Live Rock / Sand question?

[Pandicorn]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice! I’ve taken a closer look at the rock now that its in the 10g, and I see some creatures which I’m unsure if are all beneficial/harmless?

 

[Pandicorn]

Thanks fe the great advice everyone! Now that the rock are in a 10g, I’ve taken a closer look, and are unsure if all the little creatures are harmless/beneficial. The white wormlike things are hard and stuck to the rock, maybe some kind of burrow? The pictures with the red blurb and the brown spiky thing seem to be the same or ar least similar. The brown worm looking pic generally laid flat against the rock, but would flail around sometimes. Any ID/help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Benga]

I went bare bottom and couldn't be happier, imo bare bottom is well worth the lack of aesthetics. Just a thought

You think there would be any adverse effect of pulling sand out via siphon a year later to go bare bottom?

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Thank you! As I am on the classic student budget, money is a bit tight. Do you think I could give it a solid rinsing and just clean it out?

I have since transferred the live rock from the 2 5 gal buckets to a 10 gal I had lying around and cleaned out. They're fully covered in saltwater, and now have a 250 powerhead in the corner, and are being heated to 76f, but when I put the power head in I saw maybe a dozen of what appeared to be dead bristleworms floating around. Are they really dead, or did I just blow them out of their homes? I don't have any fish yet, but do you think that I could just put them in the tank with the other live rock I'll be getting? Will I have to cure the new live rock if I am careful to keep their exposure to air at a minimum, and just put them in the tank with the fish? The tank I am getting is currently running, just overrun with kenyan tree coral.

When you get the tank, do your best to keep everything warm during the move. You will probably have some casualties. Happens to everyone during a move. After you set it up let it reestablish bacteria for a month before you add any fish or coral. As far as adding live rock, add one softball size rock per week. I wouldn’t rinse the sand when moving. To clean the sand, siphon it like you would gravel in a freshwater tank once a week.

Have fun during this whole process! I’m excited for you. Think about starting a tank thread documenting your experience.

 

[sfin52]

Pic 1 some sort of polyps possible buttons at least that’s what my lfs calls them
Pic 2 looks like aptasia. Scrap off with a screw drive out side tank and rinse well.
Pic 3 looks like a dead feather duster either way no harm to tank
Pic 4 bristle worm.
Pic 5?

@Zero Nitrates great advice on sand.

 

[Pandicorn]

When you get the tank, do your best to keep everything warm during the move. You will probably have some casualties. Happens to everyone during a move. After you set it up let it reestablish bacteria for a month before you add any fish or coral. As far as adding live rock, add one softball size rock per week. I wouldn’t rinse the sand when moving. To clean the sand, siphon it like you would gravel in a freshwater tank once a week.

Have fun during this whole process! I’m excited for you. Think about starting a tank thread documenting your experience.

Thanks! Definitely considering documenting the tank progress, I hope it'll make for a cool thread, seeing it from start to finish! The other tank I'm getting actually comes with some fish, an ocellaris clownfish, a yellow (watchman?) goby, turbo snail, and a chroma. Are they ultimately doomed? I'm hoping that if I can keep the live rock in good condition, and maybe figure out my current live rock, I'll at least have some sort of biofilter to process their waste. Maybe I should try and invest in a small CUC and fill the tank with SW and live rock, and try and get a quick cycle in?

Pic 1 some sort of polyps possible buttons at least that’s what my lfs calls them
Pic 2 looks like aptasia. Scrap off with a screw drive out side tank and rinse well.
Pic 3 looks like a dead feather duster either way no harm to tank
Pic 4 bristle worm.
Pic 5?

@Zero Nitrates great advice on sand.

Ah, so I've done some research on aiptasia, and it definitely does not seem like something I want spreading. Should I wait to add this LR to the tank, and see if any more sprout up?

 

[sfin52]

Kill now. Scrap off outside tank rinse but back in tank. They can release spores and spread like wild fire or roaches.

With fish you want to tear down tank and set back up as quickly as possible. You also want to save as much of the tank water as pissible. Loads of five gallon buckets. They will double as fish hold and lr holding tanks.

 

[Pandicorn]

Kill now. Scrap off outside tank rinse but back in tank. They can release spores and spread like wild fire or roaches.

With fish you want to tear down tank and set back up as quickly as possible. You also want to save as much of the tank water as pissible. Loads of five gallon buckets. They will double as fish hold and lr holding tanks.

As I went to pull out the rock, I noticed a lot of other little pieces of aptasia (on other pieces of rock), I noticed a ton of other little pieces. Would it be feasible for me to buy one peppermint shrimp and put it into the tank I have the live rock in? I'm fairly sure the rock is well cycled, and that it could handle the bioload of one shrimp.

 

[Pandicorn]

Also, the water level dipped a little, and some of the polyps were exposed to air. They kind of "mushed", I'm assuming they died? , should I just leave it? Scrape it off? Thanks!

 

[carbene]

the polyps are fine. let them live!

 

[Pandicorn]

the polyps are fine. let them live!

Awesome! Glad to hear I'm not a polyp killer! Also, the rock was red (coraline algae i assume?), will that dry out? or be ok.

 

[sfin52]

Than I would add a peppermint shrimp or there is a flat worm that specializes on aptasia. I would try one of those that’s for aptasia.

 

[Schreiber]

For the aiptasia, if it's big enough, inject it with a few drops of boiling vinegar. It'll kill the entire anemone instantly. All taking it out & "scraping it off" will do is agitate it & tear a bit of the top off.

The vinegar will work for the bristle worm as well if you do want it out of there. Even though they're ugly, *most* bristle worms are actually beneficial.

 

[Pandicorn]

For the aiptasia, if it's big enough, inject it with a few drops of boiling vinegar. It'll kill the entire anemone instantly. All taking it out & "scraping it off" will do is agitate it & tear a bit of the top off.

The vinegar will work for the bristle worm as well if you do want it out of there. Even though they're ugly, *most* bristle worms are actually beneficial.

I'm ok with the bristle worms, I understand that although they're a bit creepy, they do play a beneficial role. Should I wait to add the rock to the rest of my tank, until I can ensure all the aiptasia is gone? I don't want to infect the rest of my live rock