In a 125 gallon system there is more than enough detritus and leftovers for a 2' poly to sustain and thrive without detection for years. I still am amazed that the anecdotal rumors that continue to mislead even veteran hobbyists on these. The notion that the common variety predate on coral or livestock when very large is laughable.
They are often seen finishing off dying specimen and blamed for its death. Clams in particular spread horrid rep to many inverts as they can look fantastic right up to thier demise or the beginning of it, inverts that scavenge sense this and feed on the dying tissue and then are blamed for the death. With over 6 years in saltwater work at store fronts and much much more behind the scenes I have yet to witness a healthy creature be touched by they typical detritus and leftover scavenging worms. That is not to say there aren't bad ones, but with the way they eat and reproduce you would know in very short order if you had beardeds or the like.
At Seasplendor in nor cal when we moved shop the reef flat had one of the largest worms I've ever seen in person...and was completely benign...though it looked like it would eat anything meaty. This is in a store that I worked at day in and out, spending much of my free time going over that flat with a fine tooth comb along with thousands of customers and never had it been seen until the tank wa drained to move locations.
The bad worms are immediately and easily distinguishable from the good ones. Here's a perfect example;
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6xBZ9Og_i8A&desktop_uri=/watch?v=6xBZ9Og_i8A
The worm in the photo is not a bristle worm at all, it is a Eunice aphroditois or bobbit worm....mistakenly taken as a mature bristle worm.
I'm sure the poster of the video is very experienced with saltwater and obviously works in the field yet still made a false id on that nasty bugger.
The term is used loosely but I refer to the ones that have a pinkish red hue, slight irridescence, and feed on detritus and leftovers as "bristle worms".
Others such as the nasty bearded fireworm (Hermodice carunculata) are often the culprits responsible for giving the harmless scavengers a bad rap.
I am throwing this out there in hopes of keeping people from doing unesesary harm to thier setups by digging though the tank and disturbing it more than a harmless poly.
but they are only 5-6"
