| Author |
 Topic Search  Topic Options
|
Tresa 
Guest
Joined: November 17 2003
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 733
|
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote  Reply
 Topic: brown worms
Posted: March 21 2004 at 6:01pm |
I was just moving a coral and noticed some long really skinny brown worms. There is something stuck to a rock that looks like a dead blob and it seems like that is where they are coming out of. It is kind of hard to explain and I cant take a picture - they are in a really bad spot. Just curious if anyone else has seen these. 
|
 |
Carl
Guest
Joined: September 17 2003
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1346
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 21 2004 at 7:01pm |
Sounds like bristle worms. Touch one and if your finger starts burning really, really bad and swells up a bit... that's them.  . They are scavengers that are usually nocturnal and will quickly attack dead or dying animals. That is how they got the rap of being bad for your tank because people thought that they would attack healthy fish and eat them. Simply not true.
|
|
In Syracuse
"I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting." - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf
|
|
Ryan Willden
Guest
Joined: July 12 2002
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 775
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 21 2004 at 7:14pm |
|
Do a search for bristle worm convention on this site. That ought to
help you identify them.
|
|
Meeshi_ma
Guest
Joined: January 16 2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 159
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 21 2004 at 8:00pm |
I've got some real skinny brown worms that aren't bristles. I think that they're called spaghetti worms... Seem to be harmless.
Brian
|
|
Provo, Utah
|
|
Tresa
Guest
Joined: November 17 2003
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 733
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 5:40am |
I did a search before I wrote the first message, I found the pictures of the bristleworms  but that is not what they are. Maybe they are the spaghetti type. They seem to be irritating my sea pen - I will keep watching and if I need to I will try to get them out- thanks for the help.
|
|
Crazy Tarzan
Guest
Joined: September 12 2003
Location: Riverton, WY
Status: Offline
Points: 1681
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 7:36am |
good luck trying to get a hold of any worm in your tank.... you thought earth worms were hard to get a hold of.
Carl--I had an accidental encounter with a bristle worm in my tank this week--ended up with a fuzzy finger, but it didn't swell up, just was irritating till I rubbed out the last of the spines.
|
|
Was that in there yesterday? Casper--WY windier than ?
Down to a 20, soon to double or nothing
|
|
Ryan Willden
Guest
Joined: July 12 2002
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 775
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 9:04am |
If it's not the worms in the Bristleworm post, I don't know what they are... Sorry. 
|
|
Tresa
Guest
Joined: November 17 2003
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 733
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 9:41am |
Ryan,
I am not sure either - They are sooo skinny - they are the size of a string- they seem to go in at night and out during the dayI was hrinking if I scraped off the dead-lookin' thing they would come with it but my sea pen is out and happy so I will just keep an eye on them. I guess this is one of he things I love most about saltwater - you never know what you are going to find!
|
|
jfinch
Guest
Joined: March 06 2003
Location: Pleasant Grove
Status: Offline
Points: 7067
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 10:06am |
Are they light brown with yellowish bands? They're normal, nothing at all to worry about. I think they're commonly called spaghetti worms. They multiply quickly. I have a couple mounds and inch or so high in my sandbed with maybe close to a hundred worms (or tenticles) hanging out. Kinda like a worm volcano .
|
|
|
|
Tresa
Guest
Joined: November 17 2003
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 733
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 10:44am |
Jon - That sounds just like them - thanks for the help - I will leave them alone !
|
|
Carl
Guest
Joined: September 17 2003
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1346
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 12:02pm |
Jon, I want a scoop of your sand!
Crazy, people react differently to the irritant. You're probably on the lucky side! If you want to challange the theory, let's find someone with a lion fish!
|
|
In Syracuse
"I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting." - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf
|
|
jfinch
Guest
Joined: March 06 2003
Location: Pleasant Grove
Status: Offline
Points: 7067
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 12:11pm |
Carl, I'll try to get a picture ('cause it is kinda neat to see). Unfortunately, the mounds are located in the back of the tank and my camera doesn't zoom in well enough to really see the worms (but you can clearly see the worm mounds).
I have actually thought about scooping one of the mounds out and sifting through it to see what the other end of a spaghetti worm looks like .
|
|
|
|
jfinch
Guest
Joined: March 06 2003
Location: Pleasant Grove
Status: Offline
Points: 7067
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 4:40pm |
Hey Carl, here's a picture. The number of worms erupting from the volcano varies, in this picture there's not that many, but you can clearly see a few. You can also see a few more volcanos in the background. There must be a fairly large biomass under that mound?
|
|
|
|
chrisslc
Guest
Joined: November 13 2003
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 799
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 5:54pm |
I've always had a ton of these in my LR, Strangely enough I've never seen a pile of these in the sand like I see and hear of in everyone elses tanks. Just in the LR. Never have bothered anything near as I can tell.
|
|
Murray, Utah just north of the park.
"It's all the same to the clam" -Shel Silverstein
|
|
jfinch
Guest
Joined: March 06 2003
Location: Pleasant Grove
Status: Offline
Points: 7067
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 6:04pm |
Geofish, do they look like this? Here's an extreme close-up. Those rocks are caribsea seafloor special grade, maybe 1/16 - 1/8" in size.
|
|
|
|
Carl
Guest
Joined: September 17 2003
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1346
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 6:34pm |
|
Jon, I bet that there's schloades of bio in that substrate! Good for you! What a great self-sufficient ecosystem!. Sure would like a scoop of that... hint, hint!
|
|
In Syracuse
"I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting." - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf
|
|
Mark Peterson
Paid Member
Joined: June 19 2002
Location: Murray
Status: Offline
Points: 21436
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 9:08pm |
Jon, really great pics.
FYI, the other end of the worm reminds me of a squid, with longer tentacles of course, and can't swim but it crawls. I'll bet by the time I wrote this you have already scooped up a mound and examined a spaghetti worm.
Geofish, the "dead blob" could be sponge. What color is it and does it seem to have holes in it? Who knows which animal was there first. It's best to leave it there to do it's filtration job. The Sea Pen can move if it doesn't like that location. 
|
Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
|
|
jfinch
Guest
Joined: March 06 2003
Location: Pleasant Grove
Status: Offline
Points: 7067
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 22 2004 at 10:16pm |
Mark, I couldn't have described 'em better. They have a much fatter (compared to the sweeper tentacles) body with a set of thicker, shorter, nonbarred tentacles and then the really long skinny barred sweeper tentacles. I was planning a picture, but he was pretty smooshed up by the time I got him out (I need a softer hand).
But since I've found a new "toy", here's a picture of very small bristleworm (about as thick as a straight pin and 1/4" long).
|
|
|
|
Tresa
Guest
Joined: November 17 2003
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 733
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 23 2004 at 5:28am |
Jon - That is exactly what they look like ! Looking at them a little closer last night - they are all over the backside of my tank - they have built mounds in the sand and they are all over the live rock! Thank you for the great pics
Mark - I think the blob was just more worms huddled up together - my sea pen is coming out now so the worms werent bothering it - sometimes it gets irritated when the fish swim too close. I will definately leave everything alone! After probably 5 different locations my sea pen has finally stayed in one spot for about a month now- hopefully it is done moving - it is where I tried to put it in the first place - I guess it had to be his idea
|
|
Crazy Tarzan
Guest
Joined: September 12 2003
Location: Riverton, WY
Status: Offline
Points: 1681
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: March 23 2004 at 7:12am |
Carl--I've been thinking about getting a dwarf lion fish for my tank.... If I do, I'm sure I'll get stung at least once , and I'll tell you what happens
|
|
Was that in there yesterday? Casper--WY windier than ?
Down to a 20, soon to double or nothing
|
|
