bristle worm friend or foe?

[aharvey]

I bought the LR from Milkshake and while placing it into my temp tank I have recovered several bristle worms. One is about 3-4 inches long.
I have read in many places that they are bad, but a few have commented that they are a natural part of the reef ecology and as long as they aren't over abundant live and let live. Since I am a newbie I though I would ask the far more knowledgable peer group of which I am loosely associated for thier opinions.

 

[aharvey]

 

[Sk8r]

They're downright necessary for a healthy reef. If you have something die way out of reach, they will see you don't have a nitrate spike. Good guys. But sting us badly. THey don't sting corals. You may see a fish get a faceful of spines [my firefish never learns] but they go away after a day or so.

 

[Codeman00]

Keep them in your tank..they are beneficial.

 

[milkshake]

Check this site out. There is alot of good info. on this site. I think you would like some of the DIY projects listed. After you bring the site up, click on the first picture. It's the top left one. Bookmark this site. Just about anything that crawls in the tank will be listed there. http://www.melevsreef.com/id/crawls.html

 

[milkshake]

Here's the homepage. http://www.melevsreef.com/

 

[wjhuie]

Yeah there good just dont touch them, Ive learned this the hard way.