hitchhiker help :(

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whyzee250

AC Members
Aug 17, 2005
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Salida, CA
Be warned, this is a pretty weak description:

I saw a small "u" shaped "tunnel" in the sand against my glass. It reminded me of the tracks the ants make when they are put in ant farms. make sense? Anyway, whatever made this small tunnel was still there, although barely visible. It blended in nicely with the sand, so it wasn't a bright color. It's length, from what i could see was no more than .250" long by .060" in diameter with "legs" running down the length of it's body. I tried to catch it in a net to no avail. In doing so I destroyed the "u" part of the tunnel. Can anyone offer suggestions as to what this may be?

Sorry my description is lame, but it was really hard to get a good view.
 

whyzee250

AC Members
Aug 17, 2005
216
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Salida, CA
if they turn out to be anything like that vampire pleco in your pic I'm getting rid of my tank haha!
 

SumTinsFishy

Vampire Pleco??
Nov 3, 2009
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Fennville, Michigan
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Joel
They can actually get you pretty good if you try to get them out with your bare hand. they can also get rather large. But they can actually rather pretty, if you can call a worm thing pretty.
 

whyzee250

AC Members
Aug 17, 2005
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Salida, CA
since i have a fowlr tank I'm not going to have to worry about them eating/attacking corals, but what if I switch over in the future...are they all bad? I have a small colony of polyps (dont know what kind) developing on a piece of rock...I'm pretty stoked....is this going to get ruined by me possibly having a worm(s) in the tank?
 

SumTinsFishy

Vampire Pleco??
Nov 3, 2009
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Fennville, Michigan
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Joel
In my experience, they will never harm anything healthy. They are scavengers and only want whats dead or dying. Some will disagree (usually the ones that don't know). I have several reef tanks, and have for many years. I have never witnessed an attack of any sort from a bristle worm, on corals or fish. I have seen them consume leftover food or a dead fish. I personally feel you have very little to fear from bristle worms.
 

SumTinsFishy

Vampire Pleco??
Nov 3, 2009
68
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Fennville, Michigan
Real Name
Joel
Also if you have a tank with live rock you are most likely to have numerous BW in your tank. Most of which you will never see. View them as a good thing, they are an essential part of the clean up crew (and very hard to get rid of anyways).
 

Star_Rider

AC Moderators
Dec 21, 2005
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Spanaway, Wa.
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Ed
there are several species of bristle worms.
Most are harmless scavengers and are safe in the tank.

there are a few you may want to keep an eye out for like the fire (bristle) worm.
 
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