You're probably sick of my posts lol but I have another question.

I bought some live rock for my 30 gallon. I bought some putty for it to cement i into a shape I like. I set it up in a nice neat little pile to figure out the best way to make it look. Then I thought "Hmm that rock looks stupid there." So I move it and this creepy caterpillar thing comes out of a hole and walks across the rock I grabbed. It's like 3-4 inches long! I have no idea how it hid and I never saw it before. I grabbed my camera as fast as I could and got a couple of pics before it hid in a shadow. So please tell me if you can, what the heck is this? Never seen anything in a shop like this o.O

Sorry for the quality I didn't have time to change modes on the camera.

look up 'bristle worm'. it could be that.. they're kinda ugly but not necessarily bad for your aquarium.

as long as its not a "bobbit worm".. nasty! lol

well here's a couple of better pics it came out again and looks longer. this time it was up to 7 inches long and it's tail was still in the hole...

Melevsreef.com - Bristleworm
Looks like a bristelworm

ugh there's 2 of them... I dropped an algae waffer inside and they came out and went straight for it

they're not bad, but they are ugly.. you can get an arrow crab and it may eat them.. or you can take them out and let them die

wont it kill the live rock too?

no they just eat the left over stuff from fish and feeding

i tried grabbing one with tongs and it slid out. those things are nasty... now I'm walking around looking for spiders and stuff they have me so creeped out lmao. I'm a wuss I guess

I grabbed one with my tongs and it ripped in half >.< those things are bleeders

wicked.. maybe get a long glass and put some of that food you used in it to see if you can catch it when its in there..

Ugh I found an aiptasia in the process... I wanted to get a cleaner shrimp eventually but guess I'm stuck with a peppermint shrimp now. This rock sucks. That's what i get for using craigslist

peppermint shrimp are only a few dollars.. i got mine for 6 and i've seen them for as low as 4.. so not a big wallet drain. Yes, that is the problem with getting live rock from others' tanks.

it isnt the money its that i read shrimp dont get along with other shrimp. I dumped out all of the live rock and got some new rock... Sucks I wasted 70 bucks, live and learn. This new rock is much nicer though lol. Luckily this guy I know had a leak in his sump and needed to dump his rock o.O what timing! So all the worm/aiptasia rock is gone for good

*ahem* well.. to be sure you got rid of the worms, uhm.. you'll have to sift through the gravel. They do burrow. Sorry.
If you still want to use that rock you have, you can drop it in some fresh water for a several-teen mins being sure to knock it around and swish it. That'll kill a lot of the bad stuff on there including the worms. You can also keep it outside for a week or so and let it dry off and the stuff will die. Unfortunately, you'll have to cure the rock again. But you'll be able to use it as more rock for bio-filtration and hiding places. You can do this in a bucket with a powerhead or air bubbler for a few weeks in salt water then add it to your tank. So its not necessarily a total loss. You can also resell it after you cure it again.
The peppermint shrimp i had in my tank got along fine with a coral banded and a cleaner shrimp. Of course, they were all about the same size. but its only a 20 gallon. Unfortunately, it must have eaten something bad because it killed over one day. Was a bad day for my tank though. So i'll be picking up another one. Be careful to take everything you hear about the behavior of fish and inverts in your tank. Some have worse/better behavior because, just like humans, each one has its own personality but tend to have certain behaviors more than others would. Lots of people keep peppermint shrimp and other shrimp in the same tank with no problems.

Oh, and you need to get the shrimp early so it can eat the anemones before they get too big for it.

Be careful touching them, those filaments get stuck in your skin and are horrible.
To remove them if you get pricked, put some pvc glue over the affected area, let it dry, and peel it off.

Phys: I have the old rock outside right now. I did sift through the sand and it made a horrible cloud but I didn't find anything luckily. I'm sorry to hear about your shrimp. Do they have long life spans?

When I was pulling out the old rock an aiptasia released itself and was floating down. I snatched that thing up quick with a net but it was kinda funny to watch.

Media: The ones on the worms? I wasn't about to use my hands on those lol. They're nasty! I used some tough steel tongs. The worms hid in their holes and I pulled out the rock. Now I will "kill" the rock so to speak and like phys said I will recycle it and keep some, sell some and it wont be a total loss.