# bristle worms



## bleuboy_188 (Feb 23, 2011)

i was in my sump cleaning out the micro algee and noticed some bristle worms, anyone know if there good or bad?


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/snails-crabs-others/8814-bristle-worms-good-bad.html

BUt they are freaky looking O___o;;


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## caker_chris (Apr 22, 2010)

there are mixed opinions on the worms. They are great ditrus eaters and since they are in your sump, u should probably leave them in there. If you do decide to get rid of them dont touch them with your hands.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

caker_chris said:


> there are mixed opinions on the worms. They are great ditrus eaters and since they are in your sump, u should probably leave them in there. If you do decide to get rid of them dont touch them with your hands.


Having never touched, seen live, or owned anything saltwater I'm going by what I'm reading online.

Looks like this person had a bad day with thier hand and a bristle worm. ;;

http://www.salt-city.org/showthread.php?667-KB-Bristleworms-Fireworms-Friend-or-Foe

 *shudders* freeeeeeeeeeekkiieee!!


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

They are fine. The negatives are really overestimated. In your sump especially you have nothing to worry about . Just don't touch them with your bare hands.


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

I had literally hundreds that I could see and then i put in a sixline wrasse and now I have to try hard to see any. Soon after this my nitrate problem got worse. After doing some reading it appears that worms when moving in and out of live rock are helping with the denitrification process in addition to all the other good stuff mentioned in the links.

I always move my rocks without gloves and have never seen worms anywhere while my hand is in the tank. I do this a lot so I'm surprised when people have "bites" while touching rocks. I'm not saying that gloves are not a good idea, but then again maybe I'm just lucky.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

I got stung by one of these when I didn't know better, and it felt much like wasp sting. Yes, unfortunately I have experienced all these.

These are fine in your reef tank, won't bother anyone really and they are part of CUC.


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## wildexpressions (May 3, 2010)

I have quite a number of bristle worms in my systems and I consider them to be very very good scavengers. I have numerous different types including lately I've seen some small fireworms.

When something dies they are on it instantly which when it comes to things like those large Moon or Mex Turbo Snails dying is a complete win. The snails break down into nasty soup so fast once dead that they verge on being a significant menace in a small aquarium.

I've touched bristle worms on numerous occasions with out feeling anything. I've never accidently squished one when picking up a rock to my knowledge and I expect that might be when people get nailed by them. I also don't have any huge ones that I've seen to date so that may make a diff as well.

I've read that simply brushing against Fireworms can result in a burning rash.

If you get over run with bristleworms you just put something dead into a bowl or in the bottom cutoff from a pop bottle or the like and push it down into the gravel. If you place it they will come and then you an just remove it with a pile o worms so it is not like they are tough to control.


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