Hitchhiker

[Hinds04]

Picked up some empty hermit crab shells the other day from the bottom of an invert tank. Today I noticed what looks to be a 1/2" worm with spikes that look like they are made of hair???? Anybody know what I have?

 

[Mitchell0605]

Sounds like a bristle worm. A picture will help us confirm that.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Here's a picture of one.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to the SW ID forum.

 

[Hinds04]

That looks like it. Any good to have in the tank?

 

[Mitchell0605]

Yep. A good little scavenger that feeds on scraps of food your fish miss.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Don't touch it though! The bristles will sting you.

 

[Mitchell0605]

I didn't know that. Thanks Kristin.

 

[Hinds04]

Thanks guys. It was removed from the tank. I also found several brittle stars.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Why? All those critters are good for your tank.

 

[Hinds04]

I was told they can get very big and multiply like crazy. Also can eat inverts and other things in the tank.

 

[AMDPhenomX4]

They wont kill anything, but I decided not to have any in my 180G as I wanted to have coral frags and didn't want to be "stung" by them when moving. They will only multiply if you overfeed. They are scavengers.

 

[Zer0]

They're good to put in your sump or fuge.. if you have one?? Most people love to have those worms in their fuges/sumps for the exact reason mentioned above by AMD.. they scavenge.