Bristle worm?

[Wizard4s]

Hi I think this is a bristleworm, is this bad or not?

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Yup a bristle room they are fine, they are a good part of your clean up crew!

 

[Wizard4s]

Ok, just wanted to check lol, thanks

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

No problem good luck

 

[Madcrazyroyboy]

If you have corals remove it.

 

[BelleMorte]

Never heard of bristle warms going after corals before but I could be wrong

 

[Mr. D]

I think fire worms are the coral eaters but I'd just try too keep an eye out/on him a especially if u have to touch your rocks for something

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Bristle worms are fine with corals...

 

[MacDracor]

Madcrazyroyboy - Why?
Mr. D - Fireworm is actually just as generic a term as bristleworm.

There are thousands of species of bristleworm/fireworm. And many dozens end up in aquariums. The most common by far is Eunicide complanata. In fact, I believe that is what is shown in the first picture. Perfectly harmless to fish, shrimp, crabs, corals, sponges, anemones, copepods, amphipods..... you get the picture.
The "fireworm" Mr. D was most likely referring to is the Caribbean Bearded Fireworm (google it. It's a big, bad, easily identifiable mofo) that is indeed a predator of octocorals, specifically gorgonians. They essentially deepthroat a gorgonian branch and gum it to death. They also have no fear of the light or fish and will not hide during the day at all. If you have one, you'll know it. It's really easy.
There are a few other, very rare (in aquaria) species such as the Bobbit worm, but I'd say 999 times out of 1,000 the worm you are seeing is harmless. And probably 99 out of 100, it's E. complanata.

 

[Schism]

Madcrazyroyboy - Why?
Mr. D - Fireworm is actually just as generic a term as bristleworm.

There are thousands of species of bristleworm/fireworm. And many dozens end up in aquariums. The most common by far is Eunicide complanata. In fact, I believe that is what is shown in the first picture. Perfectly harmless to fish, shrimp, crabs, corals, sponges, anemones, copepods, amphipods..... you get the picture.
The "fireworm" Mr. D was most likely referring to is the Caribbean Bearded Fireworm (google it. It's a big, bad, easily identifiable mofo) that is indeed a predator of octocorals, specifically gorgonians. They essentially deepthroat a gorgonian branch and gum it to death. They also have no fear of the light or fish and will not hide during the day at all. If you have one, you'll know it. It's really easy.
There are a few other, very rare (in aquaria) species such as the Bobbit worm, but I'd say 999 times out of 1,000 the worm you are seeing is harmless. And probably 99 out of 100, it's E. complanata.

Exactly

 

[Madcrazyroyboy]

Yes there are only few species that eat corals but why risk the small chance? And never touch them. Their feet are fiberglass and it will leave a bothering sensation for days. You can put tape over the spot to get some of them out tho. They can get huge too

 

[MacDracor]

Why risk the small chance? Well, for one thing, the species that poses a danger to corals is only to a very specific type of corals. Not as many people keep gorgonians. For another, if the small (let's make up a number and say 2%) chance is that it could possibly very slowly damage a coral you probably don't have, that still leaves a large (in this made up example, 98%) chance that the worm will do nothing but good things.
Quite frankly, there is no organism more beneficial to the reef tank than bristle worms.
Their feet are not fiberglass, each section of their body (annelids are segmented worms just like earthworms) has a small limb, which is surrounded by the "bristles" which are usually made of a form of calcium carbonate, such as aragonite.
Tape is a good idea, though. But combine that with a vinegar soak to dissolve them.
They can get quite large if the tank is overfed.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

That bristle worm will be a big help to your system. They eat fish waste, detritus and uneaten food and pose no threat at all to any corals or livestock. Be thankful you have the helpful little guy! There are no downsides to the kind of bristle worm you have.

As a side note, pretty much all reef keeping experts that are enough of an authority to publish books on reef husbandry recommend keeping them in our reefs. Many even suggest adding them to your tank if you don't happen to have any. Not because they are harmless, but because they are actually beneficial.

 

[MacDracor]

That's another good point. Sometimes things die in the tank. Maybe it was old when you got it, maybe it was sick, or couldn't cope with captivity, but things die. And if left to rot, they'll take the tank with them. But bristle worms will dispose of the remains before that can happen. Between bristle worms, hermit crabs, and Nassarius snails, nothing dead sticks around long in my tank. I had a sizable (1" +) snail die recently, and the shell was clean within an hour.

 

[Keithhjs]

I agree they are beneficial, however you must take caution of overpopulation. A decade ago I came home to see in my reef a worm spawning event. About 50-60 worms spewing out white liquid, clouding the tank for almost an hour. I can only assume it was spawning going on. Seeing that many worms made me realize how many dominated my live rock and saw how fast they could grow in numbers.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I agree they are beneficial, however you must take caution of overpopulation. A decade ago I came home to see in my reef a worm spawning event. About 50-60 worms spewing out white liquid, clouding the tank for almost an hour. I can only assume it was spawning going on. Seeing that many worms made me realize how many dominated my live rock and saw how fast they could grow in numbers.

I would bet that in spite of your large population, not one thing in your system was harmed by their presence. The reason they get so numbers in old systems is due to the ever increasing amount of detritus and fish waste that accumulates in the sand and rock crevices over a long amount of time. More food for the little cleaners. Tanks with lots of fish usually have masses of them. They eat fish poop after all! >_<'

 

[Keithhjs]

Ya I don't have that tank anymore but I never had any problems with the overpopulation. But all I had in there were mushrooms, polyps, a clam, anemone, and mainly fish. If I had that many in a tank with expensive corals I would wonder if when they grew to such great numbers if they could outcompete with some other inverts and corals for space and possibly cause them to withdraw some.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Ya I don't have that tank anymore but I never had any problems with the overpopulation. But all I had in there were mushrooms, polyps, a clam, anemone, and mainly fish. If I had that many in a tank with expensive corals I would wonder if when they grew to such great numbers if they could outcompete with some other inverts and corals for space and possibly cause them to withdraw some.

Actually, it's just the opposite. Tanks with few fish and corals often have a much smaller population of bristles than tanks with lots of corals and fish. Since they are surviving on animal waste and excess food, the fuller the tank is with animals the more bristle worms the tank will support. They never compete for room or cause corals to retract. They grow in relation to your bio-load. Again, not as competitors but as cleaners. More animals to clean after = more worms. Think symbiosis.

Aquarists who routinely overfeed their tanks often have huge populations of bristle worms. As overfeeding leads to bad things and sometimes fish or coral deaths, the overfed army of bristle worms are soon seen feeding on the dead animals and quickly blamed for the deaths when in fact, they are actually trying to clean up after the lousy aquarists mess.

 

[Keithhjs]

Whoa lousy?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Whoa lousy?

Maybe that's a little harsh. I only say that because all of the skilled reef keepers I have known have bristle worms in their tanks and know better than to blame the poor guys if something odd happens or they make a mistake. Equipment can fail, a fish store can sell sick fish, and lots of other nasty creatures can find their way into our tanks... but common bristle worms are often blamed for problems they have no responsibility for causing.