Is this a bristle worm???

[greenbean04]

I recently had 2 fish disappear so I went to check the back of my tank to make sure they didn’t make their way back there, but instead I found these worms. I have regular bristle worms in my tank, but I’ve never seen them with tentacles/ hairs this long that go from red to white tips. Any ideas on what this is and if it is okay to remain in my tank, or if I should get rid of it?

 

[kyreefville]

Oh my is that one creature or a whole bunch of em

 

[fishywishy]

No

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

It's *technically* a bristle worm (a polychaete), but not in the hobbyist sense. In the stricter technical sense and the hobbyist sense, though, it's either a Spaghetti Worm or a Hair Worm - both are harmless/beneficial (so they're keepers):

Looks like either a hair worm (Cirratulidae) or a spaghetti worm (Terebellidae) to me - if the tentacles all come out from a single point, it’s a spaghetti worm; if they come out from basically all over the body it’s a hair worm.

 

[jhadaway]

Looks like a spaghetti worm. Harmless

 

[vetteguy53081]

I recently had 2 fish disappear so I went to check the back of my tank to make sure they didn’t make their way back there, but instead I found these worms. I have regular bristle worms in my tank, but I’ve never seen them with tentacles/ hairs this long that go from red to white tips. Any ideas on what this is and if it is okay to remain in my tank, or if I should get rid of it?

I see a bristleworm nestled in debris . To confirm, see if you can separate substance for clear ID as it can be a Lumbrinerid worm which is a scavenger

 

[kyreefville]

 

[phillyb614]

 

[ScottJ]

KILL THAT THING WITH FIRE!!!!

 

[greenbean04]

I see a bristleworm nestled in debris . To confirm, see if you can separate substance for clear ID as it can be a Lumbrinerid worm which is a scavenger

 

[greenbean04]

KILL THAT THING WITH FIRE!!!!

I haven’t put it back in the tank, so good to know. Do you know what it is??

 

[greenbean04]

Looks like a spaghetti worm. Harmless

I have lots of spaghetti worms in my tank and none of them are nearly as large as this thing

 

[greenbean04]

It appears to be 2-3 of them in total

 

[Schulks]

I haven’t put it back in the tank, so good to know. Do you know what it is??

Yes, it is the stuff in my nightmares!


but seriously I trust @ISpeakForTheSeas

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
Looks like either a hair worm (Cirratulidae) or a spaghetti worm (Terebellidae) to me - if the tentacles all come out from a single point, it’s a spaghetti worm; if they come out from basically all over the body it’s a hair worm.

Sounds like it is a hair worm.

 

[greenbean04]

The hairs come out from all over the body, so good to know that it is likely a hair worm.

 

[kyreefville]

Looks like several