What is this??

[BlueKoran91]

This thing had a hold of one of my fish this morning. Anyone know what it is???

[FireWater]

What are we looking at? I stared for a while and I believe I see a bristle worm in the middle towards the bottom. Is that it?

If so, it is possible. They are scavengers and opportunistic feeders. If there isn't enough leftovers or it can't find food it will hunt.

[FireWater]

Hard to tell from the pic, but there are several different types of worms that live in our tanks. Way more than my little mind can remember right now with out doing a google search.

[BlueKoran91]

Yes it's the brown thing that looks like a centipede lol

[allan]

at first I thought it was the arm of a brittle star fish.

[koa25]

It looks like a bristle worm. The other one that looks like a bristle worm is the hawaiian fire worm or something like that. That one is a fish killer for sure and has poisoned bristles. Been stung by one before. My hand swelded up like five sausages attached to an orange. Not pretty.

[BlueKoran91]

Allan...to my knowledge I have no bristle stars. Koa...do I need to get it out?? And HOW??

[koa25]

Tweezers or a trap. They sell little tube traps. I'm pretty sure it's a normal bristle worm like John said. They aren't bad until they get big. But in a small tank kike yours where everything is nano sized. It might do some damage.

[Big_Pun]

was your fish still alive? if dead it may be bristle worm. ive seen some crazy things over the years, my buddy had a worm that would come out the rock and sting snail till they just feel off and then would eat them. so there are predator worms out there.

[FireWater]

Lots of predator worms. I have had regular bristle worms and they can be a benefit to a tank as a clean up crew. Too many though and it signals problems such as over feeding. I have had the fire worm as well. Like mike said, it sucked petting that one.
I have also had one called a peanut worm that eats rocks. That one freaked me out until I researched what it was.

And I agree that in a nano things that can be beneficial can get out of hand quickly. You can usually see them at night after the lights go out. A flash light and a quick hand with tweezers will usually work. If not then you can buy traps for them. A small tube baited with something to eat.

[BlueKoran91]

Chris. Yes my fish was dead but I'm not sure if the worm killed it or it died before hand

[Big_Pun]

it was more than likely dead before hand, he was just doing what he is suppose to do.

[rrasco]

Cleanup crews sometimes get the unwarranted blame for killing things, but they are usually just cleaning up something that already died, as Chris said.

[BlueKoran91]

Ok so no worries then