ID? Good? Bad?

BRISTLEWORM? just saw it today. prolly saw about 6 inches of it and assuming its much longer than that.
So i had my scopas tang died. He was healthy and eating. He dissappeared suddenly and found him like 4-5 days later (almost nothing left) at the bottom of the rock. Think this guy could be the cause?

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Not the reason the tang died. They are typically just clean up. A healthy fish will not get caught by a bristle worm. Large starfish or an anemone, yeah, but not a bristle worm that small.

Check your water parameters, and what size tank is it? Smaller than a 50 gal, the tang could have been stressed out enough to die.

can you keep these as a pet?how big do they get?

LOL!!!

you can if you want. you cant pet them, or hold them. They can get really big. few feet long. I believe there is a picture of one at 6'+.

what would be the salty requirements of one of these so called pests

That's a scary looking worm... I don't think I want to keep that thing in my tank especially I always sticking my hands in there cleaning, feeding my fish and corals...I do like bristal stars though..... BTW...sorry to know about your tang... ups and downs, it's a nature of having a saltwater tank...

i know..and i have been changing my rock decor...now i am like..errrrrr

In my opinion I would say catch any and all bristle worms over ~4" and sell them.... There is a market and people do buy them

Any idea on care anybody?

aquaman95 wrote:Any idea on care anybody?

Salinity 1.025
healthy water parameters
pH 8.2
Temp 73-80 deg.
Live rock
Live sand
feed it raw shrimp.
It will actually come out when you feed it. I have one in my pico. I have a bunch of the mini brittle stars too.

I dont think there is really a market for these worms since most people that find them toss them out and they are hitchikers in live rock. You get a coral on a piece of rock, your probably going to get one.

If you want to catch it, get a small net, put some food in it and set it flat down in the sand with the food between the net and the sand. wait till late, with a flash light keep an eye out for it. It will come all the way out for the food. snatch it up with a pair of tongs. They are strong and fast so wait till it is completely out of the rock. It may even curl up in the net. Or you can use a small plastic or glass bottle with food in it. It will crawl right in after it.

I met some people who sell 4"+ bristle worms on eBay and get $10 for them... Apparently they are easy to ship

wow! I am going to start growing them out and selling them.