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

[cloak]

Any idea on how he got there?

It just hitchhiked a ride in from somewhere, plain & simple.

http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker/hitchhiker.shtml

 

[Dtip]

Search for pineapple sponge. Generally, anything that's large, white, stationary over days, but without tentacles or complex structure is 9/10 going to be a sponge. They often don't last long term in smaller home systems, sadly, but they are definitely neat looking.

 

[Dtip]

So, amphipod question. I have what I feel like is a pretty standard variety of multilegged amphipod, but this particular crop does something I've never seen before. Namely, the pods on the glass seem to release these long, long strings from their back end (easily 10x as long as the pod itself. When I first saw it, I thought it was just hair algae that happened to have attached to the pod, but I've started seeing it too often and at too many varying lengths for that to be the case.

So... are these strings of eggs? weird parasites on pods? Amphipods that can grow one enormous leg? I've tried googling but so far have come up with no answers as to what this phenomenon could actually be.

 

[RandoReefer]

A standard bristleworm?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

A standard bristleworm?

Yes, quite beneficial.

 

[avijay23]

Thanks. Guess I'll have crab for dinner.

Do you guys keep any emerald crabs in your main display? I have one and so far he's been good. Any bad experiences with them?

I had an aggressive one and searched RC to educate myself. Emerald crabs are generally safe but as they get bigger they can be a problem. Can be pretty hard to catch as well. I wouldn't get another one of those.

 

[justinr2k]

I had an aggressive one and searched RC to educate myself. Emerald crabs are generally safe but as they get bigger they can be a problem. Can be pretty hard to catch as well. I wouldn't get another one of those.

Thanks. Mine is pretty good/tame. He comes out and looks at me all the time. He's not afraid of me. He also leaves the fish/corals alone as far as I can tell. He never comes near my hand when it's in the tank, but doesn't shy from it either. I've had a few but they have all died except for him.

 

[agranoff]

Snail Looking Thing

Snail Looking Thing

Can anyone help identify and tell me if this thing is bad? See attached photos. Photos are bad, sorry - its tough to photograph but it when it moves it looks like a snail without a shell.

It has the same antennae / feelers as a snail. It does look like it has a thin shell but not a thick snail shell.

I've recently had a monti digi which looked liked it was attacked by a pest so wondering if this thing is the reason.

Thanks for any input or suggestions.

 

[avijay23]

Thanks. Mine is pretty good/tame. He comes out and looks at me all the time. He's not afraid of me. He also leaves the fish/corals alone as far as I can tell. He never comes near my hand when it's in the tank, but doesn't shy from it either. I've had a few but they have all died except for him.

Good luck. If they have enough algae around, they'll likely leave the other stuff alone. Mine was a good size about 1inch body size. I suspect the smaller ones are fine and when they get bigger they start looking for other food. That's just my wild untested theory...
Vijay

 

[ReeferKimberly]

Can anyone help identify and tell me if this thing is bad? See attached photos. Photos are bad, sorry - its tough to photograph but it when it moves it looks like a snail without a shell.

It has the same antennae / feelers as a snail. It does look like it has a thin shell but not a thick snail shell.

I've recently had a monti digi which looked liked it was attacked by a pest so wondering if this thing is the reason.

Thanks for any input or suggestions.

From description it sounds like a stomatella snail, which are harmless and beneficial. The pics are weird though, as if maybe only the shield shell is pictured. You should google stomatella snail and compare

 

[agranoff]

Thanks for the reply. I think it might be a stomatella. It looks similar. I tried catching it the other day but it moved quick. I will leave it alone for now since it sounds like it is a good thing.

 

[Tannygirl]

New friend or foe?

New friend or foe?

Found a couple of new things in our tank, though they where new coral things growing but now not sure, please can you tell me they good or bad.

 

[Tannygirl]

Pic 2
Found a couple of new things in our tank, though they where new coral things growing but now not sure, please can you tell me they good or bad.

 

[cloak]

Pic 2
Found a couple of new things in our tank, though they where new coral things growing but now not sure, please can you tell me they good or bad.

It looks like hydroids in picture #2. :thumbdown

Picture #1, clove polyps perhaps? Something along these lines anyways. (see link below)

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+599+1604&pcatid=1604

 

[RalphTheOscar]

Couldnt get a good photo of this guy. He was the length of a fingernail, pink/peach looking color. One end of his body was like a clear white color? In my bad photo you can see the white part of his body towards the top of the tank. He was swimming all over the place and would stop at my live rock like he was trying to burrow and then was swimming again and he made it into my filter..

 

[cloak]

Polychaete epitoke?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Polychaete epitoke?

That's what I'd say too.

 

[RalphTheOscar]

Are those good or bad, and because he went into my filter will he die?

 

[Cdogsailr]

Since it's now disappeared into your filter I would classify it in the genus "toast"!

 

[h2pvnus]

What pods or bugs are they. Harmless or bad. Thank