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

[Ohms931]

Sushigirl/nanoreef heaven

Thanks for the info. Im at a loss as to what they are eating as we dont feed our tank anything except regular water changes. Maybe about time to add a fish to control the population possibly a Goby?

[worm5406]

Looking for ID on this one:




This rock use to be nice almost bone white... Now it has some green growth on it.. but then this caught my eye.

[cloak]

It almost looks like the skeleton of a favia coral.

[nanoreef heaven]

Right? Is it hard or soft?

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[worm5406]

I have not touched it yet. I don't remember seeing it when I put that piece of LR in my tank. It has been in there about a month. That whole piece was from my LFS and was fiji LR.

It went from an off white color to now a splatering of bright green/yellow algae.

I did spot feed it though with some zooplankyton just incase it is something.

[SushiGirl]

If it's soft, maybe colonial tunicates.

[ReeferKimberly]

I just wanted to thank all the people on this thread who have helped everyone (and myself) with questions. I am afraid if I name names I will forget some people, but you all know who you are. I only joined in June but this was the first thread I read entirely because I knew I could avoid so many questions. It was 'only' 28 pages then, now into the 40s but new members and new reef-keepers (and old too) you should really read this whole thing. It is by far the most helpful thread here (to me at least). Hitch-hikers make this hobby what it is for me. Sure I love coral and fish but every time I buy coral I attempt to buy it attached to rock because I know it will have extra goodies, even if they are sometimes bad.

The only real bad ones I have encountered are aiptasia and a polyclad flatworm so far but I would gladly take the bad just so I could have the good. I think everyone should avoid (unless you are seriously seriously spending tons of money on your corals and stuff) using dry rock and dips and everything else to nuke these little creatures. They are part of the system and the good far outnumber the bad. Of course this is just my own personal opinion and I have so far been lucky not to encounter something REALLY bad. I need to start a new tank simply for my extreme love of liverock and hitchers because I think I have more rock in this 10 gallon than water now. I am out of room for pretty much any more rock unless I just pile it up until the top.

Anyways, sorry for the rant. I just love the hitchers, they make this hobby so much more than just fish and coral. I know it's impossible, at least now, to completely replicate the ocean but I think the creatures play a huge part in making our tanks not just sanitized version of a "reef", they make it what it is. A piece of the ocean in our living room.

Thank you all for this thread, it is the best

(and if you change it to 50 replies per page in your control panel it's only 23 pages and easier to deal with, although you won't be able to play the "page claim" game)

[nanoreef heaven]

Originally Posted by ReeferKimberly

I just wanted to thank all the people on this thread who have helped everyone (and myself) with questions. I am afraid if I name names I will forget some people, but you all know who you are. I only joined in June but this was the first thread I read entirely because I knew I could avoid so many questions. It was 'only' 28 pages then, now into the 40s but new members and new reef-keepers (and old too) you should really read this whole thing. It is by far the most helpful thread here (to me at least). Hitch-hikers make this hobby what it is for me. Sure I love coral and fish but every time I buy coral I attempt to buy it attached to rock because I know it will have extra goodies, even if they are sometimes bad.

The only real bad ones I have encountered are aiptasia and a polyclad flatworm so far but I would gladly take the bad just so I could have the good. I think everyone should avoid (unless you are seriously seriously spending tons of money on your corals and stuff) using dry rock and dips and everything else to nuke these little creatures. They are part of the system and the good far outnumber the bad. Of course this is just my own personal opinion and I have so far been lucky not to encounter something REALLY bad. I need to start a new tank simply for my extreme love of liverock and hitchers because I think I have more rock in this 10 gallon than water now. I am out of room for pretty much any more rock unless I just pile it up until the top.

Anyways, sorry for the rant. I just love the hitchers, they make this hobby so much more than just fish and coral. I know it's impossible, at least now, to completely replicate the ocean but I think the creatures play a huge part in making our tanks not just sanitized version of a "reef", they make it what it is. A piece of the ocean in our living room.

Thank you all for this thread, it is the best

(and if you change it for 50 replies per page in your control panel it's only 23 pages and easier to deal with, although you won't be able to play the "page claim" game)

+1

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent Pink Tapatalk 2

[saliva911]

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

Pineapple sponge
Attachment 167456

Pods
Attachment 167457

Stomatella
Attachment 167458
Attachment 167459
Attachment 167460

are stomatella's bad? i have one that comes out when the tank is completely dark.

[worm5406]

Originally Posted by worm5406

Looking for ID on this one:




This rock use to be nice almost bone white... Now it has some green growth on it.. but then this caught my eye.

Here is a video:

http://youtu.be/3F0gkyW0cac

[SushiGirl]

Saliva, they're great. They eat algae.
Worm, need a really clear closeup or detailed description. Are there holes in it anywhere? Also need to know if it's soft or reacts if you get near it, like retracting a little.

[worm5406]

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

Worm, need a really clear closeup or detailed description. Are there holes in it anywhere? Also need to know if it's soft or reacts if you get near it, like retracting a little.

Yes Ma'am... Will do... (Hope you are feeling better)

I am headed home for lunch anyway. So that makes it good timing...

[SushiGirl]

I am feeling better, thank you! No severe pain now. I have a few weeks left before I'm back to work and one more after that to lose the back brace. That will certainly limit my time here LOL.

[worm5406]

Originally Posted by worm5406

Yes Ma'am... Will do... (Hope you are feeling better)

I am headed home for lunch anyway. So that makes it good timing...

OK.. So it is hard and no movement. Skeleton maybe...

NO FLASH

From FishTank 2012

FLASH ON

From FishTank 2012

Funny how the algae looks with and without flash. There is the yellow/green algae in that pic too.

[nanoreef heaven]

:banghead: I got nothing....

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[SushiGirl]

I would say cloak is right, then.

[wenwillwego]

I believe this to be a baby Olive snail (currently smaller than a full-grown stomie), and from what I've read he's going to be a bad guy. Since I'm usually of the opinion the more snails the merrier (just thinking about it I've never purposefully removed any snail, fresh or saltwater) I wanted to get confirmation before I fish him out of the tank.

[nanoreef heaven]

Olive snails are good for stirring up sand beds but will eat small snails and critters in the sand bed. You can feed them shrimp and bits of food to keep from exhausting everything from the sand and starving. They aren't harmful to fish or corals so up to you if you keep it.

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[Sugar Magnolia]

It's not an olive snail, can't remember the exact name but when I asked for an ID on them I was told by the resident snail guru - Pagojoe, that they are predatory to other very small snails. If you want an exact name you could always send a PM to Don (Pagojoe).

Never mind, found my old thread. It's a marginellid. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...light=snail+id

[SushiGirl]

I've learned so much from Don LOL.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

I've learned so much from Don and Leslie LOL.

FTFY.

As have I. Dr Shimek was a good influence, as was Mike (greenbean).

[SushiGirl]

Haha, thought of that after I hit post! Get out of my head! Haven't seen her in quite a while...wonder if she's worm hunting anywhere fun?

[wenwillwego]

Originally Posted by Sugar Magnolia

It's not an olive snail, can't remember the exact name but when I asked for an ID on them I was told by the resident snail guru - Pagojoe, that they are predatory to other very small snails. If you want an exact name you could always send a PM to Don (Pagojoe).

Never mind, found my old thread. It's a marginellid. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...light=snail+id

Thanks for the info. A snail killer is what I was worried about (and what I had read the Olives were), so next time it shows its face I'll be pulling it out.

[ReeferKimberly]

Not an olive snail. At least I really really really think it's a "Little Donkey" Cowrie. I have one and he looks exactly the same. Well, looked, before he grew up a bit more.

(ok looking at pics of marginellid on google images and also that kind of cowrie they look almost exactly the same. She is probably right, more experience than me, but still not an olive snail at least)

[Azasb]

I bought some 10 hermit crabs because I thought they would be help clean the tank. I just read a post stating only micro hermits would be beneficial. I would like to know: do I have micro or regular hermit crabs. If they are just hermit and not micro, what can I do with them? I'm on my iPad so I cannot post the pic.