Monster in my nano...

[Liza]

ok, I thought I saw this thing once before, but convinced myself I was seeing things. Unfortunately I saw it again tonight and Frank confirmed I wasn't crazy. It's some kind of large worm in my tank... my concern is it's one of the bad bristle worms. It's very sneaky and fast moving, especially in comparison to the regular bristle worms. It looks a lot like a centipede, which in general give me the creeps. *shiver* It's a darker brown color than the pink bristle worms and a few segments in from it's head it has one segment that is a light, almost white color, then back to brown. The legs are much more defined and noticable than those of the regular worms. It also appears to have several antennae that stick right out infront of it's face. It's very creepy, and there's no way I'm going to be able to get a good picture of it, I don't know if it can see me or sense vibrations when we move outside the tank, but any sudden movements and it pulls back in under my live rock, and won't come back out. I have no idea how big it actually is, but there was at least 2.5 inches of it sticking out when I got the best look at it, and it's as big as my biggest bristle worms. Is there a site with pictures anywhere that I could use to identify it? I'm worried it's one of those things that gets to be 10 feet long and eats all the coral in your tank (and with a 12 gallon nano, that probably wouldn't take long). Help! Do I tear down my tank and try to catch it??? Leave it and hope for the best??? Try to lure it out and catch it??? I've got a ton of bristle worms in my tank, so a trap would probably just get stuffed full of them. Thoughts?

[mtfatwork]

Just leave it, untill you start missing things there is really no need for concern.

[sfilingeri]

Looks like your going to have to sit in front of your tank one night with a red flashlight and patiently wait to get a better look.

[Petunia]

Here's a page with lots of articles on it - just find all the worm related ones: http://www.ronshimek.com/Online%20Articles%201.htm

[Liza]

good link, thanks! I got a pretty good look at him last night, so I'll see what I can find. Worms don't usually bother me, I actually like my bristle worms, but this one was so sneaky and ugh... creepy.

[Liza]

this is very similar to what the monster looked like... a giant reef worm? ack. http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildsho...phroditois.htm

[Liza]

the picture from St. John's Island looks a lot like my worm.

[pogodzib]

Typically, I say to leave things alone unless you notice a problem. However ,if you can get it out easily, it won't hurt anything to just remove it. It looks like it may leave your corals alone, but could give you a nasty sting when your least expecting it.

[Liza]

I'm sure I'd have a heck of a time getting it out since I've only seen it twice since I started my tank. I certainly don't want to get stung by any more tank worms after my bristleworm experience. It's creepy thinking about it being in there, but I'll just try to keep an eye on things and leave it be as long as it doesn't start hunting and eating things.

[smeese]

Be careful of your fingers.

[Petunia]

Do you think it's too big to catch in a bristle worm catcher?

Ewwww... that thing looks scary!

[Liza]

It would probably fit in a bristle worm catcher, but I doubt I would get it with all the bristle worms I have. I would probably just stuff it full night after night with the regular worms, especially since it's so sneaky and they're so bold.