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

[Wsantos]

I need to ID this Critter.. Help!!

I need to ID this Critter.. Help!!

Hello all, this is my 4th post in different Forums about this critter that came in my live rocks..

I need some help identifying this critter.......

 

[SushiGirl]

Much better pic. Looks like aiptasia.

 

[Wsantos]

Much better pic. Looks like aiptasia.

This has a suction bottom like a leech...

 

[GroktheCube]

This has a suction bottom like a leech...

All anemones do. They can move.

 

[BretCreager]

a few for the id please list...

a few for the id please list...

So im about a week and a half into my cycle, I already have had to get rid of 2 of my live rocks do to a bad outbreak of caulerpa algae. here are some things that i have seen pop up or grow (in the case of the two things that look like a coral to me) any help on what they are and whether they are desirable or a problem would be great. also anything else that catches your eye. the ID posts are so vast and many that searching them is just about a full time job.

thanks everyone!

(one more pic to follow)

 

[BretCreager]

and one more...

 

[SushiGirl]

Pic 1, some kind of algae. Really hard to ID young algae.
Pic 2, I think some kind of coral, closer pic would help though I'm not great with coral ID.
Pic 3, looks like a sun coral. The red on the left looks like pipe organ coral skeleton.
Pic 4, hard to tell, definitely algae, maybe halimeda. And some more pipe organ skeleton.
Pic 5, the sun coral again, and the other is too far/small to tell. Could be feather duster, hydroid, or aiptasia. Closer pic would help.
Pic 6, both look like algae.

 

[BillyBigReef]

I try and Google or search forum before I ask. Make sure your logging with a diary or something.... It's an every day task for me to find something new.

 

[BretCreager]

yea i have tried. but like sushi girl said, very hard to ID when things are small. and if someone that has been IDing things for the last almost 2 years in this one thread alone, me going out againt google and the infinite IDs, both good and bad information, I just have to give in and make a post.

my biggest fear is letting something bad go too long while I try to find it on my own and have more of a problem then I would have a few days ago.

Thanks for the ID's

 

[SushiGirl]

Google is a huge pain with young algae ID. I usually watch them until they seem to be looking like something other than a sprout, then I take a pic & pull them out LOL.

In young tanks I've had lots and lots of little sprouts show up then disappear. I had some cool tiny ones in the 20 that kept showing up with a little round thing on top, then they'd die. A couple months later I never see them anymore. IMO there are tons of algae on live rock & when it gets in the tank it tries to grow but finds conditions lacking and just disappears.

To me, too long is when it turns into a "patch," then it's hard to pull and get rid of because it has a foothold. I do pull sprouts sometimes, but usually not just one, it has to be like 3 or more. That's just me, though. If you want to pull single sprouts go for it. I just like to see what they may look like before I do it, but I'm weird. :lol:

Oh, and if that red is wiry, pull it. I always pull red or green wiry algae as soon as I see it because any kind of "turf" algae is impossible for me to get rid of.

 

[Wsantos]

So is this aiptasia?? And more answers guys?

 

[SushiGirl]

Yes, it's aiptasia.

 

[BillyBigReef]

I agree it can become overwhelming. I have lots of time to spend researching in the evenings. I'm new at the saltwater gig so I'm reading about anything I find or need. I'm also super addicted to it now so that helps.

 

[BretCreager]

ok so, the red thing is an aiptasia and should be pulled. as for the rest i can leave it alone for now and see what happens?

 

[BretCreager]

Oh never mind, mixed a previous post with mine.

 

[johanasu]

One variety of hydroid. There's a huge variety of hydroids & they don't all look alike. This kind turned into the little jellyfish shown.
View attachment 167451

Were/are these a problem?

 

[SushiGirl]

They boomed really bad for a while, then the jellyfish slowed down but the hydroids were everywhere. Everything avoided the jellyfish. Every time one touched me I didn't feel it but it left a little red mark LOL.

 

[texasbug]

Can anyone ID this critter? I'm assuming it's some type of mollusk/bivalve. Wasn't sure it was alive until last night when I saw it completely closed up. Here's a close up and one that shows more of the whole rock he's on. Came on a piece of aquacultured LR from the Gulf of Mexico:

also noticed this limpet for the first time yesterday:

unidentified snail:

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Your first picture is missing, a close up of the bivavle in question would be good. They are all harmless filter feeders.

The limpet is a harmless grazer.

The snail looks to be some type of whelk. Most of the whelks are predatory so I'd remove it.

 

[texasbug]

that's weird...I can see 4 pics when I look at the post.

If the whelk is predatory, he's made it 4 weeks without killing anything. May wait and see on that one.

Thanks.