bristle worm - good or bad ?

overall a good guy. Just a pain if you happen to touch it or hit a loose bristle when clean things or placing things in your tank. They just eat junk at the bottom of the tank. You will see a bunch if you have a lot of junk sitting around, over time they will die out as the food goes down.

btw.. I say overall because 50% of the people like them and 50% of the people hate them. The only worm you don't want is a flat worm.
 
I say take him out lol. They are ugly will eat some snails and will multiply like crazy. Wait till night time use tweezers and grab him. This was one from my last tank he was as fat as my finger
 

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why 50% hate them ?

I am always wearing gloves so probably my hands won't get on them .. the most important are other creatures: corals, fish, crabs , snails ... they are fine with this worm ?
 
It might be one now but the multiply lol. If you only see one I would take it out next time u see him. Or buy a Bristol worm trap to get him before he makes an army lol
 
btw .. I am not feeding the tank , as I have nothing to feed
just a little info I thought could help
 
yusor said:
it's not only 1 :S..

should I reincarnate the rocks because of that ? my tank is new
Click to expand...

no. just leave them be. they will eat junk in your sand. as your tank cleans up they will die off. There are a lot of things that will show up in your tank over time. (Hitch hikers) Sooner or later you may see Aiptasia, stars, worms, pods, algae...ect... In a perfect world we would have sterile rocks and perfect saltwater with perfect light and control what grows. Until then, welcome to the no-tank is ever the same world :)
 
hey slowjazz, Thanks I was really sad ..

but I have a q .. when they die , I won't have an ammonia problem ? since I won't be able to pick them up from the deep sand
 
Leave him be. Some people don't like them because they are ugly. I've heard reports of certain variants of them getting huge or eating coral, but this is the minority by a huge margin. Bristleworms are good scavengers and help aerate the sandbed. Enjoy them, they're actually pretty interesting creatures :)
 
yusor said:
hey slowjazz, Thanks I was really sad ..

but I have a q .. when they die , I won't have an ammonia problem ? since I won't be able to pick them up from the deep sand
Click to expand...

I think the other worms will eat it and also if you have a clean up crew they should eat it. If you want a cool and cheap natural solution - buy an arrow crab. They look like spiders. Arrow's eat the worms. (it will not wipe them out, but will snack on them now and then)

Just think of your tank as a closed bio system. for every good thing, there is something bad and for every bad thing, there is something good. (everybody eats something :) ) example - green algae is bad, but certain fish and inverts love to eat it....ect...

In other words.. enjoy the tank, learn from it, don't panic, search the internet. (google is a great way to learn and find answers fast. 99% of the time you end up here :) ) Best thing is to 'fix' things naturally. (ie: cut light, cut food, add something to eat something) Chemicals may provide a quick fix, but don't fix the cause of the problem, so it usually just comes back.
 
Not sure why everyone always wants to eradicate their tanks of Bristleworms. I seriously doubt they will eat snails. They have no teeth. Now a true fireworm is predatory, but they are much more rare than common Bristleworms. If you see one, you've got many more than that.

Funny thing is I've read about them stinging fish. My YWG lives in holes in a rock in my tank and the holes also house multiple Bristleworms - they actually crawl around him when I am feeding, but he is not harmed. My Diamond Goby also lives in these holes, but no problem with all the Bristleworms. I wouldn't worry about them.
 
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