All these things suppose you keep your water params like mine in the sig line.
What you can neglect:
Most blooms of things like pineapple (little white) sponges.
Bubble algae---it's one of those things that, if you set out to grow it, wouldn't---that'll pop up for a few weeks, then usually go away.
Asterina stars (unless your passion is zoas).
Micro brittle stars....useful. You kind of wish they'd stick around.
colonial hydroids...usually if you just roll the rock over and put that side to the sand it discourages them. Some smear them with kalk paste (which is not that nice to look at) ---and mostly they come and they go. Not nice next to a delicate coral, but mostly not a problem.
Aiptasia---usually a piffle unless you've got a condition they like way too much. I keep them in my sump, in the cheato.---- I keep a single hungry peppermint shrimp above, in the dt. I have about 10-20 aiptasias in the fuge. None in the dt. Nuff said.
Majanos---probably much the same, but I can't swear to it, since I've never seen one.
Monster bristleworms: I love them and cultivate them. They tend to live in one rock and extend only to feed. They CANNOT eat corals unless the coral has rotted to soup, period, since all they can do is suck.
hItchhiking shellfish like clams, oysters, squirts, barnacles etc---we can't keep them alive. Wish we could. A few will last for a while, but generally, we just don't have the right environment: not enough food, too much light, too warm, probably a combo of conditions. But alas, they just don't last long. This also goes for buying things like scallops and other such.
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Things I will kill a rock to get rid of: 1. caulerpa in any way shape or form. Nasty stuff, grows by runner, root, fragment, spore, or strong wish,and once it's in your rocks, you're hosed unless you have a large tank and love one-spot rabbits.
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If you have zoas, beware of sea slugs of any sort: things ride on what they eat...but do NOT kill off slugs that have a tiny shell amid their backs and long feelers: those are stomatella snails and they're great to have.
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Things I simply move to the sump/fuge for a long and helpful life: hitchhiker crabs. Overlarge hermits. Even a eunicid worm would probably get put down there.
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Things you DO need to do something about: flatworms, cyano, both of which can be dealt with; and there are certain pests peculiar to certain corals---which is why you dip. Hair algae---use a GFO, because it doesn't put anything INTO your tank chemistry, it acts as a sponge to REMOVE the excess phosphate [which tends to come in the rock, and which is fuel for hair algae.]
Make up your own list, with experience; but in general, don't panic. If you can catch it easily, drop it in a dish, get a photo, and use a Photobucket free account to post it on RC so we can get a look at it. We also have a pretty extensive hitchhiker sticky above, with pix, so you can compare your weirdity and see what it might be. The ocean has some really strange things, but don' buy the really odd and exotic if you see them offered: they just don't live long.
One thing you learn by being at this a while: pristine is not the goal---life is. And if you start pouring chemicals into your tank to solve this and that plague and kill off something, you may kill off things that are useful, you may screw up your chemical balance, and it's just not the best way to go. Keeping your balance right, avoiding over-reaction to small or temporary problems---kind of a laissez-faire attitude toward minor pests and consultation with other reefers before taking a major action.
What you can neglect:
Most blooms of things like pineapple (little white) sponges.
Bubble algae---it's one of those things that, if you set out to grow it, wouldn't---that'll pop up for a few weeks, then usually go away.
Asterina stars (unless your passion is zoas).
Micro brittle stars....useful. You kind of wish they'd stick around.
colonial hydroids...usually if you just roll the rock over and put that side to the sand it discourages them. Some smear them with kalk paste (which is not that nice to look at) ---and mostly they come and they go. Not nice next to a delicate coral, but mostly not a problem.
Aiptasia---usually a piffle unless you've got a condition they like way too much. I keep them in my sump, in the cheato.---- I keep a single hungry peppermint shrimp above, in the dt. I have about 10-20 aiptasias in the fuge. None in the dt. Nuff said.
Majanos---probably much the same, but I can't swear to it, since I've never seen one.
Monster bristleworms: I love them and cultivate them. They tend to live in one rock and extend only to feed. They CANNOT eat corals unless the coral has rotted to soup, period, since all they can do is suck.
hItchhiking shellfish like clams, oysters, squirts, barnacles etc---we can't keep them alive. Wish we could. A few will last for a while, but generally, we just don't have the right environment: not enough food, too much light, too warm, probably a combo of conditions. But alas, they just don't last long. This also goes for buying things like scallops and other such.
----------------
Things I will kill a rock to get rid of: 1. caulerpa in any way shape or form. Nasty stuff, grows by runner, root, fragment, spore, or strong wish,and once it's in your rocks, you're hosed unless you have a large tank and love one-spot rabbits.
----------
If you have zoas, beware of sea slugs of any sort: things ride on what they eat...but do NOT kill off slugs that have a tiny shell amid their backs and long feelers: those are stomatella snails and they're great to have.
----------
Things I simply move to the sump/fuge for a long and helpful life: hitchhiker crabs. Overlarge hermits. Even a eunicid worm would probably get put down there.
-------
Things you DO need to do something about: flatworms, cyano, both of which can be dealt with; and there are certain pests peculiar to certain corals---which is why you dip. Hair algae---use a GFO, because it doesn't put anything INTO your tank chemistry, it acts as a sponge to REMOVE the excess phosphate [which tends to come in the rock, and which is fuel for hair algae.]
Make up your own list, with experience; but in general, don't panic. If you can catch it easily, drop it in a dish, get a photo, and use a Photobucket free account to post it on RC so we can get a look at it. We also have a pretty extensive hitchhiker sticky above, with pix, so you can compare your weirdity and see what it might be. The ocean has some really strange things, but don' buy the really odd and exotic if you see them offered: they just don't live long.
One thing you learn by being at this a while: pristine is not the goal---life is. And if you start pouring chemicals into your tank to solve this and that plague and kill off something, you may kill off things that are useful, you may screw up your chemical balance, and it's just not the best way to go. Keeping your balance right, avoiding over-reaction to small or temporary problems---kind of a laissez-faire attitude toward minor pests and consultation with other reefers before taking a major action.
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