fireworms !!

[robin.gordon1]

I had a warning to rinse out my new corals in case of fireworm infestation.
I rinsed them all out in a bucket of aquarium water but late last night I
went down to check out the tank to discover a very small worm type creature
busy around the front glass at high speed. I tried to trap it in a small
container but eventually I missed a jammed it on the edge cutting it in two.
how do I check for more worms and how do I remove them without destroying
half of my tank.

Robin

[Marc Levenson]

The swimming worms you are referring to are fine.

Fireworms are often mis-indentified bristleworms, which are
not bad guys. Bristleworms eat detritus and keep your
sandbed clean. They also live in LR. I have a picture of a
long bristleworm at the top of my ID page:

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/

Marc


robin.gordon1 wrote:

> I had a warning to rinse out my new corals in case of fireworm infestation.
> I rinsed them all out in a bucket of aquarium water but late last night I
> went down to check out the tank to discover a very small worm type creature
> busy around the front glass at high speed. I tried to trap it in a small
> container but eventually I missed a jammed it on the edge cutting it in two.
> how do I check for more worms and how do I remove them without destroying
> half of my tank.
>
> Robin
>
>

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[Boomer]

I have heard this to many times so lets straighten it out

All Fireworms are Bristleworms but not all Bristleworms are Fireworms. Same thing for
Feather Dusters or Spaghetti Worms, they are all Bristleworms. All Polychaetes are
Bristleworms and all Bristleworms are Polychaetes. However, I know when people speak of
the sand bed worms they like to give them the name Bristleworms and use other common names
for worms like Fireworms or Feather Duster worms

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen12.html

http://biodiversity.uno.edu/~worms/annelid.html
--
Boomer

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"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
om...
: The swimming worms you are referring to are fine.
:
: Fireworms are often mis-indentified bristleworms, which are
: not bad guys. Bristleworms eat detritus and keep your
: sandbed clean. They also live in LR. I have a picture of a
: long bristleworm at the top of my ID page:
:
: http://www.melevsreef.com/id/
:
: Marc
:
:
: robin.gordon1 wrote:
:
: > I had a warning to rinse out my new corals in case of fireworm infestation.
: > I rinsed them all out in a bucket of aquarium water but late last night I
: > went down to check out the tank to discover a very small worm type creature
: > busy around the front glass at high speed. I tried to trap it in a small
: > container but eventually I missed a jammed it on the edge cutting it in two.
: > how do I check for more worms and how do I remove them without destroying
: > half of my tank.
: >
: > Robin
: >
: >
:
: --
: Personal Page:
: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
: Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
: Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
:

[robin.gordon1]

an article that I read described them as bioluminesant and I wonder if that
what I saw. it definitely was not a bristleworm of any description. I
thought that it was a small fleck of skin off one of the new corals but when
I shone the light on it it fled to the gravel. it appears to be about 3-4mm
in length and an extremely fast mover (almost like it was on speed). the
wife has noticed that she's started itching and we were wondering if it came
from this batch of corals or one of these creatures.

Robin