live rock and bad hitchikers

lmh11706 · 12/16/2009, 03:02 PM

has anyone ever seen a good crab or shrimp hitchiker on their live rock-especially florida live rock

every hitchiking crab i get seems to be a gorilla

every shrimp-a predatory mantis

very frustrating because i would rather leave them in then pull out and kill half the rock

FranktheTankTx · 12/16/2009, 03:11 PM

Sorry buddy, they remove all the good stuff before they ship it & sell it off seperately. They leave us with the nasty critters to remove. Ha!

frewd · 12/16/2009, 04:04 PM

never got anything good besides sponges. there was one rock that i got a huge emerald crab on but it was dead

Springmo · 12/16/2009, 04:06 PM

I got a pistol shrimp with my Florida live rock. He's pretty cool and hasn't bothered anything.

Sisterlimonpot · 12/16/2009, 04:10 PM

does copepods and amphipods count? I got a crab that hitchhiked on the rock, I took him out thinking that it was a bad one and come to find out it was reef safe. But I killed it taking it out. oh well.

Madratter · 12/16/2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmh11706

has anyone ever seen a good crab or shrimp hitchiker on their live rock-especially florida live rock

every hitchiking crab i get seems to be a gorilla

every shrimp-a predatory mantis

very frustrating because i would rather leave them in then pull out and kill half the rock

I got my live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. I have literally dozens of porcelain crabs which are good hitchhikers. I also have mysis shrimp in the tank without any fish. I also have some small pistol shrimp which don't seem to be doing any real harm.

I have had my share of mantis shrimp (2) and gorilla crabs (quite a few). And I have one very large sand crab of undetermined type but the things body is somewhere in size around that of a 50 cent piece if not larger. This in around 48 pounds of live rock.

I still have a few small gorillas in my display tanks I haven't caught yet.

But for me, the amount of good hitchhikers on the live rock was totally worth the effort in dealing with the bad hitchhikers. And I now have a "bad boy" tank that is quite interesting in its own way.

Yogre · 12/16/2009, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madratter

I got my live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. I have literally dozens of porcelain crabs which are good hitchhikers. I also have mysis shrimp in the tank without any fish. I also have some small pistol shrimp which don't seem to be doing any real harm.

I have had my share of mantis shrimp (2) and gorilla crabs (quite a few). And I have one very large sand crab of undetermined type but the things body is somewhere in size around that of a 50 cent piece if not larger. This in around 48 pounds of live rock.

I still have a few small gorillas in my display tanks I haven't caught yet.

But for me, the amount of good hitchhikers on the live rock was totally worth the effort in dealing with the bad hitchhikers. And I now have a "bad boy" tank that is quite interesting in its own way.

I also have TBS rock. My experience has been the same as yours. Some of the good stuff I got: lots of porcelain crabs; a red mithrax crab; a tiger goby; a number of keyhole limpets (great algae eaters); tunicates; encrusting sponges; a couple different types of stony coral; and who knows how much stuff I either can't see or haven't seen yet.

The bad stuff I got: gorilla crabs (haven't caught anywhere near all of them yet) and wennerae mantis (caught all but one, exchanged several of them for store credit at my LFS).

On balance, a lot more good than bad at least in my humble opinion.

noahm · 12/16/2009, 06:27 PM

My experience is pretty similar to Yogre as well. Out of 200+ lbs of LR, I have (still) several dozens of porcelain crabs, limpets, an urchin, mithrax crabs, and some other stuff (corals, sponges etc.). I still have several gorilla crabs, but rarely notice any damage. When I do, I set traps and remove a few more. I had to remove probably 8 or so mantis. I still have one left, but he does nothing to anything that I am aware of.

It is almost certain that there will be gorilla crabs. Mantis are hit and miss, depending on your luck. If you want pest free rock, get dry rock, or small enough pieces to really be able to examine. The bunches of other stuff is way cool to observe, and stuff pops up all the time, but definitely not the rock for every reef project. It is more of a complete ecosystem where nature will take its course than a controlled showpiece, so don't put your purple hornet zoas in there until you are sure you've got everything out. I would use florida rock for 80% of my dream tanks. It is eco-friendly and loaded with life. Otherwise I would just get dry rock and seed it with 'safe' pieces of reef rubble.

12/16/2009, 03:02 PM	#1
lmh11706 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: bayshore,long island ny Posts: 269	live rock and bad hitchikers has anyone ever seen a good crab or shrimp hitchiker on their live rock-especially florida live rock every hitchiking crab i get seems to be a gorilla every shrimp-a predatory mantis very frustrating because i would rather leave them in then pull out and kill half the rock

12/16/2009, 03:11 PM	#2
FranktheTankTx Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 2,306	Sorry buddy, they remove all the good stuff before they ship it & sell it off seperately. They leave us with the nasty critters to remove. Ha! __________________ Frank the Tank "What, I thought we were in the trust tree... in the nest? Are we not?" Current Tank Info: Custom Rimless 60g (30.5"x24.5"x18.5")

12/16/2009, 04:10 PM	#5
Sisterlimonpot R.C. Fraternity President Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Litchfeild Park AZ Posts: 11,490 Blog Entries: 2	does copepods and amphipods count? I got a crab that hitchhiked on the rock, I took him out thinking that it was a bad one and come to find out it was reef safe. But I killed it taking it out. oh well. __________________ Jimmy MASVC President Dishes are done man! Current Tank Info: 300 in progress

12/16/2009, 04:04 PM	#3
frewd Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 57	never got anything good besides sponges. there was one rock that i got a huge emerald crab on but it was dead

12/16/2009, 04:06 PM	#4
Springmo Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Delray Beach Posts: 295	I got a pistol shrimp with my Florida live rock. He's pretty cool and hasn't bothered anything.

12/16/2009, 06:27 PM	#8
noahm Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Huntsville, AL Posts: 2,736	My experience is pretty similar to Yogre as well. Out of 200+ lbs of LR, I have (still) several dozens of porcelain crabs, limpets, an urchin, mithrax crabs, and some other stuff (corals, sponges etc.). I still have several gorilla crabs, but rarely notice any damage. When I do, I set traps and remove a few more. I had to remove probably 8 or so mantis. I still have one left, but he does nothing to anything that I am aware of. It is almost certain that there will be gorilla crabs. Mantis are hit and miss, depending on your luck. If you want pest free rock, get dry rock, or small enough pieces to really be able to examine. The bunches of other stuff is way cool to observe, and stuff pops up all the time, but definitely not the rock for every reef project. It is more of a complete ecosystem where nature will take its course than a controlled showpiece, so don't put your purple hornet zoas in there until you are sure you've got everything out. I would use florida rock for 80% of my dream tanks. It is eco-friendly and loaded with life. Otherwise I would just get dry rock and seed it with 'safe' pieces of reef rubble.