What is this in my tank?!??!?!?!??!?!!

[Sammik]

Hi everyone,

I have just found this in my tank and I have no idea what it is and if it is good or bad It is approximately 30-40cm long, black, very thin tail, orange spots along the head...it looks like a giant, fat, centipede. Does anyone know what this is? Is this good or bad? I'm guessing bad but I am unsure. I've tried to find similar things online but haven't been able to find anything.

Pictures below (sorry for the poor images, he moves quite quickly so it was hard to get any good photos)

 

[Sammik]

More Photos

 

[DirtinLa]

Looks like a brittle star to me? GOOD

 

[rssjsb]

Yeah, that's not a brittle star.

Your other pics looked like a caribbean red brittle because I couldn't see the whole body, but this looks like a eunice worm to me. Check this out: http://chucksaddiction.com/

There's a page on hitchhiking worms with pictures of eunicids and others.

 

[Adetia]

Fairly certain that's a eunice worm, very bad.

 

[Betta132]

You have a very impressive eunice worm there. Put it in a sump or refugium and keep it as a not-in-the-tank pet, it's awesome. Just be careful- it's a hunter, see the jaws? It'll bite.
If you don't have a sump, consider asking around a bit. This worm is very bad for your tank, he'll attack your stuff, but it's not his fault somebody moved his rock into your tank.

 

[saltyair]

You have a very impressive eunice worm there. Put it in a sump or refugium and keep it as a not-in-the-tank pet, it's awesome. Just be careful- it's a hunter, see the jaws? It'll bite.
If you don't have a sump, consider asking around a bit. This worm is very bad for your tank, he'll attack your stuff, but it's not his fault somebody moved his rock into your tank.

100% agree it's a eunice worm very bad. I disagree that u put in sump or refug flush it or ....
they can split and no one will want that in their dt.

 

[Calappidae]

If you find one there are probably many many more. You should dispose of them as like pointed out by saltyair, they'll multiple more and they'll still find a way back in the DT.

 

[Betta132]

Happen to know anyone who might want to set up a nano tank for it? If not, smush the head and bury it outside or something.

 

[Sammik]

Thanks guys really appreciate it. Lost a couple of fish which we could never find would it be possible he ate them completely? It was over a foot long so I guess it wouldn't surprise me much! Thanks for the help

 

[Adetia]

Thanks guys really appreciate it. Lost a couple of fish which we could never find would it be possible he ate them completely? It was over a foot long so I guess it wouldn't surprise me much! Thanks for the help

The worm was most likely the culprit.

 

[jkdavids121507]

How did you catch it? I found one in my tank last night. Not sure how I am going to get it out...

 

[Sammik]

I got lucky, it was in a rock covered in kind of like a mucus mixed with sand and I just saw its head and grabbed the whole rock and took it out into a bucket where it came out of the rock and put it in the ocean. Goodluck I have from what it seems, lost a couple of fish because of this guy so I hope you can catch it

 

[Betta132]

Did anything in the system come from a source other than the ocean? If so, putting anything from your aquarium into the ocean has a chance of introducing foreign pathogens. Don't do that. If everything wet and/or alive was collected from the ocean, it should be okay.

 

[hotelbravo]

took it out into a bucket where it came out of the rock and put it in the ocean.

that was a big no no..