Bristle Worm?

[3steele]

I am not sure what exactly this worm is. I have seen 2 of them the rest of the worms look different and are smaller than these.
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The first one I saw was probably about 4 inches long well the part I saw anyways and its red with white hairs on its side and the second one looks the same but its about 2 inches long. I was talking with someone about it and they said it could be a bristle worm and I don't want them because they will eat my clams if I ever get them. I was wondering if there is any benefit to having them if they are bristle worms and if someone could identify it the only camera I have is my cellphone so I got a really fuzzy picture. I understand that some shrimp will eat them but these are huge! Any help on the matter would be great!

 

[minirex4777]

pink with white bristles yes its a bristle worm and i didnt want them either but other than the fact they sting if you grab them they will clean up anything that dies in your tank.if you want grab some tweezers and lure them out with some food in the sand were they cant get away and just pluck them out but my advice is dont waist the effort they will never really leave so screw it.spend your time on something valueable like checking salinity,ph.alk,nitrates,phosphates,and calcium.

 

[3steele]

Thank you very much for that.. I know when they said that they will get huge and burrow into my clams and kill them if I get any I got really concerned about it

 

[4218kris]

bristleworms are a valuable asset to a reef tank.

 

[3steele]

thats different everyone I have talked to says to get them out

 

[ralphie]

They are one of the best cleaners for your tank. They get a bad reputation because they are so good at what they do. They have a bad reputation because they can be found eating something that dies. By the time we find it, the bristle worms have already found it and started eating.

I have bought them for my tank. Their numbers depend upon the amount of excess food in the tank. If you find one, you most likely will have many more.

 

[StupidusMaximus]

They do get big though. I've tried to catch the one in my tank to get a pic of it. It's about a foot long and as thick as my pinky. I have pics of part of it somewhere. I'll try to find them.

 

[3steele]

I have seen quite a few more small ones and another one that was at least 4in long he is HUGE and then we saw this one worm. It looked like a bristle because it had the white fuzz on the sides but it was neon blue. I only saw the front of him before he went back into the rock. I asked the LFS about it and they were stumped! any ideas?

 

[4218kris]

just another bristle worm. nothing to worry about. i have a bunch about a foot long.

 

[3steele]

WOW! I think I don't want to put my hands in there anymore!