Bristle Worms?

[Sorcha]

Can someone give me some feedback on these? Seems to me that most people have a pretty negative reaction to having them in their tank, yet some of the info I've read makes them sound beneficial in some ways.

We've had the tubes coming out of the sand which I assumed was a type of worm. Now I've read the bristle worms do this too, so maybe it's been them all along. But I was moving rock around this weekend and found a ton of worms under the rocks.

I realize they get big and you pull them out at that point. But I'm worried they're worse than I think. Anyone?

If they do need to go, any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Brian]

Hey Sarah...

FWIW

I think they are beneficial. They help keep the insides of the rock clean, help keep your sand bed stirred up (IF you have a sand bed )

I have never had a negative experience with them... some say they eat fish and what not.. Which I'm sure is a possibility when they get large, but I have never noticed it.

I say, leave them be... if you notice something wacky going on, then you can rip them out...they are easy enough to trap.

 

[Sorcha]

Cool, thanks for the response. The stuff on the internet ranged from what you said here to "Get them out now!"

The only fish mentioned that eats them, and that's only sometimes, is the Orchid Dottyback. As we already have a purple pseudochromis, she would not be happy with the competition.

So along we wil leave them. Until I see one 2 ft long, then the sucker is getting pulled.

Thank you!

 

[Brian]

If they are really bothering you, you could try an Arrow Crab. I'm pretty sure they eat those little suckers!

 

[JRodrig692]

My refugium has a whole bunch of them in it, some like 6 inches stretched out. They have never caused me any problem and are great for the detritus.

They are a part of the normal cycle of the ocean, as long as they are kept in check there should be no problem.

 

[Edwardw771]

I have some that are about 10 inches long. If you look at the tank at night with the lights off they come out. They can be pretty scarey looking.

 

[Symbiote]

According to Mel's Reef:

"Bristleworms are blamed for everything negative that occurs in reef tanks, but they are actually very good clean up detrivores. Count on them to find excess food missed by your fish, and expect to see many of them at night with a flashlight. They are often found on decaying matter, and thus are blamed for the death of the [insert creature here] rather than praised for keeping the tank clean. Reef-safe!"

http://melevsreef.com/id/crawls.html