Bristle worms

[Paul B]

:der:A while ago I added a Shrimp/gobi combination and just today they moved to a home at the back corner of the tank under my overflow skimmer.
Anyway they are in a place where food never gets to so I shot some pellets near them. In less than a minute the entire corner of the tank extending about 5" both ways was a maze of large 6" bristleworms. I knew I had a bunch of them but I never knew I had so many. They were crawling all over the shrimp and gobi who didn't seem to mind.
If anything dies in this tank it wil be gone in minutes. Great scavengers, and I will try to get a better picture.
I would imagine the worms are a larger percentage of the livestock than my fish.
Very cool.

 

[donrando]

nice!

 

[IPisces]

Wow, you've got quit a few of those critters. I have a number of them in my tanks too. I found one that is a good 6" long in my 3 gal pico. It comes out when I feed the shrimp too.

 

[pandora32]

I was always told to remove them. Should I stop trapping mine and just let them be?

 

[Paul B]

Yes, leave them alone

 

[pandora32]

kee dokee. They are safe and being left alone.

 

[pitkat]

I always thought they were a pest? will have to do some reading lol

 

[Darthv247]

they just eat detritus and leftover food etc. harmless. but ugly bastards , I still pluck em when i have a chance at one because they can get huge.

 

[davemorris]

They are definately beneficial, but they can get amazingly huge. You don't want to touch them either. Very painful when you get those bristles in your skin.