Help I Found Something In My Tank

[redhotlynn]

This thing is about an 1nch an half long thin looks like a worm but is red in color with a purple or black stripe on it with white fin looking things running all the way down both sides.

 

[Donya]

A nudibranch perhaps?

 

[redhotlynn]

A nudibranch perhaps?

well I need to get it out if it is because I was reading the ladys post about how it affected her heart when she touched it, and I have a bad heart so I don't need that! I have gravle in my tank do you recamend I get sand so I can see better whats going on in there. I guess I will have to catch him.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Sounds kind of like a bristle worm. Google them in images, and see if thats it. If it is, don't touch it cuz the bristles will hurt.

 

[Donya]

It was the "fins" reference that made my wonder about nudibranch.This is what I was thinking of:

http/www.metridium.com/pnggallery/chromodoris.jpg
http/www.cs.brown.edu/people/twd/fish/St.../Sea%20Hare.jpg

Not all nudis are dangerous to the touch. I had some a while back that were a risk of dieing and crashing my tank, but were a variety not harmful to other animals by touching/squishing. Do look at bristleworms too though.

 

[Aquascaper]

Sounds like your classic bristleworm. As Princess says don't touch it as its filiament barbs are like fibreglass strands and get under your skin and cause irritation and are impossible to remove. They are good for the tank as they will scavenge around the rockwork cleaning up any leftovers.....they're especially good at disposing of dead bodies.

 

[Navarre]

Im pretty sure thats a bristleworm. If you can see one then you can be sure you got another 100 more hiding in the rockwork. Without adding copper to the tank they are just about impossible to get rid of.. and of course, adding copper will kill all inverts in your system so dont do it.

Bristleworms are probably one of the most effective cleanup crew you can get.. Ok they are ugly and if you touch them then you get a nasty rash much like handling fibrglass so i suggest you treat them with respect.

If you really are not keen on having too many large bristleworms in your system then certain wrasses are known to occasionally predate on them (this is only a 50/50 chance however)

 

[redhotlynn]

It was the "fins" reference that made my wonder about nudibranch.This is what I was thinking of:

http/www.metridium.com/pnggallery/chromodoris.jpg
http/www.cs.brown.edu/people/twd/fish/St.../Sea%20Hare.jpg

Not all nudis are dangerous to the touch. I had some a while back that were a risk of dieing and crashing my tank, but were a variety not harmful to other animals by touching/squishing. Do look at bristleworms too though.

it is a brissel worm I looked it up thank you