Millipead thing

[Anonymous]

What da heck is this?

I just spotted it floating around in my new Nano

Is it bad? is it dead? (Considering it was just floating around)

 

[Anonymous]

looks like a fire worm. CAn be a bad thing some people like them. They eat dead stuff, snails, corals, and other things. I would take him out (with pliers or tweezers). They do eat corals so if you leave him in there he probably eat anything dead or not moving in your tank

 

[Len]

It's a bristle worm, but not a "fireworm" (a common name for specific speces that have a firey red color and is known to eat some corals and/or clams). Bristle worms (aka Polycheates) are normal organisms in a healthy reef ecosystem and I wouldn't remove it IMO because chances are, it does more harm then damage (if any).

 

[Anonymous]

, it does more harm then damage (if any).

_________________

So which one is it??

Whoops my bad it is a bristle worm. I have like three over 2 ft long. They eat my snails but I dont wanna take my tank apart to catch them

 

[45gal_Reefman]

Looks like a bristle worm to me. Use needle nose pliers to remove it!!

 

[Anonymous]

Hey guys
Thanks for the indentification, Lots of different opinions!

Will do some research on the bristle worm and learn more about them first

 

[Anonymous]

The vast majority of polychaetes are harmless to corals. I would just leave it in. I have probably 100 or so bristleworms in my 6 gallon nano, and my tank does fine. They don't eat snails, corals, or anything but detritus.

 

[Anonymous]

. They don't eat snails, corals, or anything but detritus.

Mine eats my snails. The spin a web of mucus and suffocate the snails then move in for the kill. I have tons of snail shells that are empty cause of my guys and they look exactly like the ones in your nano

 

[Anonymous]

Are you sure the snails are not already dead?

 

[Anonymous]

The spin a web of mucus and suffocate the snails then move in for the kill.

Have you seen them do this, or are you speculating thats what "spun a web of mucus" because you saw the bristleworm eating the snail (which was coverred "mucus" at the time)?

 

[parvo]

The worm looks like Eulalia viridis. From "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium" Vol.3 it states " The basic diet for these bristle worms is dead or dying organisms (Vine, 1986), which can create some concern among aquarists. Although some species look very dangerous, they are quite harmless."