Bristle Worms, Good or Bad???

[joe zdrojewski]

What is the general consensus on Bristle Worms? I have heard differing opinions ranging from, "They will eat your prized corals" to "They are a good clean up crew". I currently have them in my tank and was wondering if I should remove them?

 

[aquarius77]

I like having them around and i dont have any corals being eaten.

 

[kkyyllee]

ther good, and a big part of ur cuc

 

[Rock Anemone]

joe zdrojewski,
[welcome]

 

[coralnut99]

There's lots of worms out there that are being called bristle worms. If yours seem to have a red outer edge with a darker center, they are the good guys. Primo detrivores. The only down-side to them is that can get to be a bit large. I find 3 inchers every so often. I pull those out only because I wouldn't want to brush up against the big ones unexpectedly.

 

[afelder]

They are usually good. As a whole they get a bad rap because people confuse them with fireworms that have been known to eat fish.

 

[greenbean36191]

Bristleworms are a mixed lot, but most are useful. Fireworms, which are the most common ones and the kind that will sting if you touch them, are all harmless scavengers (all of the ones in the hobby anyway) except for one uncommon Caribbean species. Eunicids, which are typically much larger and don't have the stinging bristles are mostly scavengers, but will sometimes eat corals in captivity. Oenone, which is also fairly uncommon, feeds on mollusks and leaves them covered in a ball of goo.

 

[joe zdrojewski]

The worms when seen during the day have a silver to metallic body with bristle appendages. I hope these are the good kind. I will leave them alone for now unless I see any visual damage to the corals. Thanks for the input.

 

[musicgirl1217]

I also have LOTS of worms - they haven't bothered any corals or fish, but as soon as I feed the fish they crawl out from everywhere! Bright lights or not, they don't seem to care. Lots of long ones too.....eeeeewwwww.

 

[kuoka]

I've been told by my LFS to take them out but having said that I haven't seen them eat any of my corals. But needless to say I do take them out. I took out one that was about 4" long last month - he scared the bejeezus out of me. LOL

Here's a link that might help you identify yours...

http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/hitchworms.html

 

[Sk8r]

They're pretty well essential to a healthy tank, imho, no matter how big. I lost all 4 of my 10 inchers and miss them considerably.

 

[musicgirl1217]

I'm guilty of over-feeding and realize that doesn't help the worm population decrease. (lol). I have quite a few that are 4-5"+ and I'm not seeing the other other end. Creepy. But they're only scavenging for food landing on the rock or sandbed. Mine are all the fleshy-colored kind with the exception of one that I've seen that is a red fireworm.

 

[mg426]

I see them on occasion, never mess with anything , I got to say I am for them.

 

[sage_commander]

I saw one bite my sea hare as he slithered over the worm's hole. That was interesting. He kind of shriveled a bit and went off the other direction.

Other than that, no harm has been noted.

 

[Boca Kris]

I have a bunch of worms on the glass, that kind of look like little tiny tapeworms. Some are as big as a quarter inch. They have what appears to be a head with a mouth that sucks the glass. Any idea if these are good or bad?

 

[drummereef]

I've never meet a bristleworm that hasn't been of benefit to my tank. I like them.

 

[Archmagev]

I love them. I pull them out if I see one that reaches over 18 inches, until then they seem pretty beneficial.
I only pull the big ones because I caught a 26incher reaching up form the sand, rip a snail off my which was about halfway up the side of my tank on the glass... Didn't care much about a single snail, but it seemed like a sleeping fish may be next.
I must admit I was truly amazed at the sheer length of this bugger...especially since this was only in a 60 gallon tank.

 

[TikiDan]

My False Perc decided to be a little nosy around a very healthy brisltle worm, around 18 inches long.

 

[Cuby2k]

I like to catch throw 'em on the bbq and slap into a hot dog bun. Yum!

 

[greenbean36191]

I love them. I pull them out if I see one that reaches over 18 inches, until then they seem pretty beneficial.

It's the species, not the size that makes the difference. A large fireworm is just as harmless as a small one. They don't have jaws to attack anything that can get away. If you see a worm that actually grabs something that could get away you're usually seeing a eunicid.