Can a Bristle/Fire Worm eat fish?
 

Hey Guys! I just added a new fire fish last night and it saw it this morning before going to work. When I came back today it seems to be missing completely like it was never there before. When I put in some food this morning I noticed a work in the tank... It vanished before I could take a picture of it.

I googled some images and I think its a bristle worm.. or so I want to think!

Any thoughts if these guys can kill a fish?

they only eat dead things
chances are your firefish didn't make it and the bristle worm was eating the body

If its a new addition, the firefish may just be hiding in the rocks. I had one years ago and didn't see it for 3 days when after the first night.

Yeah thats what I thought too... but thank god the firefish was just hiding!

You hit it home!! It seems like the fire fish has decided to hide beneath the rock.

I was worried that the bristle worm might've had a twenty dollar feast.. but as soon as I put food in the tank, the fire fish decided to show up on the other side of the tank. and right when I turned off the lights, it went back to the hiding spot.

Any particular reason for this behavior?

Mine hides I have two fire fish and they hide anytime there is some out of the ordinary , they have one spot that they use it must be a survival instinct I guess ..... Although that instinct didn't serve my first guy well he decided to hide in a powerhead

Typical behavior of firefish ;) But they will eventually get used to and will spend more time outside.

Either that or it went carpet surfing...
Firefish are known for jumping. I've lost several due to them jumping when the lights turn on.

I have two purple firefish, they share a burrow (it might just be a space under a rock, I can't tell). One almost totally lost his little signalling dorsal fin when I first got him and it's not completely grown back so I can tell them apart, which is how I know that I sometimes go three entire days without seeing one of them. Usually around half way through the third day I'm convinced it's been eaten by a nem/jumped/died, then bam, day 4, there it is eating and swimming around looking totally normal. I think that's pretty normal behaviour for them.

+1 on them being good jumpers though, if you've got lights that come on or off suddenly you'll want to invest in a good cover if you don't have one already.

I lost my fire fish for almost a month in my first tank. I assumed he was dead then one day he decided it was time to be social.