Bristle worm

I just came into a close encounter with a bristle worm while cleaning my tank.it is the small, about 1 inch long and the size of a string. I haven't added anything new for around 2 weeks and never have noticed it so I don't know where it came from. My major concern is that my tank may be over run with them, and I only have a 5 gallon aquarium so that seems disasterous. How will they affect my corals/ inverts? Should I try to remove it? What do you guys think? I'll try to upload a picture when it shows himself again. Thanks
Jayson

 

Bristleworms are fine. They won't hurt anything. They are good detritus feeders/cleaners. The more the merrier I say

They are one of the most common hitch-hikers, and like many hitch-hikers, you won't necessarily see them straight away.

 

As ryan said don't stress, they ate detrtus feeders, so the only way you will have a population explosion is if you over feed your tank
You will rarely see them to as they are nocturnal, ive got two over a foot long without dramas.

 

OK that's good to hear, but is there a size when they get bigger that I should take them out?

 

No, not really.
Bristleworms typically only get a couple of inches long. Fire worms on the other hand, can get to a foot long.

Both are generally ok, but fireworms are known to take the odd snail/ornamental shrimp. Bristleworms are typically quite thin, fireworms are thicker around the body.