Fireworm Question

[Rougiem]

I have a coworker with a tank and I have been trying to help him with a problem he seems to be having. He purchased a cleaner shrimp and anemone. His wife said on the way home a bristle worm ate the shrimp? He called last night saying these same brisleworms were attacking his anemone. He brought some of them in this morning and they were fireworms which I know are mainly carrion eaters and good detrivores. I have never seen them attack these above mentioned organisms. I know they have venom but still...

Could they be doing this? I am thinking it is something else that is causing the problem....Any thoughts?

Cheers!

Maybe I ought to get him on RS?

 

[sasquatch]

apparently there are 4 species of fire worms that like coral and anemones, and is considered to be "rare" in aquariums, supposedly just bad luck to get them ?

 

[Rougiem]

Yea could be but I am confident these are Eurythoe sp. that he brought in but he could have some coral eating ones...

 

[sasquatch]

sounds like the red flashlight ninja worm pickers are needed lol

 

[wasupdavey]

Can you post a picture of what it looks like. I have these worms in my tank too. Mainly living on my live rock. They hide in cracks and holes. Half their body is Orangish Red and the other half is kinda of grayish. They have feather like torns on their sides. Looks like a 2 bladed saw. Just wanna know if I have the bad ones also.

 

[Rougiem]

wasupdavey...those sound like Eurythoe sp...which are good! Do they look like these?

 

[Woodstock]

Ohhh Boomer, we need you!!

 

[wasupdavey]

In my tank they look somthing like this. The picture you showed me above looks alittle too big for the one to be in my tank. I heard bristle worms can be toxic to your tank is that true too?

 

[Boomer]

Rog

You have the worms then you need to go here to be 100% sure .

"Errant" Polychaetes

Marine Errant Polychaetes in HK-Home

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Most of the worms in any reef tank are fireworms. You usually have them by the hundreds and may just call them brislte worm scavengers but they are all fireworms. What we often call Fire Worms are the much bigger ones that are predatory and often bright red or other colors. The only other really preditary worms, other than the large fireworms, are Oenone, which are closely related to Eunice. Then there are the glycerid worms. It is just best to go here for a look. It is very hard to ID a worm without a detailed pic, especially the head.

Go here first
Reefs.org: Where Reefkeeping Begins on the Internet - Reefkeeper's Guide to Invertebrate Zoology: by Rob Toonen Aquarium.Net January 1998

It is cheating to go here first, as there will be a test on the first.
Bristleworms

This is really cheating to go here.
Worm Hitch Hikers

Doni you are making me give away classified Boomer links, that is not very nice

 

[Woodstock]

Doni you are making me give away classified Boomer links, that is not very nice

Haha.. Thanks!
Would a bit of karma to ease your pain!?


Edit: I'm out of karma but I'll hit you with it in the morning