where do they come from??????

[rbtwo4]

OK being new to this and still purchasing what i need for my start up tank i have a question after reading 2 threads just now. the ones i read were :Giant worm is ruling my tank & tank afterhours. now after reading this one has a worm that no one knows what it is! the 2nd guy hears knocking on the glass and has all kinds of worms in his tank. my question is WHERE AND HOW did this happen??? is this what i have to look forward to??? thanks for explaining everyone! :lol:

 

[alexb518]

well, most people that are new to this hobby get grossed out by worms. they're not bad and are actually beneficial. many of them have some cool colors too. as far as pistol shrimps or manthis shrimps, well it just happens sometimes. you buy a piece of rock you like and you'll never know it's hiding in the rock until you hear it making noise one day. pistol shrimps are fine, but manthis are bad and can be taken care of in a variety of ways. there are also many other things that you'll pickup when buying rock or just a frag....same thing, you just deal with them accordingly

 

[rcgates]

When you buy live rock, that is what you get, rock that has living things on it and in it. Only your tank will know what evil or good lurks inside.

 

[rbtwo4]

Ok I understand why its called "live rock" BUT.....these rocks have to go thru a curing cycle right? Don't you have to let it sit in the tank then scrub off the white film? Doing this doesn't it take care of Mantis shrimps and other worms?

 

[Sk8r]

I didn't. I just put it in. I paid for all that life on the rock and mine came from a healthy tank, and I had 40-50 species of hitchhikers, including a couple or 4 oenone worms, likely, who behaved themselves very nicely [they're supposed to be bad ones. Not for me.] Hundreds of bristleworms, spiobid worms, stomatella snails, etc. All good. Mantids are fairly rare, depending on where you got the rock.

 

[JPagliai]

Not always. When the rock is moved, these critters can hide deep inside the rock and be protected from any scrubbing you do. Most don't need any kind of light, so the curing process doesn't harm them either. Most come as hitchhikers on corals, especially those firmly attached to a rock, like mushrooms and soft corals.

 

[rcgates]

I bought my live rock at my LFS, brought it home and put it in the tank. Short cycle time since it was out of the water for only 30 minutes.

I never took it out after the cycle to do anything. I do turkey "blast" it each week. All of my base rock is getting a nice healthy growth on it.

Live rock that sits out of water due to shipping needs differnt handling than what I got.

Saw a few critters that came with the rock, going to keep them all.

 

[rbtwo4]

Turkey blast??? please do explain this one lol

 

[rcgates]

a turkey baster, great way to blow (blast) the stuff around in your tank.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/aquariumcare/a/aa020703.htm

 

[rbtwo4]

Oooooooooooooh so instead of pulling the live rock out of the tank and "exposing" it just use a turkey baster huh??? thanks for the link.