Bristle Worms???

[The sea slug]

Hey, all--
So I've always had bristle worms on my tank, the smallish sort, the biggest I've seen being maybe two inches long. They're sort of pink. Lately, however, without any changes to my feeding patterns, I've noticed a boom in population. None of my corals seem to mind, and everything is healthy, but I've learned that sometimes that isn't the first indicator of a problem. I've heard conflicting things about bristle worms from extensive online and in-person research, some maintaining that they are evil personified in a serpenty, aquatic way, and others positive that they just scoot around eating detritus and looking generally unsettling. I'd love a consensus, and ideas. Why just last week I would feed and four would poke out of the rock, and now I feed and count fifteen (and I know where there are that many visible, there's a gazillion hiding), is a mystery to me.
Thanks

 

[mcgyvr]

How old is the tank?

 

[The sea slug]

I set it up in 2014, so... around three years now.

 

[sde1500]

Nature is rarely balanced. Populations go through booms and busts. This may just be that. Or a competing detrivore may have died giving room for them to expand. I like my worms.

 

[The sea slug]

That makes me feel better. Thank you so much!

 

[kmbyrnes]

Like my brittle stars, my bristle worm population ebbs and flows.
My wife's 12g nano has at least 10 that are 6" or longer. They actually compete with the fish for pellets. She hates 'em. I love 'em.