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

[justinr2k]

Originally Posted by jlessary

Better picture of the Wormy thing... ITS NOT A WORM! looks like some sort of Star but not sure what type or if I should keep them there muxt be at least 4 or 5 on this rock.

Bristle star. Keep it!

[justinr2k]

Originally Posted by jlessary

And I forgot one... This is on the side of one of my rocks... kind of whiteish in color with black spots.



Thanks for the help with these guys/things.

A sponge. It's fine.

[justinr2k]

Originally Posted by jlessary

Sorry here are the rest of the photos in order...

Mushroom?
Bristle Star
Bristle Star
Macro Algae of some kind?
Sponge

All OK if my identifications were correct. If that's a mushroom it's awesome. Free mushroom. If that's some type of macro algae it will probably just get eaten by a fish or crab.

[jlessary]

Originally Posted by justinr2k

Mushroom?
Bristle Star
Bristle Star
Macro Algae of some kind?
Sponge

All OK if my identifications were correct. If that's a mushroom it's awesome. Free mushroom. If that's some type of macro algae it will probably just get eaten by a fish or crab.

THANKS! I have about 5 - 7 of the Mushrooms over all of the rock that is the biggest. I didn't even notice it till the lunars came on last night.

Since the tank is still cycling I am sure I will loose about half if not all of this but they look cool for now.

[Margoren]

We got this crab with our TBS rock. Its claws are white. Is it a gorilla crab? Maybe too small to have black claws?
It doesn't appear hairy either like the gorilla crabs we have in our tank. But maybe that is because he is still small?
IMG_1731.jpg

Thanks for your help!

[jlessary]

I am interested in this too... I have several of those and 2 that I haven't seen come out of the rock yet... they look BIG! like 3/4 of an inch body BIG! How can I get them to leave the nice safety of the rock?

[salajander]

There's something else in another rock. It's one-or-more long white thread-like appendages that come out of the rock. First time we noticed it it push something out - feces? In this photo you can see it, and it seems to have grabbed an empty mysis molt. Any ideas?



And here's a better shot of the bristle worm I posted about a week or two back. Does it still look like a beneficial one?

[jlessary]

I think I just found a Purple Sea Urchin on my rock... Good or Bad?

Its got dark purple or black spines with white tips. I will try to get a picture when it moves to a better location all I can see of it now are the tops of the spines.

Josh

[enforcer8621]

Eucinid?



I pulled a small piece of rock out to burn off an aptasia. After rinsing in rodi he was on the sand below where I was placing the rock.

[trimblelake]

Any idea what these are growing on live rock? good bad?

[shermanator]

I'm pretty sure this is a normal bristle worm, but can you tell without seeing the "mouth"? I was surprised how long it was (6") considering how young this tank is (3 months) and given this is the first time I've seen it (but spend at least an hour each night looking for new life).

From the picture, does that suggest bristle or do I need to get a glimpse of the head to see if it has antenna (to rule out bobbitt worm)?

[jlessary]

Found this guy last night and tonight he just came out for a good pic. good or bad??? He is only out at night haven't seen him at all with the lights on had to supirse him with a flashlight to get this. Mainly going for a FOWLR but might add some coral down the line.

[jlessary]

OK I am hearing a series of ticks form my tank. Everything I have read says pistol or mantis shrimp... I only ever hear 2 - 4 ticks at random intervals...

My questions are this...
At what salinity is it considered SUPER? anything over 2.00? How long do I leave the rocks in that?

AND....

I keep reading the best way to get rid of them is a super salinity dunk for the LR that is suspect But what does this do to other things living on that rock? the pic above with the possible urchin and bristle star is the suspect rock... and there are SEVERAL bristle stars on it like 6 - 8 if I am counting right. Will I loose them too?

[justinr2k]

Originally Posted by jlessary

OK I am hearing a series of ticks form my tank. Everything I have read says pistol or mantis shrimp... I only ever hear 2 - 4 ticks at random intervals...

My questions are this...
At what salinity is it considered SUPER? anything over 2.00? How long do I leave the rocks in that?

AND....

I keep reading the best way to get rid of them is a super salinity dunk for the LR that is suspect But what does this do to other things living on that rock? the pic above with the possible urchin and bristle star is the suspect rock... and there are SEVERAL bristle stars on it like 6 - 8 if I am counting right. Will I loose them too?

Wow, you really got some "live" rock! I've never read about super salinity dunk. If you dip in something, I would almost guarantee it will hurt everything, not just the bad things. I wouldn't dip it. Just keep watch. The urchin may be fine. Most likely reef safe. My pistol shrimp snaps his little claw all the time.

[jlessary]

The rock I got comes from the RyuKyu trench close to Okinawa Japan. It is FULL of life including crabs too. Trying the bottle trick on them tonight to attempt to get rid of some of them. I still haven't seen what is clicking....

[justinr2k]

Originally Posted by jlessary

The rock I got comes from the RyuKyu trench close to Okinawa Japan. It is FULL of life including crabs too. Trying the bottle trick on them tonight to attempt to get rid of some of them. I still haven't seen what is clicking....

Sweet. I need to do that on my tank also. I have one little crab that I'm not so sure about. I already tried to grab him and ripped his big claw off. My little guy is almost jet black and as of now seems to eat algae like the emerald crabs do.

I hope it's a pistol shrimp and not a mantis shrimp. If it's the mantis you will have to get rid of it. Or should I guess.

[deejay391]

Is this an Aiptasia? Got a couple on a couple of new LR's peppermints should sort them out if it is?

[justinr2k]

Originally Posted by deejay391

Is this an Aiptasia? Got a couple on a couple of new LR's peppermints should sort them out if it is?

Appears to be. I'd kill it. Inject lemon juice into the stem part.

[firebirdude]

Odd looking white/clear maze looking thing. Don't recall this stuff being there a month ago. Doesn't really look like any cyano. It's really maze-like in person (like brain coral).

And I know it almost looks like the whole rock is covered in it, but it's not. Just out of focus around the circled areas.

[firebirdude]

And what's all this growing under a monti frag in my frag tank? At first I thought it was just a little white sponge action, but now it's really starting to spread to the entire bottom of the monti frag. Looks like spider eggs.

Sorry for the bad pics, but it's in the middle of the tank.

[cloak]

Originally Posted by firebirdude

And what's all this growing under a monti frag in my frag tank? At first I thought it was just a little white sponge action, but now it's really starting to spread to the entire bottom of the monti frag. Looks like spider eggs.

Sorry for the bad pics, but it's in the middle of the tank.

I think your right. A sponge of some sort.

If not, maybe tunicates?

[clownfish18]

anybody here ever found a hitchhiker sea dollar

[cloak]

I dropped one in my salt tank before... (bad joke)

[hogfanreefer]

Originally Posted by jlessary

Found this guy last night and tonight he just came out for a good pic. good or bad??? He is only out at night haven't seen him at all with the lights on had to supirse him with a flashlight to get this. Mainly going for a FOWLR but might add some coral down the line.

Looks like a rock boring urchin. I had seven hitch hike on my live rock. Great algae eater. Down side is the grow really fast and can get really big. As such they can be a bulldozer of coral and other things not glued down. They also can and do eat coralline algae if they don't have enough regular algae to eat. I sold mine to my LFS.

[jlessary]

Originally Posted by hogfanreefer

Looks like a rock boring urchin. I had seven hitch hike on my live rock. Great algae eater. Down side is the grow really fast and can get really big. As such they can be a bulldozer of coral and other things not glued down. They also can and do eat coralline algae if they don't have enough regular algae to eat. I sold mine to my LFS.

Thanks for the ID. I will probably get rid of him later but the wife is getting attached to the little critters....