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

[Kingerfish76]

sorry forgot to mention my tank info i have 30g with clean up crew and 1 clown want a reef set aventualy just not ready for it yet


kingerfish

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

First pic is clove/daisy polyps. Second looks like a stretched out mushroom.

 

[sirbazz]

Sirbazz, hard to tell since the tentacles are all withdrawn. Got any pics with them out?

Mental note: Bow front tanks suck for taking pictures through them.

Well a week later and the critter moved so a spot where I could get a better picture of him/her. I haven't seen the tentacles extend more than this in the past week.

It also has made it's home directly opposite the powerhead in order to feed on vegetation that it can catch in the current.

This rotated pic shows it chomping on a bit of algae, (the long piece).

 

[SushiGirl]

Well, it definitely looks like some kind of anemone, just not sure if it's aiptasia or some other kind.

 

[sirbazz]

Well, it definitely looks like some kind of anemone, just not sure if it's aiptasia or some other kind.

Yeah we'll probably let it grow some more and hopefully have a better chance of ID'ing it down the track. It appears to be the only one in the tank and has made itself at home on the glass where it's easy to find so not too concerned about losing it in the rocks at least for now.

I'll post an update if it changes it's form or color in good time.

 

[WickedBlue28]

I've had some fish go missing. Do you think emerald crabs are to blame?

 

[Sk8r]

Not too likely, unless they're small gobies that like to sleep in the rocks. Mithrax are given to nipping fins for a little extra protein, but usually won't take a whole fish. I'd look more to alkalinity or other water quality issue, or disease. (Of course all fish except dragonets should be quarantined for 4 weeks before letting them into your display. What fish bring into a tank is a class of critter too small to see, but often lethal to the entire tank: velvet and ich and infections.) OTOH if they're gobies, they den and hide, and you may not see them for a month on end, then they'll be back, pert and happy.

 

[markalot]

Good snail?

 

[SushiGirl]

The snail would be a great question for PagoJoe, I have no idea.

 

[Master_Shake]

What about sea spiders? I have one that keeps getting sucked up in the filter. It lost a leg but has still been surviving and growing.

 

[SushiGirl]

What about sea spiders? I have one that keeps getting sucked up in the filter. It lost a leg but has still been surviving and growing.

I would remove it next time you see it if you're planning on keeping corals.

Sea Spiders, Pycnogonida

 

[FishheadJoe]

Do hydroids sting all types of coral? I believe I may have some of these mixed in a batch of zoas on one of my rocks. The zoas dont seem bothered by it though.

 

[SushiGirl]

I think some sting worse than others, and some corals may sting worse than the hydroids.

 

[Mr. Demeanor]

SushiGirl,
I got some great pics of this cirolanid isopod in found in my filter pad. Thought I would post them here for anyone looking for an ID on one of these. They are bad and attach to a fish feeding like a tick at night then drop off during the day. I have no fish now for quite some time so they can survive without a host. This one was about 1/2" long and they are VERY fast swimmers.

 

[SushiGirl]

Excellent help!

 

[Mr. Demeanor]

This one is for fun. Spot the large hitchhiker and Im not talking about the Christmas Tree worms. Its bigger and no answering if you read my other post where I pointed it out.

 

[SushiGirl]

I didn't comment on the other thread, but my comment was going to be "You win!" LOL

 

[Pauper]

Any idea what these green things are?

Any idea what these green things are?

Any idea what these green leafy things are? They seem pretty hard and have been growing everywhere. I figure I'll need to deal with them at the same time as my aiptasia. Thanks in advance.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Thank you SushiGirl

here are some pics of the possible skeleton shrimp isopod


Isopod1 by in his image, on Flickr

Head


Isopod head by in his image, on Flickr

Tail


Isopod tail by in his image, on Flickr


Isopod by in his image, on Flickr

So are these good or bad? I have them in my tank as well. I manage to catch them running all over my sand bed when the lights come on. They are concentrated in one area though.

 

[JDM_SOHC]

Im gonna try to catch a pic of what is hiding in my tank.. In one of my liverocks I got from my LFS there was this lil tiny 1/2" maybe green follicle looking thing, and occasionally it used to defecate or spit or something but I can never catch it on picture of video cuz its spontaneous it's not an all the time thing... Well that green thing is gone, and i'm watching my tank the other night, and from the same spot where that green thing once was, SPLATTTT it shot out some more of that stuff last night..!! It's almost like a small hole in the rock that its coming out of, but I never see any critters in there lol..!?!?!