A few hitchhikers

[Corey Shelk]

i just got 15lbs of live rock knowing there would be hitchhikers. My tank is currently unstocked so I wanted to have some fun with selecting live rock. Can anyone help me identify some of these hitchhikers?

 

[Hogan]

Pic 1 mushrooms
Pic 2 bad algae
Pic 3 I'm not sure, is it soft or calcified?
Pic 4 mushroom (looks like a watermelon mushroom)
Pic 5 bubble algae; bad (careful how you remove as it will release spores and show up all over when torn off or popped)
Pic 6 looks like the tube of a little feather duster (can't tell if it's still occupied or not)

 

[cloak]

1. Discosoma mushrooms
2. Discosoma mushroom and some green turf algae
3. ?
4. Discosoma mushroom
5. Bubble algae
6. harmless tube worm

 

[Corey Shelk]

Thank you for the quick reply. So I should scrub off the algae in pic 2? What is is called. And pic 3 it is hard.

 

[Corey Shelk]

1. Discosoma mushrooms
2. Discosoma mushroom and some green turf algae
3. ?
4. Discosoma mushroom
5. Bubble algae
6. harmless tube worm

Thank you! Is the bubble algae good or bad?

 

[cloak]

Check this out.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

HTH.

 

[Corey Shelk]

Pic 1 mushrooms
Pic 2 bad algae
Pic 3 I'm not sure, is it soft or calcified?
Pic 4 mushroom (looks like a watermelon mushroom)
Pic 5 bubble algae; bad (careful how you remove as it will release spores and show up all over when torn off or popped)
Pic 6 looks like the tube of a little feather duster (can't tell if it's still occupied or not)

Oh I mixed up pic 3 and 5, oops. I'll remove the bubble algae now as carefully as possible. And pic 3 is not rock solid but kind of hard yet squishy

 

[Corey Shelk]

Bubble algae is removed. While I had the rock outside the tank I found a blue legged hermit crab

 

[Corey Shelk]

Check this out.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

HTH.

Thank you, that has loads of info!

 

[Will Milberger]

Looks like you got more good than bad. Congrats on some nice rock!

 

[Corey Shelk]

Looks like you got more good than bad. Congrats on some nice rock!

Thank you! My LFS allows me to pick out the live rock that I want from their huge selection so I just picked out some nice looking pieces with things growing on it. I just didn't know what they were, next time I'll know not to get ones with bubble algae or green turf algae haha

 

[Hogan]

So pic 3 is a puzzle. Does it feel like a skeleton? When you touch it with something does it move or retract at all? When the rock is out of the water, does it slime at all?

 

[Corey Shelk]

So pic 3 is a puzzle. Does it feel like a skeleton? When you touch it with something does it move or retract at all? When the rock is out of the water, does it slime at all?

It doesn't feel rigid like a skeleton and when touched it doesn't move or anything of its own accord. When out of the water is feels a tad slimy but doesn't feel like it's covered in some kind of mucus, etc

 

[Hogan]

It doesn't feel rigid like a skeleton and when touched it doesn't move or anything of its own accord. When out of the water is feels a tad slimy but doesn't feel like it's covered in some kind of mucus, etc

Huh. That's baffling to me. I wonder if it's some kind of sponge? I don't know. But in my experience, if I don't know what it is, I take it out!

 

[Corey Shelk]

Huh. That's baffling to me. I wonder if it's some kind of sponge? I don't know. But in my experience, if I don't know what it is, I take it out!

Yeah that sounds like a good idea haha. I'm getting some more live rock today so I'll take it out once I'm putting that live rock in because I don't like to mess with my tank too often if I can help it