Tank mid cycle found a WORM is this a bad one? (pic included)

Hey guys so my tank is mid cycle and I found this worm playing around in some LR I bought. Is he a good worm or a bad worm?! It is the thing in the middle of the pic with lots of white legs.

 

Bristle worm. Good part of the clean up crew.

 

Thank you so much for the fast response, I am freaking out over here as this is my first tank and was very worried about parasites.

 

No problemo. Some people remove them just cuz they dont like them but they eat left over food and help keep the tank clean. Have fun!

 

by the way i also ride a burton!

 

Just dont tuch it....they sting! If you do remove it, use tweezers.

 

Nope, not harmful at all. That is a common bristleworm, very normal to see in a reef tank. In my small nano, i have one that is about 8 inches long! I dont want to get rid of him though, he might be rather nasty, but he is excellent at cleaning up excess food and waste. He actually also sifts through the sand every now and again, to keep it oxygenated. I would reccommend to keep it! But you might get something that eats the babies of them, because in my opinion, they're not pretty if they are infesting your tank like crazy. But, of course thats just my opinion But if you dont like them, you can get something like arrow crabs, a dottyback or something like that to eat the babies. The bigger ones you can catch with traps and stuff, but i would HIGHLY reccommend, to let it stay and do what it does best: Clean up your tank.

 

See here for some more info. (post 9)
I take them out whenever I see them. They will munch on coral polyps.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/lps-corals/now-its-my-frogspawn-what-happened-151327.html#.Uq-BCZFO0v0

 

I think that can is the more appropriate word here. That is the only example I have seen so far. Not saying there aren't others, just the first I have seen.

 

The pic is a bit fuzzy, but it looks like what you have there is Eurythoe complanata (AKA Caribbean fireworm), which is pretty benign despite the "fireworm" moniker.

If you handle it, be careful not to get poked, and if you do, simply soak the affected area in vinegar for about 10 mins, as this will dissolve the "bristles".

We leave them in our tanks, as they feed on detritus and carrion. I've even seen them eating red cyano.

CBS and many wrasses feed on them, but not overfeeding your tank will control their numbers as well.