Identify This Please?

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rbaby

New Member
Hi guys,

I saw this big fat "worm" looking thing inside one of the holes of my rocks...so I grab my tweezers and try to yank the thing out...he was very pliable, easily stretching to about 3" but very slow moving as I was able to go after him 3-4 times before he was able to move further in the rock where I couldn't get him. Here is a pic of a little piece that I yanked off of him...help?

Is it dangerous? Should I be worried? I've never seen him before and I've had this rock for ages now. Any help would be appreciated.

 
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dragon79

New Member
oh gosh

That is the craziest looking thing. Looks like a crazy looking piece of worm if ever I saw one. I remember when I got something weird in my rocks that would extend out, but it was just a harmless peanut worm. If this can't be ID as something good, then I would think you may have to pull it out, soak it in fresh water, either hot *hot would be better results, it'll burn his ass* or cold, and watch that booger fall right out. If it's hard to get to, I think perhaps you could epoxy him in that hole if you sure there is no other exit. (I know Phischy has done it to a unwanted mantis shrimp) Good luck, hope others can help. Also welcome to the site RBABY, I know you'll really like it here :)

PS
hey djconn, move this into the ID forum.
 
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mikeguerrero

Active Member
Rbaby,

Welcome to nanotank, this is where my brother Dragon started and then got me to join the site.

You'll get great feedback from our users that have nano tanks. Incysor, Sugar Magnolia, Phischy, DJ Conn are among just a handful of users that will always lend a hand.

We have cool contests each month where we enter our pics and try to win cool prizes. Take a look at each month and you'll see who entered and who one what.

Dragon took second prize in the December contest and I took second prize in January for my pretty florida ricordia.

I now have 150 test kit for Calcium courtesy of SeaChem.

Now back to that pic, it does look like a type of fleshy worm with hair. Most things in the water world when they are made of hair, are usually bad carnivorous little suckers, example the hairy crabs bad news.

Dragon recommends you doing a dip, I've done some aquascaping in the past where I have to remove the rock and it goes airborne for 5 minutes. Then I see fire bristle worms leaving the rock and I snatch them and down the drain.

Monitor you tank another night and let us know what you discover on this ugly little buger.

good luck,

Mike
 
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rbaby

New Member
Mike,

Someone identified it as a fireworm...wether or not this is true--I don' tknow, but I know nothing about fireworms. He said that they were harmless, just don't touch them with my skin--can anyone else confirm that this is in fact, a fireworm and that they are reef safe? Thanks.
 
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mikeguerrero

Active Member
Rbaby,

Bristle worms are bad, I use to think fireworms are bad to but I have to look it up. Maybe incysor or someone else might know ?

Mike
 
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rbaby

New Member
Bristle worms bad? I've never read anywhere that says that...but then again, there are many types of bristle worms. From what I've read so far, it seems that fireworms are in the same family as bristles...I don't know what identifies them as fireworms though--it could be that they are more carnivorous than they are detritous. I lie my bristle worms, they eat th excess food and eat the crap on my sandbed...they stir it too, and they don't bother any of my corals.
 
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mikeguerrero

Active Member
Rbaby,

The problem with bristle worms is that as little worms they are good, but they grow and become bad. I've heard horror stories about them growing large and eating corals and other innocent critters.

There is a link somewhere here that Incysor sent my bro about a bristle worm that grew like 6 feet or something like that and was eating everything in his reef, he caught it and everyone saw this godzilla type worm.

Man it was ugly and mean,

Mike
 
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rbaby

New Member
I've had mixed reviews about that. Usually the types of worms that eat corals aren't bristles...and there are some bristle worms that exude a kind of "net"...so if you ever see your bristle exude something more than just white puffy smoke, you need to take that sucker out because he will net you fish down and eat it.

I think it's a common misconception about bristles...with them getting large and only then becoming a hazard. Some of my trusted reef friends online have all said that no matter what size, they will always be detritous eaters...so I don't really know.

With that said...I think I will dip the rock...if anything, I lost a beneficial worm...but more gains than there are losses...I need the peace of mind, that thing was ugly. I will stick the rock in cold freshwater and hope it comes out...if it doesn't come out, I'm boiling the sucker...screw the coralline and screw the bacteria--that guy is comin out!
 
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rbaby

New Member
So I took the entire rock and I stuck it in ICE COLD water...saw him limping out of one of the holes and tweezered him out, put him into a little tub:



I felt bad though coz one of my snails was attached to the rock...he got shocked LOL...he started letting go of the rock pretty fast when I put the rock in the water so I took him out as fast as I could and stuck him back in the tank. What do you think his chances of survival are? =P...poor little guy...
 
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incysor

New Member
The worm you've got is definitely a fireworm...It's just a type of bristleworm. Not inherently any worse for your tank than regular bristleworms, just a much more painful sting if you happen to brush up against it while cleaning or whatever.

There is a long standing debate on whether bristleworms are beneficial or a nusiance in reef tanks. I'm personally of the opinion that they're fine when they're smaller, but that as they get big they have the ability to kill sleeping fish pretty easily. There are tons of different types of bristleworms, and to say that they're all bad, or all good, is somewhat simple. Mostly I think they're not a big deal, but if you see one that's 3ft long, you might want to pull it out if you can. (Happened to my boss one night as he was walking past his 180g reef tank)

B
 
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mikeguerrero

Active Member
Snails are really hardy...

I have some go through major water changes and they've come along fine. Had you kept him in the cold water too long, it would've been over. Since you saw him and quickly placed him in the tank, he should make it.

Mike
 
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rbaby

New Member
Mike...he went about his business the second I put him in the tank...so I'm hoping he'll pull through, he's been a good hard worker!

Incy...from what I've found out...fireworms are generally harmless just like bristles...but certain species are no-nos...someone identified it as a "Bearded Fireworm" which isn't reef-safe...so I am glad that I've taken him out. The guy who even identified him wants the worm (I kept it alive)...and dedicate a small tank to them because he finds them...uhm...pretty. Strange...but whatever floats his boat :)...
 
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n3m3ss1s

New Member
I've always thought bristle worms are bad. My royal gamma was gettin torned up by a bristle worm. One night I saw it wrapping itself around the the gamma. The gamma immediatly swam away and changed his sleeping spot. The sixline ate the worm after a after a week though. The worm was skinny and long. It took a month for the gamma to look healthy again.
 
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dragon79

New Member
i can agree to those bristle worms being bad, as I've seen two things.

1.) When I lost my gum drop goby and he got sucked up in my tube intake of the whisper 10, and it flopped back into the tank when i turned it off, immediately the bristle worm or worms came out and started wrapping around it. (given it was already dead it was easy to grab, that and the stench of death is like dinner for them)

2.) It ate one of my sexy shrimps as it got into a weakend state, overnight it ate it!

I've replaced the dead sexy so I have two again, but to avoid this, this weekend they will come out. Bristle worms to me are like, they'll eat anything to stay alive.
 
Sugar Magnolia

Sugar Magnolia

New Member
Bristleworms are opportunistic feeders and will go after any dead/dying creature in the tank, including sexy shrimp after a molt. All in all, they are basically harmless reef janitors and are an important part of the ecosystem we keep in our little boxes of rocks and water. They take care of any uneaten food and waste and keep the sand bed and rock crevices clean of detritus.
 
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