hitch hiker good or bad

[Pat]

I recently bought a new live rock and a week or so later, i noticed a bristle worm poking out of a hole in the rock. I have two maroon clowns, a red banded coral shrimp, two mexican trubos, and a few hermit crabs. Should i remove this worm for the safety of the fish? or let it go? this is in my 30g tank that use to be a quarantine tank until the clown got to agressive with the tomatoe clowns in my 60g tank.

 

[PSU4ME]

Bristle worms are good members of your clean up crew as long as the numbers stay controlled which depends on how much left over food there is in the tank. If you feed correctly then you'll be all set. The only time I would say to remove them is if they get big, 8+ inches

 

[DianaKay]

Hi Pat
I really like this link (bookmark it) it has lots of hitchhikers and tells if they are good or bad.
LionfishLair.com - Hitchhiker Guide to your Aquarium

 

[ReefApprentice]

I personally hate them.Others enjoy them as part of the cuc.Its your desicon to hate or love.

 

[David Shaw]

I would remove the rock and dip it in Coral RX to get rid of it, then put the rock back. They might be beneficial, and many may like them in their tanks, but i hate them and luckily have none in my tank as i dip everything in Coral RX before anything goes in it, to flush all hitchhikers out, even the benign ones. I am paranoid about getting something like a mantis shrimp in my new tank so everything get's dipped, i prefer to prevent issues upfront rather than have to deal with any issues once things are released into the tank. I learned that lesson when i had a mantis shrimp in my 130D that took me months to get out and drove me crazy with it's nocturnal clicking and killing off the fish.

My tank is doing just fine hitchhikers now!