Worms?

[kdogg85]

I have seen about 15 of these things in the sand and have seen one on the glass after lights out. They have a worm body that is brown in color and have striped tentacles that come from all sides of the body. When the lights are on, they are buried in the sand and only the tentacles poke up from the sand. They remind be of a big spaghetti worm. The ones I have seen are about 2-5 inches long and as big around as a coffee stirring stick. Should I keep'em or chunk'em.

 

[Big Dog]

Lets see a picture of them.

 

[kdogg85]

If I had a camera I would. An oak tree I cut down took my camera with it.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

do you have a camera on your cell phone? These worms sound very interesting a pic would be great!

 

[thincat]

sounds like mini brittle stars and they are a good thing.
Check here towards the bottom of the page:http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

 

[kdogg85]

I looked on there and it seems that figure 3(hair worm) fits the description best. I have seen one out of the sand and it looks like a brown 2-3 inch long maggot with tetacles going everywhere.

 

[thincat]

Cool, it's a good thing.

 

[kdogg85]

Good to know then. Is there a certain number of them that's good before they become a pest? I'm sure a few are ok but would a hundred be bad? I don't believe I have anywhere near that many but would like to know just in case.

 

[thincat]

They will regulate themselves according to the amount of food (detritis) available. So don't overfeed your tank!

 

[David S]

as thincat has said,they are good and they will burn themselves out after a while,just keep an eye on how much you are feeding,maybe cut down abit

 

[kdogg85]

I have compared to what I did when I started this tank. I feed every other day and give my snails a sheet of seaweed every other day. What I feed is gone in 5 min or less. As long as I don't see a gorilla crab or hear the clicking sound, I believe I will be fine. I hope anyway.