Worm ID

[BulldogMx]

Hi folks.

Recently I found every morning one of my fishes dead, :sad1: two of them sometimes, :sad2: they were not sick and I found little bites in the body, so, I spent time close to the tank in the night trying to catch the killer, and I found this!!! :eek1:

Do you think that he could be the killer?

 

[Calappidae]

Hi folks.

Recently I found every morning one of my fishes dead, :sad1: two of them sometimes, :sad2: they were not sick and I found little bites in the body, so, I spent time close to the tank in the night trying to catch the killer, and I found this!!! :eek1:

Do you think that he could be the killer?

Those are harmless, don't touch them with bare skin, those are bristle worms (or fire worms Idk how to tell the difference..) and they will leave little "bristles" in your finger. Are they the cause of deaths? no, listen for any clicking or snapping noises as mantis shrimp will leave marks like that. Also check and see what tankmates you have as puffers, triggers, and the like can leave marks on fish and cause an infection.

 

[sellersmd]

That one looks like a fireworm to me. Can eat small fishes, but usually wont kill things unless they already aren't doing well.

 

[rssjsb]

Hi folks.

Recently I found every morning one of my fishes dead, :sad1: two of them sometimes, :sad2: they were not sick and I found little bites in the body, so, I spent time close to the tank in the night trying to catch the killer, and I found this!!! :eek1:

Do you think that he could be the killer?

I'm not sure from this description whether one or two of your fish are dead, but I'm pretty sure the worm was just cleaning up. I really can't imagine how one of these guys would catch a healthy fish. I don't think they have the right mouth parts to kill a fish by biting it. In fact, I would bet the bite marks were post-mortem and came from a crab or one of your other fish.

 

[BulldogMx]

Well, two news.

Since I removed it, no more fishes killed, now I'm pretty sure that is a FIRE WORM and it was killing small fishes.

The fireworm is extremely strong, I removed it from the main tank 3 days ago and I saw it climb the wall of the the plastic container, so I put it in a empty reef roids cup and I closed it since that day, well the Fireworm is still alive without problems!!!

 

[Calappidae]

Well, two news.

Since I removed it, no more fishes killed, now I'm pretty sure that is a FIRE WORM and it was killing small fishes.

The fireworm is extremely strong, I removed it from the main tank 3 days ago and I saw it climb the wall of the the plastic container, so I put it in a empty reef roids cup and I closed it since that day, well the Fireworm is still alive without problems!!!

Beware fire worms are venomous like urchins. thats what those little bristles around it are. Bristle worms aren't venomous but they still are pointy like a cactus. IMO anything venomous, hitchhiking, and not sold commonly makes an excellent find... despite the hatred for them.

 

[BulldogMx]

Thank you everyone.

As I told you, I removed the Fireworm and the fish massacre stop, so could be a coincidence but after 10 days finding dead fishes every morning and none since the Foreworm is not anymore in the tank..well you have the best opinion

 

[sellersmd]

Several times now I have considered finding a true fireworm and setting up a 3g picotope for it - they're really kind of neat, and also kind of scary!