Bristle worms, good or bad?

[Reefermatt3]

I found this little guy today! He is a little more than an inch long and I was wondering if he is going to be beneficial or harmful?

 

[Betta132]

That's just your average bristleworm. They can technically reach 7" or more, but they usually stay under 3". If you don't overfeed, you'll just have some here and there. If you overfeed, you'll have a lot, but they're still harmless. You probably have more than one. Just don't touch them, they sting.

 

[Psirex]

They are self controlling when it comes to population which is cool

 

[kgravity]

Have tons in my tank. The only thing they ever bother are my fingers when i move a coral off the sand bed and one is hiding beneath it.

 

[zydek]

My opinion is a pest get rid of it

 

[Psirex]

Not a pest they scavenge for food\waste - i have never heard of them harming anything living.....

 

[tobii.san]

Keep in mind that if you see them eating a coral/fish/snail, it's because it's dying/dead. Some people see this and worry that the bristleworms killed it, but really they are only like vultures of the reef tank.

 

[twon8]

One of the best members of a CUC

 

[The sea slug]

That kind is just fine...In fact, I thinks they're sort of nice to have, because they come out at night and act like part of your clean-up crew. They'll not hurt anything living, but they'll eat dead stuff that would otherwise decay. If you start having tons of them, you're probably overfeeding and ought to cut back, so they're a good measure of how you're feeding balance is. If you are absolutely dead-set against them or they creep you out or something, you can buy traps and things to catch them and get rid of them. Six-line wrasses will also eat them pretty well.

 

[BlueRoofTang]

I don't mind them, and agree that they clean up. However, I don't like a lot of them, just because they are ugly. Coris wrasses eat them also.