Creepy crawlies

[Gordonious]

I've seen lots of photos of critters like this one in the forums, but this is the first time I've found one of these little worms in my own tank. This one is about 4-5 inches long.

<A HREF="http://www.gordonious.com/RC/Summer07/HPIM7924c.JPG"><IMG SRC="http://www.gordonious.com/RC/Summer07/HPIM7924cs.JPG"></A>
<A HREF="http://www.gordonious.com/RC/Summer07/HPIM7952.MPG">Click here for a little video.</A>

 

[Shnabbles]

Youv had a marine tank for how long and this is the first time you've ever seen one??

Did you only have base rock or something for a very long time?

 

[kaptken]

I had a couple that big in my 15 reef for a long time. lived in the rock, came out now and then. was about 6-8 inches long. a nice bristle worm. sometimes i watched it eat the little red leaf globes off of a red grape macro algae. would swallow them whole. but ate lots of brine shrimp too. mine looked a little like the dreaded red fire bristle worm. but i never stuck my finger out to find out. it had red and white bristles near its head.

 

[Terry.cx]

What's his name?

Terry

 

[wds21921]

Most of the time bristle worms aren't as bad as people say they are. They actually do a pretty good job with any leftover foods and also help to keep those nooks and crannies of your LR cleaned out. The fire reds I've had a few up close dealings with many years ago but nothing more than a minor nuisance. No worse than a mosquito bite, and nothing ever from the browns or yellows.

 

[Gordonious]

Yep. My tank had a crash when it was really young, but enough good stuff survived that the tank recovered. After that I just added base rock. I had smaller bristle worms, but none like this. Also never had any bubble algae, hair algae, or cyanobacteria.

My gf would be upset if I named it. We have to name some shrimp, the eel, tang, and a clown fish first. Not fair to name the new guy first.
\

 

[Gordonious]

Hey Dave, how you doing? I just dropped by Ken's today to take pictures of your stuff to put it up for sale.(My brother may be interested in the sump)

I was just telling my parents last night that there are tons of species of worms like this found all the time in reef tanks and few of them are trouble makers. They just wanted to know if it was a good guy or a bad guy.

I'm glad you dropped by and hope you'll respond to a quick question. Have you ever heard any clicking noises? I've heard some sounds coming from the tank and I havn't been able to figure out where they are coming from. Could have been anything, but I'm keeping an eye on it.(Or should I say an ear out)

 

[wds21921]

Ocassionaly I'd get a snail who wanted to click his shell on the glass sometimes. I don't know if it was to shake off debris, mating call or even a food call though but yes it did happen on a fairly regular basis.