chiton question

[mhills16]

i bought some chitons and was wondering if they released any toxins when they are stressed out? thanks, mike

 

[greenbean36191]

no

 

[mhills16]

well, do you acclimate them like anything else or do they require special attention?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

yes and no.
what kind of chitons did you purchase... how big are they?

 

[mhills16]

they are pretty big, dont know for sure the species but they are algae eaters.

 

[mhills16]

the reason i aksed is because after i added my order from reef cleaners my fish , well, a couple started acting funny, maybe they just got stressed out becasue i was in there some, but, i have had my skimmer turned off for 2 days because i am treating for ick, but, i turned it back on becasue i think my oxygen was getting low. i have a 110 gallon tank, and all my perimeters are perfect. so, i think the skimmer turned off maybe made the oxygen level go down, it produces alot of oxygen in itself!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

any chance of posting a pic of your critter?
I have Chitons but I've never seen them offered for sale.
Is it a Cryptoplax by chance?
(a Google image search will show pix of Chitons)

 

[mhills16]

possibly, it is very hard to tell, they came attached to each other and havent moved, they are still stressed out, so i turned all the lights out to settle them down, go to reefcleaners.org, they have them for sale

 

[mhills16]

it is a fuzzy chiton

 

[mhills16]

update on that, reefcleaners.org is the only online source available for these! so, that maybe the reason you have never seen them!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

thanks

 

[mhills16]

they finally moved around, two of them are huge!! they look pretty neat!

 

[Sk8r]

Inland Aquatics also sells chitons.

I'm interested in their tank behavior...are they safe with sps corals and the like?

What sorts of commonly found algaes are they apt to eat? How serious their destruction of coralline, etc. I've heard they eat diatoms and may eat cyano---true? And will these rascals nosh on caulerpa?

 

[mhills16]

i hope some one can shed some light on your questions, i am not an expert... i do know that they are reef safe , completely, the ones for sale at reefcleaners.org, some one else will have to shed some light on the other questions

 

[wetjet43]

I have a chiton too. I got it about a week ago as a hitchhiker on my live rock. It's been hiding in a hole in the live rock for a week and hasn't moved. My water quality is pretty good too for being such a new tank setup. I'm sure he's just grouchy from me forcing him to move so he wouldn't get crushed by the live rock.

See this thread for my chiton:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1444272

 

[mhills16]

nice! that is another species, not the same as what they sell at reefcleaners.org, do you know what kind yours is?