BEARDED FIREWORM

Dr. Jim

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I'm sure there have been plenty of posts about bristle worms but in case anybody has not seen a FIREWORM, this guy is pretty fascinating! I've had tons of bristleworms over my 50+ years of reefing but this is my first Fireworm....probably because I've never used Caribbean live rock until recently.

This beautiful creature was 5" long and rather fast-moving as you can see in the video. I know there is controversy regarding whether or not the Bearded Fireworm is reef-safe, but because of the possible "negatives", sadly, I had no choice but to sacrifice the little guy:
-may eat gorgonians. (My wife loves a gorgonian that came on some live rock)
-may eat or damage corals. (Can't take the chance of him brushing up against my SPS)
-curious fish may end up getting stuck with bristles (chaetae). (Can't take that chance)
-I may get stuck with bristles: (After going to the emergency room after getting stuck by a Long Spine Urchin, I don't really want to take any more chances!)
Fireworm.jpg


Fireworm.1.jpg


Fireworm.2.jpg

 
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Dr. Jim

Dr. Jim

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Yes....that's one. Interesting that you said it came from KP rock. I have both KP and LiveRockNReef and was wondering which one mine came from. (I was guessing KP because that was my most recently purchased rock).

Pretty neat looking guy.....right?
 

vetteguy53081

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definitely one to discard
 

Reef man 89

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I have one on my live rock to from kp. Have only seen him twice he’s about 6in long and when I try to catch him he was gone. Definitely a fast worm
 

vetteguy53081

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no.. Keep it, just don't touch it.
keep a fireworm ??
Fireworms are errant (roving) carnivores that can cause much damage in a reef tank. They have toxic bristles on their bodies that can inflict a sting of a very painful degree, possess strong jaws for feeding, and can reproduce quite rapidly. They are not selective about what they eat but usually prey on all types of other motile (moving) and sessile (attached or stationary) invertebrates, such as corals, crustaceans, mollusks, sedentary type as well as other errant type bristleworms. Being particularly aggressive predators, they may even eat small fish if an opportunity presents itself. For these reasons preventing these destructive worms from accidentally getting into or removing them when found in a saltwater aquarium system is recommended.
 

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Yes....that's one. Interesting that you said it came from KP rock. I have both KP and LiveRockNReef and was wondering which one mine came from. (I was guessing KP because that was my most recently purchased rock).

Pretty neat looking guy.....right?
Very cool looking
 
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Dr. Jim

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I believe I found a way to help get rid of Fireworms. I've only done this once so far so need to experiment a little more, but it looks promising:

I haven't seen fireworms in many months up until recently. I have a Q tank with SPS frags that had some kind of a mite related to the Red Bug (but it was smaller and brown, but devastating! More about this below). I was experimenting with ivermectin to try to get rid of the "bug" and found that the drug "stunned" an 8" fireworm causing it to come out of the rock and just lay on the bottom (so it was easy for me to pick up with tongs).

My 2 purchases of KP rock showed that this rock is loaded with fireworms. I plan to buy it again but will treat the rock with ivermectin.

Dosage: I used Ivomec 1% injectable solution (for cattle and swine). I squited 2cc in my 30 gal system. A couple hours later the fireworm came out of the rock.

A quick search found this source to buy ivermectin (and I believe they will sell it without a prescription!): https://www.revivalanimal.com/product/generic-ivomec-1-injection/all-dog-and-cat-supplies

More about the "bug" related to Red Bugs: I am quite sure that this parasite is a Tegastes species, but different from the "Red Bug." It was brown in color, smaller, and impossible to see with the naked eye. It came in on a frag I bought from someone on Ebay. It made it thru my dips: Interceptor 15 min; Coral RX (5 min) followed by Bayer (5ml/200ml water for 20 min). I only could find 4 parasites to experiment with but found them incredibly resistant to everything I tried including high doses of ivermectin and interceptor dips which I performed weekly. Ivermectin did kill one after 24 hours, but the concentration would have been too high to use in a tank. I am fairly convinced that I finally got rid of them all using 6cc ivermectin 1% in the 30ml Q-tank along with Dyacide (an organophosphate). (I have to find my notes about how I dosed the Dyacide....sorry). I first tried high doses of Interceptor (1/4 tablet in 30 gal) repeated weekly for 3 weeks but it did not kill this parasite!
None of the corals seemed to be affected by these dosages; and, tube worms were spared!
 
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