Worm ID help

Hi All,

Just recently started seeing a bunch of these worms showing up in our tank. Largest one I've seen so far is about 3" long and best guess is that this is a bristle worm but not sure, first time seeing worms in the tank.

Wondering if any concerns I should have about it or special considerations.

Let me know if you need any other pictures or details.

Thanks.

 

Bristle worms. Great CUC that usually come out at night. If you get too many or they get bigger than you'd like, there are a number of DIY traps that you can search on the forum.

 

Thanks for the quick ID, glad it's nothing dangerous given how many (4-5) and how quickly they all just showed up. Heard stories of how hard it can be to get rid of them.

 

Oh, IME, you will never be rid of them unless you medicate the tank with something to kill them, which will probably kill just about everything else in your tank.

Or, you could pull out all of your rock and let it dry out for a month in the sun. I think that's the only way to get rid of them completely.

You can control the population by limiting the amount of excess food that gets in the tank, but they are very efficient scavengers. Best bet at this point is to welcome them into the tank, wear gloves when you move rock around (those bristles hurt if you grab one), and thin them out with a trap if you're getting more in the tank than you want.