Seahorses and other inhabitants

Question
QUESTION: I have been keeping sawhorses in a tank for about a year not. I had two in there but one died about a week ago (due to old age I think. Have had them for over a year now). I seem to be having a problem with Sand Worms. They are all over the bottom of the tank. I have tried water changes to get rid of them and they are still there. Do you know how to get rid of them because when something dies there they eat it and all i am left with is the skeleton.
ANSWER: surely its good that they eat dead things? otherwise thy would rot in your tank and contaminate your water.

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QUESTION: Ya it is good but i think that they also ate my seastar that I just put in there. I only have 1 seahorse now and i found the seastar the next day all eaten with sand worms all over the place. Also they are starting to eat my snails.
ANSWER: when you say sand worms, do you mean bristle worms? fire worms? something similar?

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QUESTION: I think that they are sand worms. they are brownish red and look like centapeads. They came with the live rock that I bought a while back.
ANSWER: if they are half red and half black/grey and have spines all over them, they are bristle worms, not a bad worm to have. there is 1 way to cut the numbers and thats not to overfeed your sea horse. they will multiply if there is an abundance of food in the tank. i have some bristle worms and they have never eaten my snails???? makes me think they may be fire worms you have.

try and ID them on google



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QUESTION: they are bristle worns. thank you for your help

Answer
no worries. what ever you do don't touch them if you can avoid it, their spines get stuck in your skin and irritate like you wouldn't beleive.

if you are worried about their numbers you can syphon them out, just try and leave as much sand in there as possible.