Pix & ID: Critters that come in your rocks: the good and the bad.

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Well this is the 1st time I've seen it, but I was trying to look for some of the traits for a mantis but he really didn't look like one
 
I know I'm a terrible photographer but can anyone verify, is this an asterina starfish?

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good or bad? I found 3 of them crawling across my glass this morning after adding a couple pieces of live rock yesterday. My first true hitchhiker!
 
It sure does look like an asterina starfish. Some people consider them to be harmless, but I remove them on sight. I don't trust them. :thumbdown

 
This may be a funny question to ask... But how much work do these coral reefs actually take? I just took an hour and skimmed this entire thread; and as a 30 year old working two jobs trying to get ahead, with a wife and a kid on the way... this looks daunting! Is it blasphemy to say that freshwater looks less time consuming? Or if I started with some QT'd rock, or dry rock and starter piece from a known safe tank, would that be reliably safe? Orrrr, am I missing the point entirely? Is this all part of the fun and the hobby of a reef and fish?

Just asking and learning; it's my first post, but I'd love to make a step up from my freshwater setup I currently have, and I've been doing a lot of reading. It's a whole new world out here! Wow!

Name is Thomas by the way. Looks like a fun community here.
 
They are as much work as you make them, once dialed in they can run pretty smooth.

Way more daunting than a fresh though, for sure.

And the critters, for many, are all part of the fun :) I would never go dry rock....but everyone is different.

It can all go by your personal taste really, as far as taking risks of bad critters and how much work you want to put into the tank. It would be as easy for me to keep a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) as it would be any fresh, but a reef becomes more difficult. But again, it all depends. A soft coral tank is easier than a hard coral tank, just as easy as a lot of the fresh tanks I kept. And it also depends what kind of fresh you are comparing....a discus or planted tank is going to be more difficult than a guppy or African cichlid tank.
 
This may be a funny question to ask... But how much work do these coral reefs actually take? I just took an hour and skimmed this entire thread; and as a 30 year old working two jobs trying to get ahead, with a wife and a kid on the way... this looks daunting! Is it blasphemy to say that freshwater looks less time consuming? Or if I started with some QT'd rock, or dry rock and starter piece from a known safe tank, would that be reliably safe? Orrrr, am I missing the point entirely? Is this all part of the fun and the hobby of a reef and fish?

Just asking and learning; it's my first post, but I'd love to make a step up from my freshwater setup I currently have, and I've been doing a lot of reading. It's a whole new world out here! Wow!

Name is Thomas by the way. Looks like a fun community here.

A lot of work during the 1st year, and way more money than fresh water. If you're working 2 jobs to make ends meet & have a baby on the way, I'd recommend waiting until you're more stable in the finance & time areas. Plus it's way more addictive than freshwater & you'll end up with more and/or larger tanks (more $$$ LOL) or end up scrapping the entire thing if anything bad happens & you decide you want out (that happens a lot too). You never recoup the $$ put into this hobby. Very rewarding but at a price.
 
What are those? I have a pretty old tank (9 years) and they have been showing up lately and multiplying a lot.

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After six and a half weeks, which included a full cycle with >5ppm ammonia at one point, a clean-up crew, and (after quarantine) a tail spot blenny, today both of these things showed up in the tank, presumably hitchhiked on the live rock I bought.

This seems to be some sort of sea star?
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And this is ... some sort of bristle worm?
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Clearer shot?
14+-+1



Either of these things I should worry about?
 
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