Big Meat-Eating Worm

I didn't get a picture, but was feeding my serpent star a big piece of krill that he dropped - a few blue legged crabs ran over to grab it but a large reddish worm with white fuzzy looking legs came out and took it away from the crabs and drug the krill under the rock. The worm was out at least 3-4 inches and wasn't completely out from under the rock. If it is eating Krill will it eat fish? Any ideas what it is?..or a site I can go to identify? Does that sound like a bristle worm?? Help Please !! :-/

 

It sounds like a bristle worm to me. Probably just hitch-hicked in on your liverock. They will eat anything that they can get their hands on....

 

Would they nab live fish too? I'm missing my twin spotted goby.

 

yeah they are real fuzzy.you should pick it up lol.just kidding.the fuzzy things are sharp barbs that break off and burn in your skin.bristle worms also called fire worms as in your hands will feel on fire if you touch.

 

It looked big. Should I try to get it out of the tank? It's in a huge bottom rock, of course, that everything is on. I'd have to tear my tank apart to get it out of there..and he probably moves around anyway. I've read about the traps, but sounds like they don't work. Do they bite?

 

Fire worms!!! Those are the bad ones...not the bristle worms, unless you have a large population of them!

 

do a google image search on Polychaete worms. Find the one thats a 100% match. Remember is the markings are different or if there is a slight difference that means its a different kind of worm. There are 1000's upon 1000's of those worms.

 

in my earlier saltwater tank I had bristle worms, I had to harpoon them to get them out the tank. I had a long stick with a needle at the end, turn off the light in the tank, I used a red light flashlight for light, put out some food and the hunt was on. Within 10min I could not believe how many I had in my tank

 

Every reef tank has bristleworms. You want them in your tank as they are great detritivores. If you have a huge population of them, chances are you're overfeeding. I would not remove these worms unless they get very large.

 

caution shouldbe used in removing any of those worms i.e "fire worms" they carry a nasty sting to them. ( wear rubber gloves when handling LR )
If he's to large, you can set a worm trap to catch him at night, fairly easy.

With that said , you seen just one, I promise ya theres more where he came from.
if your over feeding that may be why he's quite a large specimen.

But they are good to keep in your tank for helping clean up uneaten foods, the problem is they can thrive and multiply in epic proportions if your not careful.