giant purple/blue bristleworm thing...

[Candi]

I'll admit to being squimish about the critters in my tanks... but this thing would make most people run off. I got a good sized piece of LR from a fellow reefer w/ some shrooms on it... a couple days later my husband and I were looking at the tank after lights out... and saw this monster worm.

it's hard to tell from the photo but this thing is huge, that is a good sized normal bristleworm next to it, it's much bigger and a different color then any I've seen before. It's a blue/purple color with the white bristles, it was thick and I'm not sure how long, we could see at least 6" of it stretched between two big holes in the rock but not either end... and it kept moving so I can only guess its really long.

Is it just a normal, but overgrown, worm? How can I get rid of it w/o hurting the shrooms on it's rock (would one of those bristle worm traps maybe work?)

Thanks

 

[Reef_bones]

Check out this site:
http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/hitchworms.html

Browse around it, very interesting. You'll see the section on The 'Bristle' Worm.

I'm sure yours is just a very large harmless bristle worm.

 

[Reef_bones]

Oh, and don't get rid of it. Ugly, weird, freaky... Yes. But they are beneficial to your tank.

 

[Candi]

well if I wasn't grossed out by my own worms that link sure did it LOL but thank you, very neat.

That said, I think I have to get rid of him... I have a ton of the smaller common bristleworms (although with my new 6 line maybe a few less ) but this big guy scares me, I still have issues finding gloves that fit well enough to allow me to work around the tank and I'm afraid one day he'll get me!

 

[plyle02]

You would be crazy to get rid of it, IMHO..... I have some that are much bigger than that, and trust those guys with my sps corals, zoos, lps, shroomz, a 6" crocea clam, you get the picture. I still laugh every time I see a post of someone worried over a bristle worm. Check out www.inlandaquatics.com, they sell baby bristle worms, and they aren't cheap.....lol...

 

[Candi]

Hmm... in that case... if I catch it "FS giant purple bristleworm" post coming up LOL

 

[plyle02]

Bristle worms help in breaking down particulate matter, they also feed on unwanted matter in your tank including detritus. I love how they keep your rock so clean. Good luck....

 

[Paintbug]

thats not your common bristleworm, for sure. its a fireworm, most are detritus eaters as well. fireworms pack a much worse sting, so be careful while in the tank. i would wait for LeslieH or PM her for a positive id though. she should be able to point you in the right direction on an ID.

 

[LeslieH]

Hi Candi --Got your PM. Unfortunately all I can tell from the image is that it's something in the polychaete family Amphinomidae. Big worms often have deeper, more solid colors than the smaller ones just because the bodies are thicker. Ask the fellow who supplied the LR if he ever noticed any damage to his corals. If he didn't then I don't think you have to worry about the worm. Let me know if you get a decent picture of the head area.

 

[returnofsid]

There are many different species of Bristleworms...a couple are harmful but most are very beneficial. From what I've seen of pics though, yours looks like it could possibly be the harmful variety. The harmful ones are rare in home aquarium but do happen. I'm by no means an expert so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. Most of the good ones tend to be more red and black...not purple.