Bobbit worm in my tank!

Just John

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Ah geez, I just saw a 1 inch Bobbit worm in my 13 gal tank and some other tiny ones. I am confident they are Bobbit worms because those tiny snappers were going like crazy. After seeing a 6 foot long one get pulled out of a tank last week, I am a bit concerned. Do you think a 6 line wrasse would get them? it's very, very thin, but quick to hide.
 
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Just John

Just John

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Is he buried in the sand, or hiding inside the rock work.
Gotta remove that pest.
It's in the sand, but there must be a ton of them if I have seen so many tiny ones. How fast do they grow? Because the rock has been in there since Jan and I am wondering if a larger one has laid eggs.
 

dedragon

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+1 restart the tank altogether, if there are actually bobbit worms and they are reproducing that fast it's easier to just do a restart. Although i havent heard of bobbits breeding very fast either
 
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Just John

Just John

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Got a pic? Bobbit worms don't usually reproduce like that where "tons" of eggs hatch. They are fertilized in the water but most are eaten by other things or don't survive.

Maybe I'm wrong. I sure hope so and I'm just one of those people who overreact. At least I didn't mark it as "EMERGENCY!" The black V shaped part is like a little pair of snappers rapidly opening and closing.

1622566584670.png
 
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hikermike

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If you don't like worms, you'll make an arrow crab very happy as it hunts them down. Mine would pull worms out of all kinds of weird places and then you realize that's what those long skinny legs are for. On the other hand, the worms are actually beneficial if you don't mind the looks and arrow crabs grow quickly and take up a lot of "visual" space. (After a year, when spread out as in moving around they will occupy 10-11" of space.
 

Powahfull

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It looks like bristleworm they are harmless but when they get bigger they become very aggressive when you feed your tank inhabitants they won't attack anything but will get the food before the inhabitants can eat it.

At 13 gallons I would remove them once they get to like 5 inches at the biggest. When smaller they are free sand shifters and cleaners.
 
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