Unresolved Bristle Worm?

Not sure, just a hunch. My tank is 2 months new and this little guy had shown himself to me only in the past week or so. It stays on a piece of live rock at I haven't seen others.

Is this guy okay in my tank or should I try to get him out of there? I plan to start a reef after New Year and don't want anything in the tank now that might hinder progress later.

Thanks for your support 3Reefers!

 

Yeah it's a bristleworm. Some ppl say they are a nuisance but IMO they are a healthy and important part of your CuC.

 

ya its a bristle worm i dont know what kind there are some good and some bad but i dont know someone will though i predict an answer in the next 5 min

 

Good eye. But not to worry. They only eat dead things. And also, once most of the excess detritus, dead things on your live rock and such are decimated, the population of bristle worms will shrink to a healthy minimum, if this is what you are experiencing. And I agree with reefmonkey here, they are useful....and butt ugly. Fortunately they usually only come out at night, when you feed, or when rocks get turned over an stuff. Don't let your wife see them!

 

I concur. I've got one myself, about 8" in my 29g.

 

Thanks folks.

@Eddie. It's funny because my wife and I first thought it was a leg of a bristle star. She was happy. Turns out the other end of the legs wasn't there. Just one long worm.

 

I have a 2 week old tank and added 2 small hermit crabs to it. One never came out of it's shell so I think it was DOA. I picked him out of the tank the next day when I was sure he was dead, and there was one of those worms under him. I was also told to leave him there and he would help clean the tank.

 

Yes. To be sure, the bristle worms did not kill the crab but are merely "eating dead things".
Good boy.