Can bristle worms be harmful

[daniella3d]

They are beneficial for removing left over food, however they can be harmfull in many ways.

1. you accidentaly toutch it and get bristle in your fingers

2. they can go into clam and harm them

3. today my copperband picked at the food in the liverock and there was a bristle worm in with the food and the fish now has a bunch of bristles in his mouth

4. if you put food for a slow eater like a mandarin or a copperband these worms can come out of nowhere and eat everything before the fish has the time to eat.

I get bristles in my fingers so often, about one to two times per week. I put liquid skin on it and they melt so not really bad as it does not hurt one bit but it's anoying. Once I had hundreds of bristle in 3 of my fingers, including my thumb so I could not use that hand for about 30 minutes until the liquid skin managed to melt them, then I can peal them off. I have read that vinegar also melt the bristles. I leave the small ones and remove the large ones.

Originally Posted by Jfish

I know that generally bristle worms are good for reef systems or at least not all that harmful. However I was feeding my open brain coral this morning with my little led flashlight. At first all was good and checked back a few minutes later to see how it was making out. Noticed a really big long birstle worm, it had one end attached to a ledge about six inches above my brain and the other end sweeping across the sand heading towards the brain. The bristle worm must have been at least eight inches long. At what point should I think about trying to get him out?