Salt Water Aquarium Tips and Tutorials

what is the centipede looking thing in my salt water fish tank?

i have a 30 gallon salt water tank with live rock and i just noticed something living in there that looks like a centipede. i only saw it a couple times because when i walk up to the tank it hides. ive had the tank for a few months and never noticed it before. its about an inch long and a pinkish redish.

It’s definitely not brine shrimp; don’t listen to the person who said that. Brine shrimp don’t "hide" from people; they float around aimlessly like specks of dust in a sunbeam. It’s more likely that that’s a saltwater crustacean or shrimp of some kind. It probably came with your live rock. Try this fish identifying website or post a picture of it as an additional detail on your question.

Identifier website: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=497

How hard is it to take care of salt water fish tank verses a fresh water fish tank?

July 27th, 2009 at 9:43 pm


6 Responses to “what is the centipede looking thing in my salt water fish tank?”

  1. kerry m Says:

    it might be a bristle worm some hobbist see them, as pest and some see them as a helpful
    References :

  2. Samuel B Says:

    could it possibly be brine shrimp?
    References :

  3. BIGgourami Says:

    pinkish red? i was going to say it was maybe a cope/isopod, but the color would be way off (they are kinda greyish tan) but a bristleworm sounds pretty accurate… they are usually red or pinkish
    References :

  4. oekaki2003 Says:

    It’s definitely not brine shrimp; don’t listen to the person who said that. Brine shrimp don’t "hide" from people; they float around aimlessly like specks of dust in a sunbeam. It’s more likely that that’s a saltwater crustacean or shrimp of some kind. It probably came with your live rock. Try this fish identifying website or post a picture of it as an additional detail on your question.

    Identifier website: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=497

  5. Jessie Says:

    That is the beautiful thing about live rock one day something that wasn’t there has been there all along, It probably came in on the LR, can you post a picture of it?

    bristleworm perhaps?
    http://4glenns.us/fish/images/bristleworm2.jpg
    References :

  6. jtrusnik Says:

    It’s a bristle worm.

    They live in the rock and, yes, they tend to hide almost all the time.

    There was a long-standing belief that they attack and eat fish. This is untrue. Rather, when the fish die, they’ll eat the body. Overall, they’re pretty harmless.
    References :

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