need worm id

[matt1245]

on the last thread i posted a peice of live rock and a few minutes after i put in the rock i saw what im guessing to be a bristle worm it is small, furry like hair and has a red body ill try to see if a can get a pic

 

[thominil]

Try looking on here to see if you can ID it: Xtalreef

 

[matt1245]

thanks im pretty sure its a bristle worm some people dont like these though so should i get him out

 

[melosu58]

IMO no. Great janitors.

 

[HN1]

I agree. Just wear gloves when you handle the rockwork.

 

[spikey]

I asked the same question a few months ago! I got a lot of get rid of it; and a lot of keep it. I decided to keep it; nothing bad has come of it, and it is quite good looking and interesting to see it. I think that mine is about 30cm (12')

 

[matt1245]

well mines very small im just glad i didnt get stung picking out the rock because the tank i got it from theres bound to be many more in it

it might have died though cause its about 3 days old new tank and i just added the rock to help cycle

just a few more questions

will it harm fish, any type of coral?

i only have one 2lb live rock covered in coraline will it eat that if there is no other algae since its a 3 day old tank?

 

[spikey]

Mine has survived the cycling process. My tank is now 12 months old, as it was cycling I notices that the worm was moving through the substrate. After a while I noticed he would come out from under a rock and clean the substrate.


Good Luck with it all!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

30 cm long? That's 12" (inches), not 12' (feet)! Either way, I think I'd yank them when they got that long... 12" or 12' !

As far as my experience goes, they won't harm coral or fish, or coralline algae. They're a great cleanup crew. I often spot mine crawling through my zoanthids or around the base of my acans, cleaning things up. Have never had them do anything harmful.

 

[spikey]

Ooooooooops my bad ' " all the same to me!!
They are interesting to watch!