Should I kill the bristle worm?

[0rangeFish]

I saw two very large worms in my tank today. I hope they're just bristle worms but I'm not so sure. At first glance I thought it was the arm of a bristle starfish, but I haven't had one of those in a few years. With that in mind, this worm was very thick, leading me to believe it's a fire worm, not a good bristle worm. The second worm came from the sand and was slightly smaller and had almost a yellow tint to it. Unfortunately my lights were off so I didn't really see the color all that well and the flashlight is what scared them back into hiding. I've been looking at photos all morning of worms and at this point am confuse to as what a bristle worm looks like and a fire worm looks like. I keep finding pictures that on one site says it's a fire worm and another a good bristle worm.

 

[Calappidae]

If you can confirm what they are.. and it's labeled as safe or benefical here (if listed) http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchworms.html

Then leave it in there. Eucinid worms particularly are ones to watch out for. Fireworms are also harmless as long as you don't touch them. (Excluding a few species.)

 

[rssjsb]

Yeah, what he said. Eunicids have scary looking mouths. People get freaked out about "fireworms" but most all of them that turn up in people's tanks are harmless detrivores.

If you're seeing a lot, you're probably overfeeding. The worms are likely saving your water quality by eating up the extra food. The only issue is really that you have to be careful when grabbing anything in the tank because it's likely there's a set of bristles under there with your name on it.