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

[SushiGirl]

No problem. I've paid for those before! I was actually expecting a different snail that I've had as a hitchhiker before that looks similar but shaped a bit differently, I was surprised to see a bumblebee as a hitcher! They are omnivores, so they eat meat & algae. Keep any eye on them with your other snails and clams. I never had an issue the 4 years I had them, but it's usually brought up as a possible concern by the folks who sell them (such as LiveAquaria).

 

[Angel85]

So now we know what to look out for, what do you do to rid of the bad hitchhikers? "Search and destroy?" Or is there another forum that explains more? I want fiji live rock but not all of the bad hitchhikers I know it can carry... And to be honest, some of those things look creepy! How do you pick them out? Tweezers i assume? Lol.

 

[ReeferKimberly]

Any idea what this hitchhiking coral is? It's the pink bit on the "skeleton" of the coral. The nubbin is just new as of this week. The pink part has been growing steadily. Thoughts? (sorry my camera is so bad, best I could get) Any idea what it might be? Any kind of ideas....just something to go on. I am very new

 

[ReeferKimberly]

Manjo??

BIGGER

I think it's an orange ball anenome/strawberry anenome. I have at least 30 in my 10 gallon nano. They are suppossed to be like half coral/half anenome. They do not need a lot of light, they are nocturnal, they do not move like regular anenomes, they eat meat, and they turn more pink when they are exposed to light. They close up for the most part during the day UNLESS they are in a shady area. And as far as I know/have experienced, they are harmless but they do like to multiply. Not terribly quickly though Turn off all lights for a while, turn them on again and you should see extended tentacles with balls on the end. They don't get any bigger than about the size of a quarter.

 

[mlott132]

I found these on my latest batch of rock from my lfs. What are they?

See the three legs.

 

[TPSante]

What is this??? Can I keep him??


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[SushiGirl]

Stomatella, keep it!

 

[ReeferKimberly]

Sushigirl I am going through this thread one by one, thank you so much for all your wonderful info! I noticed in one of the first picture something I have in my tank, but it was not what the picture was about.

The thing I am wondering about is the little red thing that could be confused as seaweed (that's what I thought it was until I poked it and it shot back into it's hole). So now I think it must be some kind of worm. It's in this pic you posted....bottom middle, the maroon/red thing. Thank you guys so much! I am learning tons!

 

[SushiGirl]

The red in my pic is red grape caulerpa algae. If you can, get a pic of your red thing LOL.

 

[mtcoins123]

i sure see a lot of posts on pests .....(that would be hard to say three times fast) lol so my question is when i here things like "wish i could have started with dead rock" or "cook all the life out of my rock" isnt bio diversety more important to overall health of "a reef" than complete control?? i mean i understand frag tanks, small tanks with infestations etc but overall is it better to let some of the "not so good" life stay around i am all in favor of finding a predator for a problem rather than a medication i think its a better route imo ..... pretty soon my whole house will be a tank trying to replicate all the different aspects of a "balanced" reef lol

 

[SushiGirl]

This thread isn't just about pests, but any hitchhiker.
I personally like biodiversity, and I have never put a chemical in my tank to get rid of anything. We did buy a yellow coris wrasse to get rid of the pyram snails that were on our snails, and we had none after 2 months. We have red planaria flatworms, but have never had a plague of them, just see little clusters of them on the rock or glass here & there sometimes for a year now. Still have the tiny branching hydroids, and though I pulled out one of the other types of hydroid I noticed I missed two LOL. Biggest pest in our tank are the ball anemones, haven't managed to get rid of those yet using lemon juice or kalk (does that qualify as a chemical for removal? LOL).

Personally, I think people overreact to things they consider pests (or even algae) that are actually quite natural and usually just a stage in the life of the tank. Of course some react appropriately, such as those that find gorilla crabs or eunicid worms killing their livestock, but threads where people ditch their tanks or start over because of cyano or algae or dinos I just don't understand. We had dinos a year ago & got rid of them in 2 months without freaking out or using chemicals.

 

[mlott132]

I found these on my latest batch of rock from my lfs. What are they?

See the three legs.

Any ideas as to what these are? I think that the bottom picture is of a small brittle star but unsure on the others.

 

[SushiGirl]

I'm not that great on coral ID so I was hoping someone else would answer LOL.
2nd looks like maybe star polyps but I don't see a mat. Perhaps daisy polyps.

On the first pic, are all of the "polyps" coming from the open ends of the skeleton? I see 2 that look like they are, but can't tell on the rest. They look suspiciously like majano anemones, so if they're not actually growing from the skeleton, rather than just on it in random places, I'd guess majano.

I don't see 3 legs, but if you do then probably mini brittle star. There should be a few pics in this thread of them for you to go by.

 

[ReeferKimberly]

Sushigirl my camera is too terrible to get that close....but whatever it is looks exactly like the red thing in that pic, except it shoots into it's hole when provoked.

mlott in the last picture do you mean crab legs? I see crab legs poking out. If they belong to a crab with black pinchers it's a black finger crab. Does it have hairy legs? I don't think they are particularly reef-safe. I have a black finger but he never comes out during the day and I have never seen him more than a few inches from his hideout. I just feed him and he doesn't seem to be messing with my corals.

 

[mlott132]

I'm not that great on coral ID so I was hoping someone else would answer LOL.
2nd looks like maybe star polyps but I don't see a mat. Perhaps daisy polyps.

On the first pic, are all of the "polyps" coming from the open ends of the skeleton? I see 2 that look like they are, but can't tell on the rest. They look suspiciously like majano anemones, so if they're not actually growing from the skeleton, rather than just on it in random places, I'd guess majano.
Some of them are but other not. They seem to move around that rock.

I don't see 3 legs, but if you do then probably mini brittle star. There should be a few pics in this thread of them for you to go by.
I think it is. Looks like the other I found in the tank

mlott in the last picture do you mean crab legs? I see crab legs poking out. If they belong to a crab with black pinchers it's a black finger crab. Does it have hairy legs? I don't think they are particularly reef-safe. I have a black finger but he never comes out during the day and I have never seen him more than a few inches from his hideout. I just feed him and he doesn't seem to be messing with my corals.

No harry legs. Look either whit or tan with dark stripes. They alway come out the same holes in the rock. Think it is a star.

Hope someone can help ID the coral. Curious as to what it is.

 

[ReeferKimberly]

mlott, is that what you mean? I just guessed crab cuz it looked like legs. But it could be a trick of the light and just be the shape of the rock.

 

[SushiGirl]

mlott, moving around sounds like majanos, and they look just like them. google it to double-check. Not good to have.

 

[ReeferKimberly]

Do majanos sting corals bad? I read some people like them. I think they are pretty and was asking about them (before I got my corals mind you). I have all kinds of corals now, would those majanos be just as bad as aptasia? My friend has a big one that he says he has had for a long time in his reef (with corals). It is the biggest one I have seen, maybe siver dollar size and it's so pretty, he said it's been fine for at least a year....

mlott If you are gonna throw away that rock with all the majanos, give it to me first! ;D (well, depending on the more I learn about them)

 

[SushiGirl]

Yes, they sting. Some corals have better defense than others.

 

[mlott132]

mlott, is that what you mean? I just guessed crab cuz it looked like legs. But it could be a trick of the light and just be the shape of the rock.

Yes, that is what I was asking about.

mlott, moving around sounds like majanos, and they look just like them. google it to double-check. Not good to have.

I did google majanos and it does look like them. Since I do not have any other corals in the tank would it be ok to keep these? If so, is there any special care needed?