I had my salwater tank set up for a snow flake eel and spine/needle buffer fish, well we moved and they are in another tank now but i have one bug piece of rock i kept that they had with them. Now i have about 50lbs. Live rock 2 clown fish, pink tip anenome, white tip anenome, 2 hermit crabs, 2 peppermint shrimp, and one green claw crab. Well, my husband and i were watching the tank because one of our clown fish took over both anenomes. As we were watching we noticed a thing ut looks like something between a worm and a caterpillar. Its not coming out of the rock just enough that we spotted it... We have no idea what it is and were hoping someone else might so we don't risk losing anything in our tank! Trying to add pics but its not letting me.
unknown worm (possibly something else) inside my live rock? help!
- Thread starter adsmith
- Start date
Yes, likely a bristle worm. Older ones can become quite large. I had 15 inch long one, that I saw poking it's head out of a piece of rock. I took the rock out and put it in a bucket of saltwater. The worm came out (you may need to annoy it for this to happen)-that's how I know how big it was. I killed it outside, and left it there.
They are good for the tank. They eat uneaten food that the fish miss or cant reach. I have some that are 8"+ long and they dont harm anything. However, you need to be sure not to touch it. The little hairs stick in your skin and irritate a little bit. Its nothing painful really. Pluck them out with tweezers if you should come into contact with them. When they get large (which takes years) like over a foot I have heard they can eat soft coral if there is lack of food in the tank. Mine come out at feeding time and at night.