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

[supervdl]

What are those? I have a pretty old tank (9 years) and they have been showing up lately and multiplying a lot.

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[cloak]

Do they have a crown to them? They look like some sort of hydroid, or perhaps spionid worms.

[supervdl]

They do have some tentacles but very small almost invisible without magnification

[salajander]

After six and a half weeks, which included a full cycle with >5ppm ammonia at one point, a clean-up crew, and (after quarantine) a tail spot blenny, today both of these things showed up in the tank, presumably hitchhiked on the live rock I bought.

This seems to be some sort of sea star?


And this is ... some sort of bristle worm?


Clearer shot?



Either of these things I should worry about?

[ReeferKimberly]

You are correct in your IDs and they are both beneficial

[salajander]

That bristle work may be beneficial but it sure creeps out my wife.

[LadyDave]

Another creature I can't identify!! Looks like a tiny piece off a largeish bristle worm - is it possible that's what it is or is it something evil?? Still not worked out what's eaten my zoas!!

[Sugar Magnolia]

Originally Posted by LadyDave

Another creature I can't identify!! Looks like a tiny piece off a largeish bristle worm - is it possible that's what it is or is it something evil?? Still not worked out what's eaten my zoas!!

Looks like an epitoke, part of the reproductive cycle of polychaete worms. Harmless.

[sanderson2]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1396189127.348662.jpg

Noticed this today - it appears to be a "fluffy" white ball with filters coming from the top. (Dead in the center of the photo in the hole - that's the best picture I could get of it)

There's a few more on that same rock.

Anyone have any ideas on this? I tried to search around but didn't really see anything that looked like this.

Thanks!!

[ReeferKimberly]

Pretty sure it is a sponge, they are good

[SushiGirl]

Sounds like a pineapple sponge.

[sanderson2]

That's what it is... Thanks!

[Yeroc9]

I put all these small pieces of rock in the sump/reffugium, and I noticed these on one of the pieces... Is it a coral? Or...? The little heads seem to be part of the membrane (or whatever it is ) covering the rock

[LadyDave]

Fab! Thanks Sugar!! 😊

[Sugar Magnolia]

Originally Posted by Yeroc9

I put all these small pieces of rock in the sump/reffugium, and I noticed these on one of the pieces... Is it a coral? Or...? The little heads seem to be part of the membrane (or whatever it is ) covering the rock

Quoted for images.

[SushiGirl]

Looks like star polyps.

[Halo_003]

Any ideas what on earth this is? Haven't seen it before. It lives in this one hole on one of my rocks, and it seems to extend whatever these are during the day, and it will retract them pretty quickly back into the hole if disturbed by anything.




I realize it's tough to see, but you can see the opaque tentacle like THINGS coming out of the hole. Can't see in the hole enough to tell what it is.

Also, what is this green stuff growing?

[Dtip]

Gorgeous green stuff! Could it possibly be "Neomeris annulata" as pictured here?: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/grnalgidf3.htm I forget where I read about the stuff other than that article but if that's what this is, I think I once read a thread about it growing out of control because a particular batch of SeaChem Reef Salt had so much borate in it. Wet Web seems unconcerned about this possibility.

I've seen this tiny snail once or twice, and recently had the chance to take him out for a closeup. His body is almost clear, but the light hit just right in this shot:



The shell doesn't look like any strombus I've seen, and it's certainly worrisomely whelklike, but it also could be a rare nassarius hitchiker (certainly seems to behave like one). Easy to move over to my pest/quarantine tank if I get suspicious, but for now just mildly interested. From what I know, exact ID is pretty much impossible when they're this tiny, but who knows...

[pagojoe]

Your little snail is "whelklike," although it's not likely to do much harm. It looks to be a very small juvenile Engina species, probably Engina histrio.

Cheers,



Don

[G_Sanab922]

Originally Posted by bnyosemite

I purchased one very seasoned live rock to seed my new tank. I haven't been able to find a post showing the item on the right in the attachment. It's about the size of a nickel and has a structure that looks a bit like a bush or tree. Can someone identify it for me?

Also, you can see an urchin on the left, also the size of nickel. Does anyone know what kind of urchin? It's all black and the spines are 1/4 to 3/8 inch long.

Thanks!


http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/pi...ictureid=61169

not sure if anyone answered you yet but, the urchin on the left looks like a pencil urchin, due to the fact that the spines are spaced out and pretty thick and less spiky. Hard to see from the pic though.

[justinr2k]

Originally Posted by Halo_003

Any ideas what on earth this is? Haven't seen it before. It lives in this one hole on one of my rocks, and it seems to extend whatever these are during the day, and it will retract them pretty quickly back into the hole if disturbed by anything.




I realize it's tough to see, but you can see the opaque tentacle like THINGS coming out of the hole. Can't see in the hole enough to tell what it is.

Also, what is this green stuff growing?

Based on what I read about the green stuff, you should kill it as fast as you can.

[Halo_003]

What would be best way to kill it? I crushed some of it and ripped it off but if there's a better way I'd rather do that.

Also any thoughts on those tentacle things in my post above?

Edit: after further reading I'm pulling that rock and burning every piece of that profanity removedthat I see, no way I'm dealing with that. I think it's growing on the shells of my snails and hermits too though, what should I do about that?

[justinr2k]

Originally Posted by Halo_003

What would be best way to kill it? I crushed some of it and ripped it off but if there's a better way I'd rather do that.

Also any thoughts on those tentacle things in my post above?

From what I read just pull it out as best as you can while siphoning. If you cant siphon just pull them out and keep a watch.

The other things look like spaghetti worms to me.

Ex: http://0.tqn.com/d/saltaquarium/1/7/...spaghworm1.JPG

[justinr2k]

Originally Posted by Halo_003

What would be best way to kill it? I crushed some of it and ripped it off but if there's a better way I'd rather do that.

Also any thoughts on those tentacle things in my post above?

Spaghetti worms are not harmless at all. They can actually be quite beneficial. They eat detritus.

[Halo_003]

Originally Posted by justinr2k

Spaghetti worms are not harmless at all. They can actually be quite beneficial. They eat detritus.

Not harmless... So are they not good to have? Idk what exactly the rest looks like as it's never come out of that hole.

I pulled that rock, torched the algae and scrubbed it off best I could. I ready from people who like it that it likes low flow and high light so I put it in a high flow low light section, the affected side is facing me so that I can watch it better. If it comes back I'll go to more serious measures like H202 on affected sites.

Is it normal for algae to grow on Turbos and hermits? Or is that more of this algae stuff.