Dr Dee, This thread started out with "I saw a bristle worm" Key word "a." That isn't a lot of bristle worms. Yes, chances are if 1 is seen, there are more. However, 99% of bristle worms are not only NOT harmful but are in fact very beneficial to a reef system. They do a great job of cleaning up detritus and keeping your sand bed and live rock clean. The "fireworm" you're referring to is only a couple species among many. The remaining species are great for a reef. Control is an issue if you're over feeding your tank and the bristleworms are multiplying like crazy. So, don't over feed the tank. If you do find yourself with too many, it's very easy to cull them out. Get some nylon mesh, put a piece of shrimp in it, tie it closed....tie a piece of nylon string to it and toss it in the tank at night....leaving the nylon string hanging out of the tank. In the morning, pull your nylon mesh bag up and out of the tank, making sure you have a bowl to place it in. It'll be crawling with bristleworms that are stuck in the mesh and chowing down on the shrimp. I have done that once in each of my tanks in the past 8 months or so. I still see plenty of bristleworms in my tanks at night...especially in the refugium. So far, no harm has been done by any and I'm sure a lot of good has been done by them.
