I Have Pets!
- Thread starter heavenly_d3vi1
- Start date
Ok - worm stuff!
Eunicids (bobbit worms): five tentacles on the headis the giveaway, two big jaws, and no visible tufts of bristles. They have more paddle-looking appendages running along the sides of the body. I actually know very little about these worms except that not all of them are bad guys. The problem is, if you do have a bad guy that decides coral/fish/inverts/etc. are tastey, it's going to be a bad guy with the potential to be several feet long, very fat, and able to rip up your tank. I have two very small worms from this group right now that came in as hitchhikers. One is a scavenger and the other eats sand (no joke, it just stuffs its face into the sand and gobbles it like candy). They're no issue and are doing a good job being CUC members (so far). However, Barry the giant worm was also a Eunicid.
Fireworms/bristleworms: all-encompasing terms for various Amphinomid worms. The term "bristleworm" is often used for just polychaetes in general, but within the sw aquarium hobby, people usually mean ones that look hairy from the number of white bristles they have. Many are in the Eurythoe genus and are pink, gray, red, sometimes even blue-ish or yellowish with white tufts of bristles. These are the ones typically called "bristleworms." However, Hermodice carunculata is a similar-looking member of the group and also in that group and is a known coral-eater. Technically it is also a "brislteworm," but because it is bright red, it is often considered "the fireworm" when people get picky about the common names. However, red versions of other species are also called "fireworms" - both by mistake thinking they're Hermodice and just because of the color and sting. Color is a bad indicator of harmfulness or harmlessness. At one point I took a couple of dull pink-ish ones and put them in their own tank and saw a reasonable color array of little ones produced. More pink, but also bright red and even the rare yellow-ish one that seemed to lack some pigments. Some will burn more than others, but I've observed individual variation within species so I don't know if that ever helps to make ID within the Amphinomid group.
While I am on the fireworm thing, whether you have something that you'd call a "bristleworm" or a "fireworm" doesn't have much to do with it being harmful/harmless or giving you a sting. Common names are pretty useless in that regard. Obviously if it's a Hermodice you want it out. Eurythoe usually play nice. They don't have jaws like Eunicids, but they suck onto things really hard and rasp away. They can pull apart pieces of dead meat pretty fast that way. Usually it's just dead things - but when I attempted to starve them out of a tank with soft corals they'd been in with happily for years, guess what got ripped apart equally fast? Yep, no more softies for me. That is a rare event though, as most tanks have things that will help control the worm populations a bit better. Basically your standard "bristleworms" will be safe if you:
- Don't try to pet them.
- Get the CUC established early before they take over.
- Don't overfeed, at least not beyond what your non-worm CUC can handle.
- Have some sort of worm predator in the tank (arrow crab, CBS, mithracid crabs, moderately sized hermits, various wrasses, and so on - many tanks will inadvertently have such an animal).
- Take out any large ones that become a bit too bold.
And now I shall put my soap box away.
Eunicids (bobbit worms): five tentacles on the headis the giveaway, two big jaws, and no visible tufts of bristles. They have more paddle-looking appendages running along the sides of the body. I actually know very little about these worms except that not all of them are bad guys. The problem is, if you do have a bad guy that decides coral/fish/inverts/etc. are tastey, it's going to be a bad guy with the potential to be several feet long, very fat, and able to rip up your tank. I have two very small worms from this group right now that came in as hitchhikers. One is a scavenger and the other eats sand (no joke, it just stuffs its face into the sand and gobbles it like candy). They're no issue and are doing a good job being CUC members (so far). However, Barry the giant worm was also a Eunicid.
Fireworms/bristleworms: all-encompasing terms for various Amphinomid worms. The term "bristleworm" is often used for just polychaetes in general, but within the sw aquarium hobby, people usually mean ones that look hairy from the number of white bristles they have. Many are in the Eurythoe genus and are pink, gray, red, sometimes even blue-ish or yellowish with white tufts of bristles. These are the ones typically called "bristleworms." However, Hermodice carunculata is a similar-looking member of the group and also in that group and is a known coral-eater. Technically it is also a "brislteworm," but because it is bright red, it is often considered "the fireworm" when people get picky about the common names. However, red versions of other species are also called "fireworms" - both by mistake thinking they're Hermodice and just because of the color and sting. Color is a bad indicator of harmfulness or harmlessness. At one point I took a couple of dull pink-ish ones and put them in their own tank and saw a reasonable color array of little ones produced. More pink, but also bright red and even the rare yellow-ish one that seemed to lack some pigments. Some will burn more than others, but I've observed individual variation within species so I don't know if that ever helps to make ID within the Amphinomid group.
While I am on the fireworm thing, whether you have something that you'd call a "bristleworm" or a "fireworm" doesn't have much to do with it being harmful/harmless or giving you a sting. Common names are pretty useless in that regard. Obviously if it's a Hermodice you want it out. Eurythoe usually play nice. They don't have jaws like Eunicids, but they suck onto things really hard and rasp away. They can pull apart pieces of dead meat pretty fast that way. Usually it's just dead things - but when I attempted to starve them out of a tank with soft corals they'd been in with happily for years, guess what got ripped apart equally fast? Yep, no more softies for me. That is a rare event though, as most tanks have things that will help control the worm populations a bit better. Basically your standard "bristleworms" will be safe if you:
- Don't try to pet them.
- Get the CUC established early before they take over.
- Don't overfeed, at least not beyond what your non-worm CUC can handle.
- Have some sort of worm predator in the tank (arrow crab, CBS, mithracid crabs, moderately sized hermits, various wrasses, and so on - many tanks will inadvertently have such an animal).
- Take out any large ones that become a bit too bold.
And now I shall put my soap box away.
OP
OP
heavenly_d3vi1
Fishaholic
i dont fancy 'petting' that thing in my tank! I've not seen all of him, everytime he appears he already has his head in a hole next to a hole that hes emerging from, so I just see the bit thats inbetween the 2 holes! I just watched him as he was going from hole to hole.. I dont know how much of his front had already gone in the whole but I saw a good 7 or so inches of him before his tail finally emerged from the hole he came from!Since I'm yet to see his head, I have no idea if he has jaws and tenticles, I just know he's red, VERY long, FAT and is covered in 'tufts' of bristles! Scary looking thing indeed!
euww.. my big worm is red and furry
Too much information thankyou! This is a family forum!
OP
OP
heavenly_d3vi1
Fishaholic
euww.. my big worm is red and furry
Too much information thankyou! This is a family forum!
Sorry
seffieuk
I used to be indecisive but now I'm not so sure!
Donya, going to stick this post in the 'ive been thinking' thread, is that ok with you?
Seffie x
Sure! Although, I suppose it figures, only now do I see that it's full of typos lol. I'll try to get that cleaned up (might tack it onto my other CUC post next time I update it).
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