I have no clue what this is and I'm not sure if they have killed 2 of my fish???

[tom's_tank]

I was just cleaning out my filter sock and I found around 4 of these things I don't know what they are, where they are in my tank or how they got in there? But looking at their spikes I might come to an assumption they killed 2 of my fish a lawnmower blenny and a cleaner wrasse. Both of the fish (they weren't in the tank together one died before the other) went into their sleeping hole in a rock and then never came out again in the morning. I went through all of the rocks and rinsed them out to try and find their bodies to remove them but nothing was there? Can someone help what ever these are and why my fish might have died????

 

[SeaworthyAquatics]

Looks like a bristle worm. Harmless and good scavengers, though some types can sting you. I'd suspect something else happened to the fish. How were the fish acting before they vanished? Any itching, heavy breathing, swimming oddly or anything like that?

 

[tom's_tank]

No nothing the cleaner wrasse was swimming around at the front of the tank looking perfectly normal and was eating well and the blenny was grazing and swimming with ease through many different hiding holes he found. So its a bristle worm?

 

[MaxTremors]

Completely harmless, if beneficial bristle worm. Definitely not what killed your fish.

 

[Gtinnel]

It looks like a tiny, or possibly a piece of a bristleworm to me also. You will likely start seeing a lot more of them in your tank.
Also, agree there is no chance it killed your fish.

 

[tom's_tank]

Ok cool thanks guys. I went to my LFS and they said that some bristle worms have on some occasions attacked fish. But do any of you have any idea what killed the fish as well?

 

[Aiptaisia anemone]

Ok cool thanks guys. I went to my LFS and they said that some bristle worms have on some occasions attacked fish. But do any of you have any idea what killed the fish as well?

A different species of bristle worm will attack a fish but those are called fire red bris worm and bobbit worm, both are huge compared to normal bristle worm, a regular bristle worm cant possibly harm any fish, fish are the ones that eat them. fire red brisket worm has broad body with fire red coloration and white bristles, bobbit worm pretty much looks like an alien, they have huge fanged mouth and have beautiful metallic coloration.

 

[Gtinnel]

There are certain fireworms, which are a specific type of bristleworm, that may kill fish but that is not what you have in the picture. As for what did kill your fish I have no idea, how old is your tank and what are your parameters, were the fish quarantined and propylactically treated for any disease/parasites, how long did you have the fish and how were they acclimated?

 

[threebuoys]

Ok cool thanks guys. I went to my LFS and they said that some bristle worms have on some occasions attacked fish. But do any of you have any idea what killed the fish as well?

Since you never found the wrasse or blenny, perhaps they unbeknownst jumped out of the tank? I had that happen with these species. I had egg crate on top of the tank, but the openings are too large to stop jumpers. Once on the floor, these fish dry up next to nothing. My dog ate at least one of the dried bodies. My guess is the same fate for the other. I saw the other jump from the tank once and rescued it before it died. My bet is it jumped again when I wasn't looking.

 

[ying yang]

Ok cool thanks guys. I went to my LFS and they said that some bristle worms have on some occasions attacked fish. But do any of you have any idea what killed the fish as well?

Hi there ,from the information you gave,I don't think anyone can 100% say what killed your fish as could be 1 of 101 things.
Fish diesese
Fish parasites.
Some bad hitch hiker .
Old age
Bullying from other tank mates.
Starvation.
And the list goes on and on.
.others would need to know if you qt fish and how
How old tank is.
How long fish was in tank.
How fish was acting .
Any spots / marks.
Any signs if aggression.
Was they feeding and not just taking food then spitting It out as wrong food for them.
If a new tank is it cycled.
Seen any hitch hikers like crabs, pistol shrimps ,mantis shrimps, bobbit worms etc

But even if you give all this information it would only be guesses you would get as fish is dead now ( or maybe they good at hiding as some say thought fish was dead and all of a sudden months later they see it.

But if a diesese or parasite,it would be wise to look at the other fish and observe them and if any concerns show pictures or short video better ,then others can help diagnose if a diesese/ parasite in your tank or not.

I know doesnt help much what I say .

Good luck and hopefully dont have anymore fish deaths

 

[Gtinnel]

Hi there ,from the information you gave,I don't think anyone can 100% say what killed your fish as could be 1 of 101 things.
Fish diesese
Fish parasites.
Some bad hitch hiker .
Old age
Bullying from other tank mates.
Starvation.
And the list goes on and on.
.others would need to know if you qt fish and how
How old tank is.
How long fish was in tank.
How fish was acting .
Any spots / marks.
Any signs if aggression.
Was they feeding and not just taking food then spitting It out as wrong food for them.
If a new tank is it cycled.
Seen any hitch hikers like crabs, pistol shrimps ,mantis shrimps, bobbit worms etc

But even if you give all this information it would only be guesses you would get as fish is dead now ( or maybe they good at hiding as some say thought fish was dead and all of a sudden months later they see it.

But if a diesese or parasite,it would be wise to look at the other fish and observe them and if any concerns show pictures or short video better ,then others can help diagnose if a diesese/ parasite in your tank or not.

I know doesnt help much what I say .

Good luck and hopefully dont have anymore fish deaths

It may not be much help for the OPs question, but I couldn't agree more with this. Unless from obvious predation or disease most of the time when a fish dies we have no idea why it died.

Also, OP you mentioned the worms having spikes, but the reason for the worms having bristles is to try and keep them from being eaten. It is a defense mechanism and not used as a tool to attach with.

 

[Gargoyle]

A different species of bristle worm will attack a fish but those are called fire red bris worm and bobbit worm, both are huge compared to normal bristle worm, a regular bristle worm cant possibly harm any fish, fish are the ones that eat them. fire red brisket worm has broad body with fire red coloration and white bristles, bobbit worm pretty much looks like an alien, they have huge fanged mouth and have beautiful metallic coloration.

fire red brisket worm- Sounds tasty. I'd consider eating that.

 

[tom's_tank]

Yeah thanks everyone for the help my phosphate is a bit high and might be the reason for the deaths but yeah literaly everything was fine with the fish. They did start to slowly not come out of their holes each day until they just never came out. I'll try to get my parameters in check. Anyone know how to lower phosphate?

 

[Tamberav]

Yeah thanks everyone for the help my phosphate is a bit high and might be the reason for the deaths but yeah literaly everything was fine with the fish. They did start to slowly not come out of their holes each day until they just never came out. I'll try to get my parameters in check. Anyone know how to lower phosphate?

Not phosphate... won't harm fish. My guess is disease since they started hiding more. Fish from the ocean and bring the plague with them sometimes.