# some new insects in my tank



## le9569 (Aug 22, 2006)

Hello all,
All of sudden, I found out that there are lots of this insect in my liverock and sand. They buried down the sand bed. They are about 2-3 inches long. They look scary. Below are some pics I tried to take a good shot. 




























My question now is: Is it really bad to have those? Do they harm the water quality? 

Thanks for all your input.

le9569


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

They are bristle worms. They come with the live rock. There are mixed reviews about them. Some say they can be very bad for the reef as others say they pose no threat to corals. When I found I had them I got rid of them by placing the live rock in freshwater and when they started to come out I grab them with twizzers.

Here is a link for more info on them.

http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/bristleworm.htm


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

I leave them. They make great detrivors. the things to really watch out for are those tiny micro stars, the white ones with 6 legs. They eat coral and I can show you thousands of threads stating such. Do not ever reach in with your hands to remove a bristleworm, it will hurt you bad and has the potential to send you to the hospital...


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

> > the things to really watch out for are those tiny micro stars, the white ones with 6 legs. They eat coral
> 
> 
> 
> I have a ton of those in my sump and that they were harmless, evry now and then they are in my main tank but don't last long.


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

Do not let them on your SPS, oh wait you don't keep SPS do you? They will eat any SPS that have been recently fragged. It's all over every reef forum right now. I lost a $100 frag recently to one. I left for work, all was well. I came home from work to an empty skeleton with 3 micro stars at the base. They don't seem to go after healthy SPS. It's when you frag them that they begin eating away at the exposed flesh.


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