got first shipment

[libmo]

Thanks Richard! Got my first half yesterday. Everything looks great!! Stayed up late looking thru things to see what was still moving around in the bags after rock and sand were in tanks. Even after 3-4 hours I still found another small star fish and crab. The biggest question I have so far is, there are a couple of large approximately 1 1/2" diameter by 4" long yellow things on two of the rocks. They look similar to a cactus the way they branch out. I assume they are some type of sponge. Are these the kind that have a good chance of surviving or do I need to get rid of them? One of them about 1/3 of the way from the top is almost broken in two.

I have found at least 7 star fish so far, the smallest is about 1/4" diameter and the largest brittle star is about 3" diameter. 7 very small crabs, I think they all have 8 legs behind the 2 front larger legs. So they are probably all the bad ones. There are numerous things opening on the rocks and sweeping something out into the water and then right back in the shell.

Thanks again!!

Can't wait until I can get the 2nd shipment!!

 

[Slatts]

Welcome to the wonderful world of TBS. First rule is sleep. You can stay up all night watching it the first couple of nights but after that you will need to sleep. As for the sponges Richard says let your nose be your guide. Good Luck and enjoy.

 

[we_want_Nemo]

If you go to TBS.com they have a new site, which have some pics of good and bad crabs.
Maybe you can identify some of them, until you get a chance to post some pics here.

welcome to TBS fan club
Manuela

 

[hdtran]

"good" crabs

"good" crabs

I'm enclosing a picture of a porcelain crab. This is a 'good' crab. It's a filter feeder. If you look real hard at the picture, this crab is actually waving some very pale yellow 'fans' in front of its mouth (also in front of the big scary looking claws). It can only feed on microplankton, and cannot eat macroalgae or corals.

Some folks claim that all other types of crabs are potentially 'bad' crabs (either outright bad, or can turn bad).

The easiest way to tell a porcelain crab from others is to count legs. Crabby-o-logists usually include the big claws as a set of legs, and say that all crabs have 5 pairs of legs (including big claws as the first pair). Porcelain crabs hide their last pair, so they only have 4 visible pairs of legs (3 sets behind the big claws). They hide their last pair of legs up their, umm, rear ends.

The guys opening up from the rocks & sweeping, if the opening looks like a bit of a cone, are very likely to be barnacles. I'm told that the sweeping fans (if barnacles) are actually the, umm, rear end (use the b--t word) of the barnacle.

 

[libmo]

Slatts -- I was only up til about midnight didn't have to get up this morning until 4:15

Manuela -- I will look at them again after work today. Some of them are very small.

hdtran -- I put all the crabs I found so far in a 2 1/2 gallon tank for the time being, I will check them out closer before I decide what to do with them. If they are barnacles is there anything I need to do to help keep them alive, anything special to feed them?

Thanks all for the welcome and suggestions!!!

libmo

 

[hdtran]

Libmo,

Don't worry about your barnacles, they'll eat debris coming off your rocks & sand for a long time. Once your tank is all settled (with both parts, cycled, and fish added), you can think about adding DT's once in a while to feed your clams, feather dusters, and barnacles.

If the yellow and orange (look like miniature saguaro cactus) begin to recede, showing a mesh-like skeleton behind, you can assume that they are dying sponges, and remove them (especially if your nose is any good--mine isn't).

 

[libmo]

hdtran,

Thank you very much for the advice!! I just read another post where you told them the same thing about when to start using DT's.

I really appreciate having people like you here on reefcentral, who have a lot more experience in this hobby than I do. Especially when they are willing to take the time to help someone who still is fairly new to the hobby.

libmo

 

[Slatts]

Amen to that.

 

[libmo]

After 3 days still noticing new stuff. Does anyone have any idea what the following are. Sorry I don't have any pictures. I will try to find my wifes camera and then I will have to learn how to post a picture.

I have seen 5 or 6 small almost perfectly clear things that look like anemones. They are a little smaller than a dime.

There also is a small opening that has about 6 black things sticking out about 1/4". They are about the thickness of a human hair, but definitely something alive. They kind of sway around in the water and move in and out. Since I noticed it it has never gone completely back inside the hole.