Bristleworm..fireworm…get it the hell out?

[Sailaway]

Should I dip this thing? Or is it just a poop eating bristleworm?

 

[shakacuz]

it does seem to have more bristles than normal, but the color gives me regular bristle worm vibes..

personally, i'd remove.

 

[EricR]

it does seem to have more bristles than normal, but the color gives me regular bristle worm vibes..

personally, i'd remove.

I agree -- the bristles look way more aggressive and upright than the common bristleworms I have.

That being said, there's probably tons of different species and only a few seem to be really bad,,, but better to remove if you can. (At the very least, try to get it out and get a better picture of the head/mouth so experts can chime in)

 

[miyags]

I hate those things..Just the other day, I siphoned out about 5 big ones around 3am..They were eating my corals..I couldnt understand why the corals on the left side of my tank kept receding and the ones on the right side were thriving. So I got out the flashlight, And saw worms on the corals.So I started to siphon under the rocks and flipped over the frags and siphoned the ones under the frag disks...I also think they are clam killers..And the clams weren't dieing the were killed by them.

 

[Sailaway]

I hate those things..Just the other day, I siphoned out about 5 big ones around 3am..They were eating my corals..I couldnt understand why the corals on the left side of my tank kept receding and the ones on the right side were thriving. So I got out the flashlight, And saw worms on the corals.So I started to siphon under the rocks and flipped over the frags and siphoned the ones under the frag disks...I also think they are clam killers..And the clams weren't dieing the were killed by them.

Cool. As soon as he emerges I’ll try my best to suck him out. Can I do a high salinity dip or freshwater dip without killing the feather dusters on the rock?

 

[aSaltyKlown]

It looks like a regular Bristleworm. Fireworms have much more red in them. Generally, they do not eat corals, however, all bristle worm spikes can irritate a clam foot enough that it will close and possibly irritate some corals. I'd keep it in, but if you don't like it you can try to trap it or suck it out.

 

[miyags]

you can do a peroxided dip they are the first things to bail. put the rock in tank water, add a little peroxide at a time wait about 20 seconds if you don't see bubbles on the rock add alittel more.untill you start seeing the bubbles let it stand for a minute or two..They usually start to leave the rock immediately. Unfortunately for me I can't remove the rock work to do the dip.

 

[miyags]

I have a bare bottom tank. You can actually see a slime tunnel on the bottom glass coming out from the rocks, to where the coral frag disks are..This slim tunnels collect debris so the worm can travel back and forth

 

[Sailaway]

you can do a peroxided dip they are the first things to bail. put the rock in tank water, add a little peroxide at a time wait about 20 seconds if you don't see bubbles on the rock add alittel more.untill you start seeing the bubbles let it stand for a minute or two..They usually start to leave the rock immediately.

Ok, then after the dip do I rinse the rock in tank water?

 

[Sailaway]

It looks like a regular Bristleworm. Fireworms have much more red in them. Generally, they do not eat corals, however, all bristle worm spikes can irritate a clam foot enough that it will close and possibly irritate some corals. I'd keep it in, but if you don't like it you can try to trap it or suck it out.

ok, I don’t have corals yet but I’ll be getting some soon.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

ok, I don’t have corals yet but I’ll be getting some soon.

Just feed less.