Bristle Worm or Fire Worm ?!?

[spydergst98]

Hi all,

Can you please help me out by answering this question?

Is this a Bristle Worm or Fire Worm in my Biocube 29 Reef Tank?

• Tank has been setup for 18 months now
• 55+lbs of Fiji Live Rock
• 1.5" Live Sand
• Stock Lighting that came with the Biocube 29 (Just replaced bulbs about 2 weeks ago)
• Refugium in Chamber 1 with Chaeto
• Tunze Protein Skimmer in Chamber 2
• InTank Media Basket Tray in Chamber 2 (Running Filter Floss on top (changed weekly), Chemi-Pure & Purigen in middle and PhosGuard in bottom chamber)
• Tunze ATO Nano in Chamber 3
• 3 Hydor Koralia Nano 425 circulation pump in tank
• Temp @ 79 Degrees
• Salinity @ 1.025
• Actinic Lights on from 11am "“ 10pm (11hrs)
• 10,000K lights on from 1pm "“ 9pm (8hrs)
• Tank is "Healthy" no real issues
• I have 2 large Peppermint Shrimp that's been in the tank for 1 year now
• 1 Banded Coral Shrimp
• 1 Six-Line Wrasse
• Lots of crabs (assorted) include 2 Emerald Crabs
• Lots of snails including 2 Turbo Snails
• 1 Lawnmower Blenny that's been in the tank 9+ months & doing Great
• 1 Pistol Shrimp (Very Tiny - size of 2 grains of rice)
• 1 Sailfin Tang (Yes I know "“ need 300+ gallon tank "“ LOL)
• Kenya Tree that has spit several times and growing
• Pulsing Xenias that was growing nicely but now is really small but still pulsating (I think it's because of the old lights so I just replaced the lights)
• 2 small Green Star Polyps that I just added and already opening up nicely "“ would like the back wall covered in GSP's)

Only thing I've seen this "œBristle" Worm eat was a dead Turbo Snail that hadn't moved in over 3 days and a few Shrimp Pellets that I added at night for the Peppermint shrimp, Banded Coral Shrimp and crabs (I now limited that to once a week where I only add 2-3 pellets just to make sure they get food "“ because I just notice 2 more small bristle worms emerging "“ that's because I was feeding too many shrimp pellets at night)

If it's a Bristle Worm "“ I'll probably just keep it "“ even though he's getting pretty big.

But if it's a Fire Worm then I'll definitely get it out "“ maybe I'll put it into chamber 1 of my Biocube where my refugium is "“ assuming it cannot squeeze through the slits in chamber 1 back into the tank?

I've seen several post and YouTube videos saying this is a Fire Worm in the comments but i've also seen a few post saying it's just a Bristle Worm and it looks exactly like mine?

Anyone know for sure what kind of worm this is?

Thanks Mike

 

[Bent]

Looks like a bristle worm to me, aren't fire worms typically more red?

 

[spydergst98]

Looks like a bristle worm to me, aren't fire worms typically more red?

Thanks Brent,

After looking at several threads on here - I'm pretty sure it's a Bristle Worm and not a Fire Worm.

I've seen several pictures of the same looking worm and everyone here is saying it's a Bristle Worm.

Ok - if he gets too big or causes issues - i'll catch him and put him in Chamber 1 were the Refugium is.

 

[Sk8r]

This is a fireworm.

 

[BigBlueTang]

Looks like a bristle to me...

Please say that isn't a Desjardini Tang in a biocube.

Never mind, just saw your sig. Oops

 

[Alexraptor]

Looks like a common fireworm to me.
Unlike their cousin the Bearded Fireworm they tend to be harmless scavengers, at least that's my experience with them.
Eurythoe complanata I believe, while the dreaded bearded fireworm is Hermodice carunculata.

 

[xanthurum]

If it's shiny or iridescent it's a bristle work. Fire worms tend to be flat in color.

 

[Ron Reefman]

The bristle worms in my tanks don't have the big fuzzy white spines along the edge and they are not very wide bodied. The first pic you posted looks like a fire worm to me. We see them all the time snorkeling in the Keys. In my tank the bristle worms can get quite long, but they are skinny and they have hardly any spiny edges.

I Googled both bristle worm and fire worm and the pictures all look like the same critter.

 

[Airborne12B]

The first and last pictures look like different worms to me lol. The first looks like a Caribbean Fireworm. It is hard to tell from the picture, but the spines look much bushier than the bristleworm, and there also seems to be red spines at the base of the tufts which look like that of a fireworm. Also, the tufts seem too close together to be a bristleworm, and the bristleworms I have seen are two toned. Both ends will be a reddish color, with the middle more grey. I have read that's new growth, but I do not know if that is true. The thickness isn't a foolproof thing to go off of since they can scrunch up, and extend their bodies. If you want to be certain, look for eyes. Fireworms do not have eyes, while bristleworms do.

 

[hotelbravo]

The first and last pictures look like different worms to me lol. The first looks like a Caribbean Fireworm. It is hard to tell from the picture, but the spines look much bushier than the bristleworm, and there also seems to be red spines at the base of the tufts which look like that of a fireworm. Also, the tufts seem too close together to be a bristleworm, and the bristleworms I have seen are two toned. Both ends will be a reddish color, with the middle more grey. I have read that's new growth, but I do not know if that is true. The thickness isn't a foolproof thing to go off of since they can scrunch up, and extend their bodies. If you want to be certain, look for eyes. Fireworms do not have eyes, while bristleworms do.

I had the same observation. OP check out this link http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker.shtml