawling around the coral polyps and feather duster because they were failing?

 

[gizmo 7-7]

Nope. Didn't think about that, but based on appearance they were doing well until I saw the worms. I could be wrong, but that's just what I noticed them. By the way, I'm talking about feather starfish, not dusters.

 

[mr_X]

Feather starfish? They don't live in closed systems. I guarantee the starfish was dying and the worms were taking advantage of a free meal.

 

[gizmo 7-7]

Really? I had it for about 8 months. I was feeding it coral food.

 

[rdnelson99]

Feather starfish? They don't live in closed systems.

For all purposes I believe this is a true statement however I have seen it done. I wish it were not so close to a true statement because I would love to have one. Some of the coolest creatures I have ever seen.

 

[mr_X]

It does take a long time for a starfish to starve. Months. How do you know it was eating coral food? I thought they were plankton eaters. How did you feed it?

 

[gizmo 7-7]

The guy I bought them from told me they would eat the coral food and copepods. When they were open, I would just squirt the coral food near the mouth using a coral feeder. I also used to put copepods in the tank.

 

[mr_X]

They are plankton eaters. they are filter feeders like carnation corals, non-photosynthetic gorgonians...They do not eat copepods.

 

[gizmo 7-7]

Ok good to know. I had mandarins in there too, so the copepods weren't a waste.