Fire worms.. Ouch

[Jeremy Brito]

So a few months back me and a friend noticed a few red fuzzy worms in,are tanks mostly appearing at night, at first we debated whether the worms,were Bristol worms or fire worms and then,we debated whether these worms served a purpose and where they good or bad for the tank. Unable to really draw a conclusion on anything about them we left them be as they didn't seem to be causing any noticeable issues..
A few days ago my marine betta some how found its way into the chamber on the back wall of my tank, I'm still clueless as to how he managed such a leap but I like to imagine it was something like the movie free willy when the orca jumps the jetty to freedom and nearly crushes the boy .. Back when orca where known for tricks and less killing,of there trainers but I'm getting off topic.
Anyways so I had to rescue the marine betta from the chamber to do so I had to drain,the chamber into the sump, in,the process dumping all of the sediment and contents into the filter sock... This caused the sock to clog and created a issue with excess water in the sump, with out looking I blindly reached into the filter sock to pull it out of its holder to clean it and it was at that time I felt a sharp burning pain similar to getting pricked by a cactus and having a sliver of glass stuck in my finger.
I quickly pulled my hand out to find hundreds of white hair like fibers inbedded in my hand and fingers, I instantly recognized them as the fuzz on the worms and it is at that time,I notices the dozens of inch long worms in the sock that had all dumped out of the chamber.

After painfully removing the barbs using glue and duct tape and then disposing of the worms I figured I'd put out a little watch what you touch warning. Cause as it stands now hours after the incident my hands still painful to the touch in,certain areas as I'm sure I didnt remove all the fibers completely.
Have any of you had similar experiences

 

[nightmarepl]

So a few months back me and a friend noticed a few red fuzzy worms in,are tanks mostly appearing at night, at first we debated whether the worms,were Bristol worms or fire worms and then,we debated whether these worms served a purpose and where they good or bad for the tank. Unable to really draw a conclusion on anything about them we left them be as they didn't seem to be causing any noticeable issues..
A few days ago my marine betta some how found its way into the chamber on the back wall of my tank, I'm still clueless as to how he managed such a leap but I like to imagine it was something like the movie free willy when the orca jumps the jetty to freedom and nearly crushes the boy .. Back when orca where known for tricks and less killing,of there trainers but I'm getting off topic.
Anyways so I had to rescue the marine betta from the chamber to do so I had to drain,the chamber into the sump, in,the process dumping all of the sediment and contents into the filter sock... This caused the sock to clog and created a issue with excess water in the sump, with out looking I blindly reached into the filter sock to pull it out of its holder to clean it and it was at that time I felt a sharp burning pain similar to getting pricked by a cactus and having a sliver of glass stuck in my finger.
I quickly pulled my hand out to find hundreds of white hair like fibers inbedded in my hand and fingers, I instantly recognized them as the fuzz on the worms and it is at that time,I notices the dozens of inch long worms in the sock that had all dumped out of the chamber.
View attachment 23521 View attachment 23522 View attachment 23523
After painfully removing the barbs using glue and duct tape and then disposing of the worms I figured I'd put out a little watch what you touch warning. Cause as it stands now hours after the incident my hands still painful to the touch in,certain areas as I'm sure I didnt remove all the fibers completely.
Have any of you had similar experiences

Wow. that looks intense personally i honestly reset my tank due to Bristol worms IMO their just gross and the tank can do with out them perfectly fine... i did dry rock i nuked everything in my tank through 2 different dips. before anything enters the tank i dip it QT it redip it again then back into the tank. i actually scanned my tank last week " 7 months running now " havent found a single worm yet bristle free the way i personally like it. and i dont really know why or how maybe just a bigger system? but my current tank grow is exploding in growth. just from putting my dunkin whisker into this one it grew 10 heads in 7 months

 

[diana a]

Never had that happen, and hopefully never. Hope you are feeling better today.

 

[DangerDave]

Well that’s no fun.

 

[deepblue68]

feel better and I will learn from your mishap.

 

[mnat]

We keep gardening gloves in the tank room, I have never gotten it this bad but we have both gotten a few bristles before and that is uncomfortable for a few days (we call it reefing fingers). When we know we are playing with certain things in the frag tanks or fuge, we put the gloves on.

 

[diana a]

Would those barbs penetrate two sets of surgical gloves?

 

[Sponge]

Wowzer I have them buggers in a little tank. Never touched one but I definitely want to remove them.

 

[amado]

I had bristle worms or fire worms I have no idea. I add a few wrasses all gone I have never seen another worm.

 

[Mark_C]

Ouch!

 

[Jeremy Brito]

**update**
A few days have gone by since I was initially stung by the worms and I wanted to show you guys the fun progress my finger has made

1st about 3 days after the sting My phones not the greatest for pictures but the areas where the stingers were are still red swollen and sore to the touch if I push on the skin there I can feel a sharp stabbyy sensation.

5days

Still sore not as swollen the area has started to feel hard and tough still painful and achey ive also noticed other areas that I didn't realise got stung originally.
Over all its not as bad but still a lesson learned the hard way.

I researched it a lot but came up with no real remedy so best case remove the stingers by applying glue to the site let the glue harden and peel off in a quick tug so it takes the stingers with it. I applied vinegar to the site. And monitored for infection. Keep it clean and dry.

 

[nightmarepl]

**update**
A few days have gone by since I was initially stung by the worms and I wanted to show you guys the fun progress my finger has made

1st about 3 days after the stingView attachment 23553 View attachment 23554My phones not the greatest for pictures but the areas where the stingers were are still red swollen and sore to the touch if I push on the skin there I can feel a sharp stabbyy sensation.

5days
View attachment 23555 View attachment 23556
Still sore not as swollen the area has started to feel hard and tough still painful and achey ive also noticed other areas that I didn't realise got stung originally.
Over all its not as bad but still a lesson learned the hard way.

I researched it a lot but came up with no real remedy so best case remove the stingers by applying glue to the site let the glue harden and peel off in a quick tug so it takes the stingers with it. I applied vinegar to the site. And monitored for infection. Keep it clean and dry.

could also try running a cotton ball through it few times see if it snags a stinker and try to rip out with tweezers same as a splinter id assume

 

[Jeremy Brito]

could also try running a cotton ball through it few times see if it snags a stinker and try to rip out with tweezers same as a splinter id assume

Only issue is these stingers are more like tiny fibers similar to a cactus, very tiny and very delicate most of what you see in the pictures are hundreds grouped together making,them visable.

My first thought was to try the tweezer idea but I think it made it worse most just broke apart leaving the rest in the skin

 

[nightmarepl]

Only issue is these stingers are more like tiny fibers similar to a cactus, very tiny and very delicate most of what you see in the pictures are hundreds grouped together making,them visable.

My first thought was to try the tweezer idea but I think it made it worse most just broke apart leaving the rest in the skin

ahh also true crazy stuff how nature finds defenses reason i personally dip literally everything

 

[Bricknick1127]

So my coworker warned me about these, he got lit up by one also. Supposedly their barbs are composed mostly of calcium, so when stung you can use white vinegar to neutralize the barbs and they actually dissolve in the vinegar. I found a huge one in my tank so I removed my live rock, that I had seen the monster fireworm living in and was told to soak the live rock in buring hot tap water. It instantly killed all the worm then I dug them out with a metal tipped syringe and long tweezers.