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(Edited: the bristle worm is no longer living in the coral. The hole is my primary concern now. It appears to have grown over the 14 days I've had the coral, and the last two days the polyps have been tightly closed. The first photo is from day one, the second is from day 12.) I got my first coral, a quarter-sized GSP frag at a swap last week. It looks... okay. I didn't dip it before adding (I know, I know) and only about half to 1/3 of the polyps will extend. Upon getting the frag home, I immediately saw a bright orange bristle worm curl up inside the coral. There's a raw hole through the coral's purple 'flesh', and I don't know what to do. In the pictures (sorry they're so blurry!) you can see the orange worm hiding inside the hole, and then crawling across the GSP. Did the worm eat its way into the coral? I'm pretty confident this isn't a bearded fireworm so I'm leaning away from that idea. However, the hole looks like it's growing 😬 Did the coral start to die back first, and then the worm moved in? Is the worm irritating the coral, causing the polyps to stay closed? Making the hole bigger? Ultimately I wonder, should I remove the worm? Is my coral dying regardless of the worm? I'm also a complete novice when it comes to coral care, so maybe the GSP is just taking a long time to acclimate. My water is: 0,0,0, 80F, 1.025, 7-8dKh, calcium 480, mag 1320, and phosphate is undetectable with my API test. Any advice would be great! Thanks 🙂

Hay reefers! Can anyone help identify this? I know it's a bristleworm but can't tell if it's a goodie or a baddie? Second is should I remove it, it doesn't seem to be causing any damage to corals or tank mates. I ask as some of the other BW's in the tank look similar but not as red/pink?

So, I've seen this guy quite a bit over the past month or so, and he's been growing pretty quickly. Bristle worms don't usually bother me, and I know that it's sorta common to freak out over them, but he's getting pretty big. Is this a valuable CUC member, or will he turn into a menace? So far, no damage has been done, to my knowledge. The picture isn't stellar, but it's what I could get with the lights off without scaring him away. Also, excuse the algae!

i found this worm its really tiny about less than 2 inches which is too small right now to cause much harm so i will ask now i uploaded a photo its mostly grey-black with a bit of a grey-orange stripe what is it? should i remove it? and what should i do if i need to remove it? and is it safe with inverts?