Hitchhiker ID and some general newbie questions

[FLSteve]

Hi all, first time posting but have been reading here for a few months. I have learned a ton and am glad to have found this community.
I am new to the hobbie and purchased a 55 gal. and set up a FOWLR system which I may convert to a reef someday. My cycle took almost 5 wks to complete. So far I have added about 60 different types of snails, 3 small Chromis (one got sucked into the powerhead other 2 still alive) and a small false clown. All were added at different times after no ammonia or nitrite was detectable.
Some interesting critters came with the LR.
This guy I've researched for hours and believe it's a bristle worm, good to have? Its about 1 1/2" long unstretched and can stretch to about 4".



This I think is called a feather duster and is a type of worm? Should I be feeding it?



When I did my cycle I had a small spike in ammonia but never saw a change in the nitrites. My nitrates did rise. The lfs told me they rarely see a spike in nitrite and as long as I am getting nitrate and no ammonia my tank has cycled. Is this correct?
I also had a diatom bloom that I think is at its end. I'm starting to see more green algae but there is still some of the brown. Is this normal?

I'm hoping this post comes out right as I can't see my pics in the preview window, fingers crossed. I appreciate your time in responding. ~Steve

[Mat1018]

Yea that's a bristle worm or fire worm they can be good but also bad there good when there small but as they get bigger they hunt for bigger food sources. And have a nasty sting to them so be careful. And the second thing is a pest it's known as a aiptasia most people get rid of them as soon as they can.

[FLSteve]

Thanks for the info Mat. I wasn't sure a bristle worm and a fire worm were the same thing. Been doing some research on aiptasia, trying to figure out how to get rid of it. Its still small only about a 1/2" tall and I haven't seen any others so hopefully it wont be to hard to get rid of. Its too bad its so invasive as it is cool lookin.

[thebkramer]

WELCOME TO RC & THE ADDICTION!!

HOW TO KILL AIPTASIA
I've had large... very large aips in my tank. fought them for years! I finally read a tip here on RC that helped me dearly!!!
Get (if you don't have) hypodermic needle and use your choice of fatality (I used lemon juice, but you can also use boiling water, vinegar or kalk).. when ready to inject, go in slowly.. put the needle as close to mouth as you can.. wait for aip to wrap its tentacles around needle.. then put needle in its mouth SLOWLY.. then start to slowly inject the aip. It doesn't register the poison right away & gives you the time to really get them injected!

Good Luck!! Hope you get the lil bugger!!!!

[thebkramer]

dblp

[FLSteve]

Thanks thebkramer! From some reading I'm leaning toward the lemon juice. I dont have a needle and have no idea where to get one or what size to get.

[thebkramer]

you're welcome!
you should be able to get them at any pharmacy. I have 8mm short needles. they work great. just ask for the smallest hypodermic needle that they carry. I think I paid $2 for a package of 50.
if you are not comfy using hypo needle (I think they work best though IMO) you could use a baby medicine syringe. You can also get them at pharmacy. It just doesn't have the needle.

When you do inject the aip.. be VERY careful of the white tentacles(strings) that it might spew out. These are stingers and their defense mechanism. They HURT!!! and if you are allergic.. can cause some serious issues!! I would wear gloves to be safe.

Good Luck!!!

[FLSteve]

Thanks again! More questions arise. Will latex or vinyl exam gloves work or do I need something a lil thicker? The tentacles it releases, are they dangerous to the fish or snails? Once injected how will I know if I got the lil bugger? Is there a process to clean up after its dead? The rock that its on is smaller and on the bottom of the tank going to make it difficult to see when doing the injection. I wont be able to look from the side while reaching in the top. Could I remove the rock or gently raise it to do the injection?

[thebkramer]

Can you put the rock in a different area of tank during his assassination? I use to wear the gloves you can buy for washing dishes. They are thick and are cheaper then the ones to buy for reefing. When injected.. they just sort of melt away. If they are injected good.. they won't grow back.. if some is left and you can't scrape what is left off.. it may grow back again. then just inject him again.

Here is why I am soooo crazed about the aip and why I find them scary.

I was doing tank maintenance and cleaning behind a rock. I had noooo idea I was rubbing my arm against the rock. I soon felt burning on my arm.. took a look at it and had red lines all over. They started to swell & I started to panic. I looked in the tank and found an aip around where I was working with all these white strings just flowing in the water column. About 3mins go by & I started to have trouble breathing. My arm was about 5x its size. I had neighbor rush me to hospital. turns out.. I am allergic to the aip stingers.. kind of like a person is to bee stings. I am not allergic to bees. The doctors were beyond freaked out being they've never come across anything like this. Thankfully.. a lil benedryll, shot of steroid and oxygen and I was doing much better. I now keep an epi pen on hand for my tank. Craziness!!! Thankfully I am aip free now.. but.. if I am allergic to them.. who knows what else in the tank might hurt me? (bristleworms, anemone, etc)
I may be a bit paranoid lol but its well worth it to me!! so I like to help other reefers out best I can
here is a pic of my nemesis (he was huge.. bigger than golfball)
[IMG]http://i47.*******.com/2vhulfl.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i47.*******.com/30vn8fl.jpg[/IMG]

so I now wear the gloves that go all the way up your arm to do anything in my tank!!!!!

are the stingers dangerous to others in tank? I'm sure they probably sting.. just like an anemone or bristleworm. I am no expert.. so I can't really say what they really do.

your aip is pretty small compared to the big one I am referring to. I have killed smaller aips that I never really seen any of the stringy stuff they spew out.. or they are so small I didn't notice.

I'm def not trying to scare you.. just want you to be careful is all...

[thebkramer]

dblp