Live rock

furni80 · Mar 22, 2015

I purchased some LR a month ago, should I be seen anything crawling out of the it or is it a crap shoot as to whether you get anything hitchhiking with it or not? I was under the impression there would actually be something living in it other than bacteria.

glb · Mar 22, 2015

furni80 said:
I purchased some LR a month ago, should I be seen anything crawling out of the it or is it a crap shoot as to whether you get anything hitchhiking with it or not? I was under the impression there would actually be something living in it other than bacteria.

Lots of live rock has 'Hitchhikers' in it. Worms and other critters hide inside. You might be able to see them if you look at the tank at night with a flashlight.

Reefing Madness · Mar 22, 2015

Tough to say what your rock contains. May not contain much but britle worms. To early to tell. If its been sitting long in the LFS tank, it will take come time for those critters to climb back out of the rock and show themselves.

glb · Mar 22, 2015

Here's a link that lists the most common hitchhikers.
http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker/hitchhiker.shtml

furni80 · Mar 22, 2015

I did try checking it out at night still nothing. I'll give it some more time and see what happens. Thanks

furni80 · Mar 22, 2015

Great link, that's a lot of hitch hikers. Hope I see a couple of them, at least the good ones. Thanks

WindeyD · Mar 22, 2015

I would rather not have any hitchikers; sure the good ones are cool but if you get a bad one it can become a monumental pain; just my two cents

haleyf1024 · Mar 22, 2015

That's why I prefer aquacultured rock from florida. I got a few pieces and it seeded my entire tank. Plus I got crabs, corals, coralline, an urchin, brittle stars, worms, and tons of pods on it that I never found on my fiji rock

furni80 · Mar 22, 2015

That's what mine is supposed to be is Fiji. I guess as long as its seeds my tank I'll be happy. Guess I'd rather not have anything rather than finding out I have the bad stuff and have a nightmare trying to get rid of it.

glb · Mar 22, 2015

WindeyD said:
I would rather not have any hitchikers; sure the good ones are cool but if you get a bad one it can become a monumental pain; just my two cents

That's a great sentiment but unlikely in my experience! There's usually something lurking in there!

buzz225 · Mar 23, 2015

haleyf1024 said:
That's why I prefer aquacultured rock from florida. I got a few pieces and it seeded my entire tank. Plus I got crabs, corals, coralline, an urchin, brittle stars, worms, and tons of pods on it that I never found on my fiji rock

Where can I find this rock?

glb · Mar 23, 2015

buzz225 said:
Where can I find this rock?

I live in Miami so that's what we have. Where do you live?

PatW · Mar 23, 2015

buzz225 said:
Where can I find this rock?

I forget the name. Just google Tampa Bay live rock. The company is the only one with a permit to culture rock out in the Gulf.

haleyf1024 · Mar 23, 2015

Im here in MD, not sure where you are. My LFS sells the FL rock

glb · Mar 23, 2015

haleyf1024 said:
Im here in MD, not sure where you are. My LFS sells the FL rock

I've been happy with mine, and the hitchhikers weren't that bad.

haleyf1024 · Mar 23, 2015

glb said:
I've been happy with mine, and the hitchhikers weren't that bad.

I love mine

The only "bad" hitchhikers I found were 2 whelks and a gorilla crab, all of who are happily living in my sump. Way more good hitchhikers though, even a decorator and red mithrax crabs