pictures of bristle worms

[stevertr]

I have all these worms living in my tank. Every time I look there seems to be more. The live in holes in the live rock and when I feed they come halfway out looking for food. I'm assumming they're bristle worms, and they're not bothering anything but the population of them seems to be growing. one of them I saw yesterday must have been 4 inches long...and maybe 3/8th inches wide.

Anyone have a picture of one so I can see what they are? Should I be concerned...

Steve

 

[Clam Man]

bristle worms seem to stay on the sand but post a picture

 

[Moe_K]

You can start here:
http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_pages/faq_rock3.htm

 

[stevertr]

You can start here:
http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_pages/faq_rock3.htm

Big help..Thanks!
That's what they were...

No need to remove them right?
My understanding is that they don't bother anything...

 

[gordonzoo]

Same deal here. They are in the holes of my rock. I haven?t seen any in the sand. They come out 1/2 way when they smell food. I tried to suck them out with a turkey baster but they were too quick. I understand them to be a nuisance but not harmful. Maybe a six-line wrasse could help. Mine is gone and since then the population has exploded.

 

[etszoo]

The population will max out then subside depending on how much you feed.
-Eric

 

[NateHanson]

Yeah, I've heard that population explosions can be related to overfeeding. They're scavengers, so their numbers will grow to meet the supply of excess food. You might consider whether you're overfeeding your tank. Most of us probably are, to some extent.

I also read somebody's post about catching bristle worms with food in a nylon stocking. Apparently their bristles get stuck in the nylon and you can pull out a bunch of them in the morning. Not sure if that actually works, but I've heard others propose it.