Holy Fireworm Batman!

[zoohoot]

Look at the size of this sucker! This is the first fire worm I have ever found in a tank. I came home today and while looking at my tank, saw this thing just chilling on the rocks. I was too scared to go after it, but my wife grabbed it with some long tweezers lol!

In the second pic, I put my hand above the water for some kind of reference to just how big it is!

As creepy as it is, I felt weird just killing it. For now, I have it in my sump. Is that a bad idea?

Also, I have a leather toadstool that has been slowly dying. Like over the course of several months. Is it possible this guy was part of that problem?

 

[IceNein]

Your story reminds me of when a hurricane swept through Chesapeake and there was a large snapping turtle on the road in front of our house, and my sister who was staying with me at the time just ran up to it, picked it up, and put it in the drainage ditch on the side of the road.

I can empathize with not wanting to kill it, but on the other hand I definitely wouldn't want a fire worm hanging out where I go reach in to grab equipment. It sure is a looker though.

 

[Gray999]

It MIGHT be fine there, just don't end up touching it

 

[Skippy The Meh]

Ive never had fireworms, but in my last tank i had a really bad bristle worm issue. It started with one that i would see at only at night and only every so often. Flash forward 3 years, the tank exploded with them. Im not a biologist so idk how they reproduce, but however they do, once thy get a footing they can really get after it. It got so bad my sand bed and rocks were full of them. I got an arrow crab first, he ate so many he tripled in size in a week and didnt make a dent. Then i added a copperband and he actually did a really good job of taking care of them. I recently shut that tank down and put it into a larger new tank and i still have a few, but my copperband keeps them in check, and they are good food for a picky eater. All that to say- be careful with keeping them anywhere, i think the baby’s can be distributed through the water column, as they are very very small. Idk just a theory. Heres one i caught in my microscope:

 

[mmorrison55]

Kill it

 

[BryanM]

I don't like the idea either, but he would have to go if found in my tank. I'm not in to those kinds of sump monsters either.

Sometimes LFSes will take things like this if they have clients that they know will buy them (my mantis shrimp were all taken to the LFS as an example).