Worms?

I have seen a small (what I believe to be) a bristle worm in the past... then didnt see it for a month or so.

Two nights ago I saw a large worm, probably 2 1/2 inches long in my tank.

Is this normal or should I be doing something?

Not sure if any of my cleanup crew or fish would take care of it.

 

Just read another post about aptasia and worms... not sure of which direction I am going to go on this.. probably going to LFS tonight to get more cleanup crew.. I currently only have 4 small snails and 3 hermits... and an emerald crab... Will the emerald eat the worms?
I havent seen the worm lately and though I saw a piece of him on a rock.

I am still unsure about the aptasia outbreak.. it is even growing just in my sand..
I heard peppermint shrimp will eat it... may go pick up a couple shrimp this evening if I hear back from you guys that this is a good idea.

 

Don't worry about the worms. People actually buy them on purpose because they are such effective scavengers.

There are many different ways of dealing with aiptasia but it would take too long to list them all out. Put aiptasia in the "search" box and you'll see a whole list of things you can buy plus many "home remedies".

 

I have kind of wanted a peppermint shrimp anyway lol...
So no worry about the worms. Then I may just buy some extra cleanup crew today and possibly a peppermint shrimp and try some home remedies on the aptasia.

 

Worms

I just wanted to chime in real quick in addition. Bristle worms are good scavengers and often help stir up the substrate a little without making the water cloudy (like most of our methods do).
They are mostly nocturnal *or more accurately only appear when there's little light* and you'll be more likely to see them when your lights first come on. Several varieties have differing levels of toxicity, mostly harmless though. My reading has indicated that manually removing any that grow over a few inches may not be a bad idea because at larger sizes they can threaten certain slow or stationary tank mates. The largest I've ever pulled out was a 7 inch Hawaiin Orange Worm which must have piggy backed in with some live rock and I understand this to be an absolute fluke.
In short, grab huge ones if you get the chance but its not worth worrying about.

 

I think that another point that needs to brought up though is that a peppermint shrimp is not 100% garaunteed to eat your aiptasia although they do look cool. It's ok to get the shrimp just be aware of that.

 

I bought 3 peppermint shrimp last night... an orange spotted watchman goby.. 5 more hermits.. and 2 turbo snails

 

Holy hell, i got a good look at the worm last night. It is probably near 5 inches long.

 

well today i found 3 more worms today........one pure white bout inch long, another pure white looks like a bristol worm not sure.... the third is black and white striped looks similar to my peanut worm only inch long... nowmy peanut worm i havn't seen fully extended but i know its bout 6 inches long and keeps going back in the same hole.

 

I'll just say again. If you get the chance I grab him. The polls are still out but some people will argue that worms of significant size can be a threat to "wimpy" or stationary life.