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

[SushiGirl]

I had that happen with amphipods in my fuge when I went on vacation last year for a week. Had an expert friend take care of my tank too. No idea what happened to them. Added some new chaeto & built them back up. Had almost all of them disappear this summer too when our chaeto disappeared & we were home all year. Added more chaeto again. I wonder if we'll lose them every summer?

[Shorty Harris]

I tried searching but could not make an ID. These are small tubes that get easily churned up when a snail might plow through them. I can occasionally see many small thread-like tentacles stretching out and pulling back sand grains to the tube but I do not see anything more than that. The tubes in this photo were all made overnight, the length of each tube is only about 1.25 inches.
Thanks for helping a total newbie!

[cloak]

Originally Posted by Shorty Harris

I tried searching but could not make an ID. These are small tubes that get easily churned up when a snail might plow through them. I can occasionally see many small thread-like tentacles stretching out and pulling back sand grains to the tube but I do not see anything more than that. The tubes in this photo were all made overnight, the length of each tube is only about 1.25 inches.
Thanks for helping a total newbie!

Check this out.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rs/

[javimarino]

spaghetti worm or cirratulids check
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchworms.html
I have hundreds, they are filter feeders. sand tubes are a little annoying though.

[javimarino]

Sorry, I am wrong, Cloak is right. is call a chaetopterid worm or Spionid worms. I still have hundreds of those, just wrong on the name. They do no harm, if you ad more cuc and/or feed less food the population will be reduce other wise they will populate much of the tank.

[Ohms931]

Hi All
Im fairly new to actually owning a tank.

My wife and I have a little 3.5 gal tank with LR and coral only. The coral seems to be thriving but after getting to grips with an out break of Aiptasia my wife has just emailed me pic of another out break of critters.



We havent added anything to the tank for nearly 2 months so they have been lying dormant for a while, hitchhikers as with the Aiptasia I guess.

Any idea of what they are, and should I get rid of them? and more importantly how to get rid of them?

Thanks

[SushiGirl]

Amphipod, they're usually fine & a good sign. There's the very rare ones that eat corals, but if you're not seeing them do that (not just running around on them) then you're good. They'll be bold & out in the open like that since there are no predators.

[nanoreef heaven]

Originally Posted by Ohms931

Hi All
Im fairly new to actually owning a tank.

My wife and I have a little 3.5 gal tank with LR and coral only. The coral seems to be thriving but after getting to grips with an out break of Aiptasia my wife has just emailed me pic of another out break of critters.



We havent added anything to the tank for nearly 2 months so they have been lying dormant for a while, hitchhikers as with the Aiptasia I guess.

Any idea of what they are, and should I get rid of them? and more importantly how to get rid of them?

Thanks

Looks like a isopod to me.

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[nanoreef heaven]

They eat detritus or left over food and are good for natural fish food.

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[SushiGirl]

Originally Posted by nanoreef heaven

Looks like a isopod to me.

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That was my initial reaction until I took a second look and saw how the legs were & saw the 2nd, smaller one. They just happened to catch it crawling upright.

[nanoreef heaven]

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

That was my initial reaction until I took a second look and saw how the legs were & saw the 2nd, smaller one. They just happened to catch it crwling upright.

O ok. I can't really see on my phone well. And your pretty good at id'ing stuff so your probably right.

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[SushiGirl]

I went from the phone to the computer LOL.

[nanoreef heaven]

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

I went from the phone to the computer LOL.

Lol I'm lazy. Plus my son won't sleep for nothing so I'm laying here scrolling through phone trying to get him to catch some Z's.

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[ReeferKimberly]

Sushi I need help IDing something once again.

It's called a page claim and I keep seeing it in your signature

????

[Shorty Harris]

Originally Posted by javimarino

Sorry, I am wrong, Cloak is right. is call a chaetopterid worm or Spionid worms. I still have hundreds of those, just wrong on the name. They do no harm, if you ad more cuc and/or feed less food the population will be reduce other wise they will populate much of the tank.

Some photos of the tubes look right but those seem to have only 2 tentacles and mine seem to have a multitude of tentacles. It's not really important but I like to have a name for something when visitors ask me about it.

[javimarino]

then I'm sure you have Terebellidae (spaghetti worm). I sometimes see them on the glass with no tube. Also you can take the tube and look for the little worm inside, they are small and move inside the tube. I'll post a pic outside it tube the tube so you know what I'm talking about.

http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchworms.html
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curati...rebellidae.htm

[our spot]

what kinda of star fish is this, and i found one with only 4 legs is that suppose to be like that???

[cloak]

Originally Posted by our spot

what kinda of star fish is this, and i found one with only 4 legs is that suppose to be like that???

Your picture's not working. My guess would be an asterina star though.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php

[SushiGirl]

I couldn't get it to work either & that's my guess too since they drop legs to create new stars.

[greg1786]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Generally---you WANT tiny life in your tank; a lot of it: a flashlight after dark should show you a LOT of critters on your sand.
Keepers: Good Guys bristleworms, spaghetti worms(in fact ANY worm, except one, listed below under bad guys). Spionids are fine. They're cleaners, like other things.
Mysis shrimp, tiny tiny tiny shrimp that make you think they're baby fish. Free fishfood.
Copepods and amphipods---copepods are white dots that move. Amphipods look like rolypolys or sow bugs. They do not have visible eyes! [if you see on of those, it's bad!] Again, free fishfood, and you can't have dragonets withOUT them.
Snails, stomatellas (saddle-shell snails). Chitons. Limpets. Wonderful guys. I'll add: strombus grazers, little snails that spin silk and use ropes to get where they're going.
Sponges (water filters). Occasional weird growths like networks on your rocks. These are great filters and improve water quality.
Occasional patches of algae that won't last long. In general, confine plants to your fuge. They block light, shed, and make problems.
Shrimp: cleaner and pistols, with caution: If you hear clicking in your tank---bad news. Pistol shrimp often kill fish. Pistol/goby pairs can end in the death of other fish in the tank. I had one kill its own roommate.
Micro-hermits with bitsy claws are fine. They walk on corals, but don't harm them. Neither would you, if you weighed that little.
Asterina stars: little starfish with a short leg: generally harmless Micro brittle stars, big brittle stars. All nice little cleaners.

Bad guys:but even these are ok in your sump I recommend AGAINST any crab but micro-hermits, whatever. Ever. Ever. Interesting to watch, but they need their own tank. Period. They eat fish, or other valuable things.
Shrimp: usually bad news, unless you want a mantis or pistol, and they're great specialty creatures: clicking in your rocks---pistol. Fish are in danger.
Eunicid worm: looks like a centipede with obvious tentacles on its head. Starfish in general. Green serpent stars.
Caulerpa algae: any rock that has it should be discarded.
Isopods: a cirolanid isopod looks like a roly-poly (sowbug) with obvious slanted black eyes. It attacks fish.
Flatworms--like the Star Trek emblem, a comet-thing on your glass or rock, with a forked tail.
Aiptasia, majanos---little 'volunteer' anemones, brown, nuisances.
Hydroids, look like a yellow-brown little mat of fuzzytopped sticks, about the diameter of a needle, about a quarter inch long. THey sting. Not nice.

In general, if you're in doubt of a hitchhiker, put it in your sump after posting a picture of it. Most things that don't go nicely in a tank can live a useful life in your sump, eating surplus food and detritus. A lot of neat things like barnacles, tunicates, and little clams don't last long in our tanks. Wish they did.

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[nanoreef heaven]

uploadfromtaptalk1344798798060.jpg
Sorry about phone turning pic sideways. Is this a good bristleworm or a bad fireworm?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TK8...e_gdata_player
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[SushiGirl]

No way to tell without detailed closeups. Fireworms aren't very common, though.

[nanoreef heaven]

I can't really get a good pic but if they aren't common then good. It's probably just a bristle. Should I take it out? I'm not sure how big it is. I noticed it today first time and it's at least 2-3inches. I believe it had eaten my previous hermits and snails. All the small ones at least. Or do they even eat inverts?

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[SushiGirl]

They don't have jaws, all they can do is suck down squishy stuff.

[nanoreef heaven]

Ok. I'm still debating. Just going to keep looking up some stuff and see. I'll let you know if I take him out and if I decide to I'll try to get better pics as best I can.

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