Name this bug(s)

Was tired of listining to my girl telling me about this little bugs that come out at night and flick around my tank like fleas. I have seen one or two in the past but when she showed me I was like "OH CRAP". So, I pulled out a reef rock they gathered around because it looked like I had a dead flow spot behind it and wanted to fix it up and when i pulled the rock out I noticed on the towel about 8 of these grey looking fleas. I tried to take pics and post but they are a bit small. I turned over the rock and saw this fuzzt but sticking out at me. I grabbed some tweezers and pulled it out. It was like 6" worm.. What did my tank create? I am posting pics. Sorry for the blurryness. I hope you can't tell me if these are bad or good and if bad how to rid of them.



What the fish036 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

What the fish036 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

the flea looking things ur talking about are copepods...these are food for the fish and corals if u have them...the worm u were talking about is a bristle worm..this is also harmless it eats uneaten food and settled detritus...all these things are normal for a saltwater aquarium

 

So should I throw them back in? LOL seriously I have them in a bowl at this time

 

those things reproduce at such a rapid rate it wont make a difference...ur probably gonna run into some little guys that resemble tiny shrimp these are amphipods or scuds. They are great fish food and they are most active at night. Oh and i apologize the flea lookin guys are copepods...sorry i got mixed up.

 

perfect thank you. as I tossed them back in 2 copipods were eaten by fish and the bristol got away under a rock.. LOL
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Ur welcome, feel free to ask away....I enjoy sharing knowledge with fellow reefers U can send me ur im info in a private message.

 

I agree, pods will multiply very very fast. It is a good thing if you have something in your tank to eat them. I will be getting something in mine soon. just not sure what

 

If you have a large tank with a good pod population from an established refugium and no aggressive fishies i would go with a mandarin goby.

 

i surprised no one has warned you not to touch the bristle worm.they are also called fireworms,those white hairs on it will burn your hands and itch all day.mandarin gobies do eat copods but if your tank is smaller than 55gallons with no sump or refugium then the mandarin can starve before its trained to eat food you give it.

 

zig, not all bristles are fireworms. Bristleworms WILL hurt though!

^^Ditto on the mandarin advice though. Definately find that feeds on other things. Believe i or not, but I still see pods in my tank after about 5mo. Thankfully she feeds on frozen!