Friend or foe

[JGStriker]

I apologize for the poor image quality. I just added a few coral to my tank a few weeks ago and one of the zoa started looking worse around the second week, some of it dying now. I took it off of the rock I had placed it on in an attempt to attach it to a plug in a more sheltered lower portion of the tank. I the. saw a couple of these little guys . They are probably around 4 to 5 mm in length.

 

[JTP424]

Can you circle what specifically you are calling out? I see maybe one or two things, one looks like an amphipod, the other may be a bristleworm? But closer clearer images would help.

 

[JGStriker]

Can you circle what specifically you are calling out? I see maybe one or two things, one looks like an amphipod, the other may be a bristleworm? But closer clearer images would help.

 

[BonnieB]

If I’m seeing correctly what you are asking about, looks like baby bristle worms. If so, they are CUC but they definitely can irritate corals. Some people love and leave them and some will do everything they can to get rid of them. I have a six line for mine but have trapped a huge one. So I still have a couple bigger ones, too big for the wrasse, but he keeps all the offspring in check. There are other options like arrow crabs but I haven’t had success with them (other than they’re cool looking!).