Thanks for the quick replys. I was hoping that I wasnt going to have to get rid of it. It's actually really cool. As long as it's not going to hurt anything in the tank, I'm going to leave it.
I'm FREAKIN' out...
- Thread starter AW2EOD
- Start date
the birslte worm i had, grabed a moving blenny... and i have a video of it trying to eat a crab if you want to see it... if they are large you don't have to worry too much about fish, but there are bottom dwelers that could have problems... expecially CORALS. I wouldn't sit there and let it get the crab but I waited long enough to see weather or not it was just messing with it or trying to eat it.
In nature anything is possible, but I will still go with the general rule... BW are harmless.
I would not worry too much about the BW hurting the crab. This is a hermit crab and they do not move fast but they can hide quickly when disturbed.
I am not familiar with the species you are showing here (too green)... It is strange that it is apparently diurnal.
Did it hurt the blenny? Again, the fact that it can "grab" a blenny does not mean that it can hurt one.
However, common sense dictates that it may be time to get rid of that beast! (too big, diurnal, predatory behavior? not good)
You are probably dealing here with the uncommon.
The only thing my bristleworms have ever hurted is my own hand!
Again, I recommend Bob Fenner's page if you still have doubts about the general recommendation of not worrying about Bristle Worms!
I would not worry too much about the BW hurting the crab. This is a hermit crab and they do not move fast but they can hide quickly when disturbed.
I am not familiar with the species you are showing here (too green)... It is strange that it is apparently diurnal.
Did it hurt the blenny? Again, the fact that it can "grab" a blenny does not mean that it can hurt one.
However, common sense dictates that it may be time to get rid of that beast! (too big, diurnal, predatory behavior? not good)
You are probably dealing here with the uncommon.
The only thing my bristleworms have ever hurted is my own hand!
Again, I recommend Bob Fenner's page if you still have doubts about the general recommendation of not worrying about Bristle Worms!
I wouldn't let it hurt things I saw it going after, but I did loose an anemone who had a mark on its base, no longer able to attach to things, a star fish who hid by the bristle worms area the first few days of bringing it home and a blenny had died later. The worm is no longer with us but it was about 1' 5" long... at least. heres the best picture i have of him if it helps id it... it was out all the time, id always watch him just incase he would do anything.
That's the culprit....both pics are correct. The way my live rock is set up there is a large, flat area at the top...that's where he lives. I never see it until after I turn the light out, wait 30 min, and then search the tank with my red lense flashlight. There isnt anything else that goes near that area, except for the Blue Legged Hermits, (I still count the original number that I put in there) so I figure I'm fine for now. How big can these things get? Plus...you guys that took the pics...what kind of cameras are you using?
wastememphis, did you post that picture and the description to dr. ron? Im curious what he would say about it.
I took them with a Nikon Cool Pic 4300... digital camera, 4.0mega pics, like 4x optical and 5xdigital or something like that, you can see it in the reflection of the second picture kinda 
Hi,
I think this is what you have, Hermodice carunculata:
Read the whole article, one of the things it mentions is that:
"H. carunculata is a predatory species feeding on almost any sessile animal it can catch, but having distinct preferences if given an option. In particular they feed on corals, hydrocorals, gorgonians, and anemones"
The article is here
Also, Dr. Shimek warns that:
"Most fireworms are scavengers in tropical marine environments, albeit a few [...] are predatory, and one or two are parasitic. [...] they are beneficial scavengers.. One species, common in nature but rarely found in aquaria, is of concern to aquarists. This species, Hermodice carunculata, is predatory on stony corals and gorgonians. Fortunately, individuals of this species may be easily distinguished and removed from the system."
His article is here
I had some spare time to check this out. I hope it helps you and anyone else seeking information about bristleworms.
Again, the bottom line is that most of this animals are NOT predatory.
So, if you see a worm in your tank, do not suspect him of any wrong doing, unless like wastememphis did, you can proof otherwise.
Animals have their rights, even worms.
IME I never had any problem with this animals. I had thousands of them in my tank.
HTH
I think this is what you have, Hermodice carunculata:
Read the whole article, one of the things it mentions is that:
"H. carunculata is a predatory species feeding on almost any sessile animal it can catch, but having distinct preferences if given an option. In particular they feed on corals, hydrocorals, gorgonians, and anemones"
The article is here
Also, Dr. Shimek warns that:
"Most fireworms are scavengers in tropical marine environments, albeit a few [...] are predatory, and one or two are parasitic. [...] they are beneficial scavengers.. One species, common in nature but rarely found in aquaria, is of concern to aquarists. This species, Hermodice carunculata, is predatory on stony corals and gorgonians. Fortunately, individuals of this species may be easily distinguished and removed from the system."
His article is here
I had some spare time to check this out. I hope it helps you and anyone else seeking information about bristleworms.
Again, the bottom line is that most of this animals are NOT predatory.
So, if you see a worm in your tank, do not suspect him of any wrong doing, unless like wastememphis did, you can proof otherwise.
Animals have their rights, even worms.IME I never had any problem with this animals. I had thousands of them in my tank.
HTH
That's exactly what I've got. I see that they feed mainly on corals. I do have a fairly large, expensive Hammer Coral in the tank, even though the Bristle is far away from it and I've never seen it come more any closer than aprox. 10" to it. Think I should just play it safe and get rid of the worm now? I'd rather do that than one day wake up and find a dead Hammer Coral.
Mine was a hitchiker that came on the only batch of rocks I got, so he was in there for about 6months, I knew about him for 4months before I did anything. As long as your hammer coral isn't on the sand bed it should be kinda safe. I've never heard of a fireworm swimming, and mine would only come in and out of holes in the bottom or rocks, the highest i ever saw him was about 1" up comming out of a hole and going into a lower one, I just tryed to keep mine off the ground, but my anemone would do what it wanted and my star fish wasn't lucky either, every thing else was fine... it is rare to have one, i do recall thats why dr. ron didn't think I had one because its not a regular occurance, but you could try to get it out before it gets big, they make small tubed with spikes directed into the tube, you put something meaty in the tube so the worm goes for it and can't get out. The tube is only 5-6" tho which was a third of the size of mine, so i didn't buy it.
