Did Bristle Worms kill my clown...really? (with pics)

[Yuri De Lima]

I have (well used to have) a clown fish in my 24G AP tank.

I bought some LR for it and it came with a couple of bristle worms. Now there's a ton (literally) of them in the tank, big,small, medium, fat, juicy...
Since last week my clown has been missing (every time I put food in the water he used to come).

Could the bristle worms have killed my clown??
Here are some pics so you can see

If you look in the 5th picture you can see the clown hiding in his cave (pics were taken before he disappeared) and you also see bristle worms in the cave too on another pic.

Note: there are a lot more bristle worms than shown in the pics

 

[AquatiCreations]

hmm i have never heard of bristle worms attacking.Quite frankly i thought it was the other way around.Are there any other inhabitants other than the clowns?Check the filter or if you have one the fuge/sump.see if you can find him anywhere move a rock or two around.

 

[SpockthePuffer]

Isn't that the bad kind? It looks like the pictures of fire bristle worms to me. I don't know if they can kill a fish though.

 

[salty420]

wow that's a lot of worms! i would bet the clown died and they just did their part to clean up. did the clown spend a lot of time hiding in the cave?

 

[Reefscape]

wow that's a lot of worms! i would bet the clown died and they just did their part to clean up. did the clown spend a lot of time hiding in the cave?

My thoughts as well.....Also, they are some big worms and if it was me, i would be removing them from the tank....

 

[kryptic4l]

might of been the rock that killed nemo, new rock = mini cycle

 

[Catpicklesdog]

I agree with posts # 4,5&6. Whilst not totally impossible for a bristle worm to kill a fish, it is usally the larger (much) worms that will paralize "lockdown" fish, such as firefish, which lock onto a rock at night.

I'd tend to lean with the fact your clown had already died and your worms were just doing their job.

Out of interest what are your water params??

Due to the fact they are unsightly (no offence) I would remove as many as you can which will also help ease your mind.

 

[got2envy]

whoah! those are some big worms..i only catch flashes of mine..never out in the open like that..def remove a few

 

[Riverserver]

That one at the end looks just like a fireworm. Can you get better pics of them?

If you remove them, use gloves or tongs.

 

[SpockthePuffer]

That one at the end looks just like a fireworm. Can you get better pics of them?

If you remove them, use gloves or tongs.

Thats what I thought too, I'm happy someone else sees that, lol