Bristleworm! Aaaaaaah!

Seahorse man

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I was watching my fowlr tank today and I happened to notice this little guy trying to burrow underneath one of my rocks. I pulled the top and then is just squeeze him into a cup without him touching my fingers. Is it a bristle worm? And if so how do I get rid of them? Are they bad? Thanks everyone.!

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Robink

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They are just not very pretty to look at. But they are a good cleanup crew. They eat detritus and leftover food in your tank. No danger to your inhabitants. However, do not touch them, the bristles sting. ;)
 
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Seahorse man

Seahorse man

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They are just not very pretty to look at. But they are a good cleanup crew. They eat detritus and leftover food in your tank. No danger to your inhabitants. However, do not touch them, the bristles sting. ;)
What about corals? I'm getting into them soon.
 

Robink

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What about corals? I'm getting into them soon.
Have never had a problem with them and corals. My last tank had quite a population of them. Went with dry rock this time and still have some in there. I have a sixline that eats the little ones if he can find them. Otherwise they don't bother anything and I only see them occasionally as they are mostly nocturnal.
 

Legal Reefer

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Bristle worm is good. Google it and check out the pics to see the difference from fire worm and bobbit worm, those are the ones you don't want. Some people don't like them because they think they're creepy. I only remove really big ones if I see them, but they don't harm anything. They're really good at cleaning area's other clean-up crew critters can't get to.
 

Ace6090

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I have had them in my tank for years. They never get bigger than 1/4 to 1/2 inch and have never caused an issue. If they start to get too big or you see a lot of them it means you are probably overfeeding.
 

ArowanaLover1902

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They're good, they get into places most other clean uppers won't, plus they're mainly nocturnal, you won't see them much
 

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