What is this?...Everytime I look I find something else...

[lunchie]

Everywhere I look it seems new things keep popping up. The latest looks to be some type of worm but my concern is whether all these little creatures that keep appearing are bad for my tank!


I imagine that most of these little creatures came in with the live rock. We have had the rock in the tank for 4 weeks now and most of the things I discover are at night. There is another worm looking thing I have seen but I can't seem to get a picture of it. It is white and moves quickly, long and skinny...Are there certain things (most common) that I should watch for that are "BAD"? :evil:


Here are some pictures of the latest discovery:

 

[goby2004]

looks like a bristle worm to me

 

[lunchie]

Is that bad or good????

 

[CarlaW]

The nite time is the best time!!!
I have to agree that it is a bristle worm. They are good for keeping the sand stirred up among other things. Wait until your rock gets to be about a year old, or so! You'll spend more time with a flashlite than you are good for. There are so many things that wait for the lites to go out.....
There is always something new and interesting it seems. HTH

 

[gehidore]

The nite time is the best time!!!
I have to agree that it is a bristle worm. They are good for keeping the sand stirred up among other things. Wait until your rock gets to be about a year old, or so! You'll spend more time with a flashlite than you are good for. There are so many things that wait for the lites to go out.....
There is always something new and interesting it seems. HTH

To harmonize, It seems I spend more time Up late at night admiring the hitchhikers than I do admiring my <fish> durring the day.

Still waiting for a *real* job to fall through so I can get back up with my photography and get some decent night pics...

I'll also concur that the worm is either a bristle or <unlikely> a fireworm.

(My banded coral shrimp likes the bristle worms)

 

[clarkii]

The colouration even though blurry it will be a bristle worm not IMO a fire worm.



Ali

 

[gehidore]

The colouration even though blurry it will be a bristle worm not IMO a fire worm.



Ali

I've seen (and felt) a few species that were easily mistaken for bristle worms, but the visible digestive tract produced my <unlikely>

http://www.photographybymikealbin.com/2fea7c20.jpg
http://www.korallrev.no/borstemark.jpg

Although I will still agree with you 99%.

 

[clarkii]

Here some pics of my bristle worm farm :-

lunchie, perhaps you can see if they worms are like the ones in the later pics above.

Ali

 

[lunchie]

Ali,

Yes, it looks exactly like your first picture. The one at the bottom of the picture that is black in the middle and orange on the ends. If you have a lot of these in your tank does that mean they aren't "bad". Do I need to be concerned??? Thanks for the pictures.

Deb

 

[lunchie]

Ali,
How do you get your pictures in the body of the message?

 

[clarkii]

I posted the pictures on another site and used the IMG quotes to add the URL of the pics. If you right click and select properties when on the picture it will display the URL then use this URL to add between the IMG quotes.

They are not bad, 99.9 % of bristle worms are completely safe, there are very few which will predator fish and or corals.

They are one of the best scavengours you could ask for. There numbers will rise and fall in relation the amount of waste in there, there numbers if they can be sustained( enough food for them ) they will live but as water quality gets better and you learn how much to feed then there numbers will get to a level where they can survive.

HTH