Bristle worms?

[Drix]

Ok, I'm fairly new to the hobby and was wondering about these red worms in my tank, they tend to extend about an inch to an inch and a half out of their respective holes in my liverock. I assume they're bristle worms, they're kinda spiney looking. Read an article way over my head about them on one of the boards about their benefits, my pet shop's telling me I should get rid of them, which way should I go?

[ciachef]

Welcome to the board!

Check this link out, about half way down the page, it has a bit of info on bristle worms.

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_pages/faq_sand.htm

Most bristle worms are beneficial scavengers. They are also great at helping to turn over your sand bed. Keep em.

[greenbean36191]

It does sound like you're seeing bristleworms. They are some of the best scavengers in your tank. Lots of people blame them for eating healthy clams and even fish, but because of the way they find and eat their food this just isn't true, no matter what it may look like. Lots of people also blame them for eating corals, but again this isn't true in most cases, however one RARE species can. It's pretty easy to tell when you ahve this species though because it is active out in the open during the day, unlike other species.

[Drix]

The worm in the pic looks like what I have, but I have seen them poking around in daylight, freak occurance?

[greenbean36191]

If they just poke around then it's normal. The bad species will just be out in the open and crawling around for long periods of time and won't be concerned about finding shelter.

[romunov]

Originally posted by greenbean36191
If they just poke around then it's normal. The bad species will just be out in the open and crawling around for long periods of time and won't be concerned about finding shelter.

And for a good reason. :blown: :D