What Are These?

[Chris_C]

I know these are some type of worm but just after some info on them please and if they are good or bad? I have seen 10+ of them! Some big, some small.

 

[sorgan]

Some kind of bristle worn... No doubt donya can be more detailed.

 

[woody88]

They look cool!

 

[seffieuk]

Yeah, bristle worms, a good part of the cuc unless they grow massive!

 

[Chris_C]

Yeah, bristle worms, a good part of the cuc unless they grow massive!

I have seen loads Seffie! what happens if they get big? im sure one is about 6 inches long

 

[lewiss]

They can get a foot long!! Lol

 

[seffieuk]

im sure one is about 6 inches long

Is that a man's six inches or a womens

A healthy tank has loads of them Chris, they get in all your nooks and crannies and eat that old food, dead stuff

Seffie x

 

[lewiss]

Is that a man's six inches or a womens

Lol!!! very good Seffie!

 

[Donya]

As Seffie said, most tanks will have loads of these worms and you'll probably never see how many are really there. They are generally beneficial scavengers, and something in the system has to be out of whack for it to be otherwise. Having lots of really big ones or lots of them out during the day is usually a sign of too much food + not enough CUC to get to it before the worms did, which is a bigger problem with deep, coarse substrates like crushed coral. It's fairly easy to control the populations of small to moderately sized worms, which most reasonably-sized crustaceans will enforce (Calcinus hermits, arrow crabs, mithrax crabs, and so on). Big worms sometimes require manual removal if they become a nuisance; not a lot of predators will go after large ones.

have seen loads Seffie! what happens if they get big?

They become bolder and can start to bully other things in the tank out of food, even with the lights on, if there are no predators to smack them down for showing their faces. If food gets scarce suddenly, really big ones (approaching pinky-width) may also have a go at slow-moving or sedentary animals like snails and corals. If the population gets totally out of hand to the point where the tank is really just a seething mass of worms, it can also result in an accumulation of their shed broken bristles in the substrate and on the rocks, since they can accumulate faster than they dissolve or get ground up. However, that's also an issue I've only ever heard one person other than myself complain about. My impression is that not many salties are interested in keeping a tank exclusively for the purpose of having seething masses of worms.

 

[Chris_C]

Thanks for that Donya clean up crew have finally gone in today so hopefully that will kepp them at bay. The majority i have seen have been smaller worms so hopefully shouldn't get any problems

 

[seffieuk]

If the population gets totally out of hand to the point where the tank is really just a seething mass of worms,

Oh no, guess what i will be dreaming about tonight!!!!

 

[Chris_C]

Caught this one playing out tonight

When fully out id say it is around 15cm long ... is this guy ok to stay? or would you suggest removing him?

How would you remove them they are like grease lighting as soon as i move suddenly around the tank!

 

[sorgan]

that one looks like it would have your arm off..........

Just kidding, leave em be. If they end up being a problem you can deal with them later.

 

[Chris_C]

Hahahaha ok cheers sorgan