My First ID Please Be Nice To Me.

[mhhauser321]

Well This is my first ID so be nice, I found this worm looking creature in my sump and I have seen other wromy things in their also. I know all the ID archives but I want to get your opinions on this. Most important to me is if this hazourdous to my tank and corals or not.

I can get more pics if this is not enough.






matt
plz help

[bertoni]

It's a bristleworm of some sort. Hard to say more. Looks like the normal detritivore type. It might be easier to judge the animal's type if it's in water, might not.

[mhhauser321]

Is it a fireworm, i heard those are bad news

[bertoni]

Fireworms are generally fine to have. They are very common in our tanks. There are a few species that are problematic, but they're fairly rare. This one might be a fireworm. It does look like the ones I have in my tanks.

[mhhauser321]

Should I put it back into the tank or flush it.

matt

[bertoni]

I would put it back into the tank, but there are likely hundreds or thousands in the tank already.

[stevelkaneval]

yea put your hand in the tank after lights out and lift up a couple peices of rock. you didnt grab that with your bare hands did you? my sister complaines that the bristle worms leave small rashes on her but ive picked them up with my hands and never got even a burning sensation.

[donald_202]

i dont care how cute they look ! whatever worm it is...it aint gonna be in my tank lolz

[mhhauser321]

To get it I used my king size turkey baster. do you all thinks its bad or not

[stevelkaneval]

i would say its not bad, they eat ditrius and wast. in fact the bristle worm only breed according to how much wast is in the tank, a lot of those and you are probly overfeeding. i would put him back in.

[stevelkaneval]

some places even sell bristle worms they are very good at cleaning up waste.

[tmz]

Originally posted by bertoni
Fireworms are generally fine to have. They are very common in our tanks. There are a few species that are problematic, but they're fairly rare. This one might be a fireworm. It does look like the ones I have in my tanks.

I agree they are good scavengers and are good to have unless they overpopulate but that would only happen in an unkempt tank.

[mhhauser321]

I know its a bristle worm, i am just worried if its the bad one or good one.

[stevelkaneval]

like everyone has said put it back its a good one. there are only a few bad ones.

[steven_dean17]

Look the ugly bugger right in the eye, and tell it........"If you start doing bad stuff, I'm going to pull you out of that tank and feed you to the parrot." Dude, it's a worm, don't let it get the best of you. Once you let them win they will run/crawl all over you.

[tmz]

The bad ones are Carribean fireworms(Hermodice carunculata).They do prey on corals,but are rare in reef tanks. I'm sure if you google the latin nome you can find some pictures and more information.
The good ones are Eurythoe sp. which are very beneficial scavengers. Both have venom tipped bristles and should not be handled with bare skin.
The one in your picture looks like the common aquarium fireworm /akla bristle worm(Eurytoe), the good one.

[mhhauser321]

mad props steven thats funny

[OneDayMatt]

That looks exactly like the bloodworms we used to fish for spots with from the pier in Nag's Head NC when I was a kid.

[vito is hooked]

YEP. Looks like the sand worrms we bought for fishing,,and caught when we were CLAMING when we were kids in Rhode Island. Pinch its head and see if little pinchers come out.

[tmz]

Originally posted by OneDayMatt
That looks exactly like the bloodworms we used to fish for spots with from the pier in Nag's Head NC when I was a kid.

Yes they do. I fish the Avalon Pier frequently. We have a beach house in Kitty Hawk.
Vito is hooked, As I recall from my days on Block Island and Long Island the sand worms are more green.

These worms don't have pinchers but htey do have venemous bristles which can cause a nasty reaction in some folks.