TB Saltwater Hitchhikers

[flsalty]

The only thing from that entire list I'd remove is the whelks. The anemone is not aiptasia - the Gulf doesn't have them. Those won't spread or be a nuisance. Feed Sponge Power or similar as long as you can to help the tunicates, barnacles and the sponges live longer. I have a clean (relative to the Gulf) SPS tank and mine slowly declined over time - three years later and most of them are gone.

Not exactly true about aiptasia in the Gulf. There are several species in that family, including Exaiptasia and Aiptasiomorpha. Both of those are usually referred to as Aiptasia by hobbyists. Aiptasia pallida is now Exaiptasia pallida since 2014.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Here's the next thing that you absolutely must do with your new rock: Buy a red flashlight and watch it at night after your room and tank lights have been off an hour or two. You'll be amazed. I would watch mine for hours.

 

[duberii]

I have bought the Gulfview coralline rock before...30 lbs yielded about 9 urchins, they were tiny but grew to about a quarter in a couple of months.




Careful what you wish for, watch that one. I took a freebie decorator crab about half dollar size and he picked at my softies. He liked wearing colt coral as a hat.

Dare I say GOOD- I don’t have any softies worth over $5 and they need a bit of a trimming

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Not exactly true about aiptasia in the Gulf. There are several species in that family, including Exaiptasia and Aiptasiomorpha. Both of those are usually referred to as Aiptasia by hobbyists. Aiptasia pallida is now Exaiptasia pallida since 2014.

Correct. However, to my knowledge the Gulf species of Aiptasia do not behave the same way as far as being invasive. Actually the one pictured looks more like a young banded or corkscrew anemone to me. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[duberii]

Here's the next thing that you absolutely must do with your new rock: Buy a red flashlight and watch it at night after your room and tank lights have been off an hour or two. You'll be amazed. I would watch mine for hours.

I’m trying to think of a way to get a red filter for my phone flashlight. I’ll take a peek tonight

 

[duberii]

Correct. However, to my knowledge the Gulf species of Aiptasia do not behave the same way as far as being invasive. Actually the one pictured looks more like a young banded or corkscrew anemone to me. Thanks for the clarification.

Will they stay so muted and white or are they just severely bleached? Also, is it ok to feed them or will that make them just as bad as aiptasia?

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I’m trying to think of a way to get a red filter for my phone flashlight. I’ll take a peek tonight

$10 on Amazon

(Crap - won't let me link it.)

 

[duberii]

Also, turns out #5 was just the tiniest hermit crab ever. It seems to be the same white/cream type as the other hermit

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Will they stay so muted and white or are they just severely bleached? Also, is it ok to feed them or will that make them just as bad as aiptasia?

I probably had 4 or 5 when I set up the tank three years ago. I killed three of them before talking with Richard at TBS. I then left the other two alone. I don't see them any longer.

 

[flsalty]

Those white legged hermits are very active and get about three inches across. Make sure you have extra shells for them or they will kill snails.

 

[duberii]

Those white legged hermits are very active and get about three inches across. Make sure you have extra shells for them or they will kill snails.

I’ll probably end up throwing them in my sump- Even my blue legs are probably gonna go there since they learned to harass my poor lobo and diaseris plate until they spit out the food I gave them. They’re still recovering and I’m not too sure a 3” hermit would make them feel much better

 

[flsalty]

I’ll probably end up throwing them in my sump- Even my blue legs are probably gonna go there since they learned to harass my poor lobo and diaseris plate until they spit out the food I gave them. They’re still recovering and I’m not too sure a 3” hermit would make them feel much better

Probably a good idea.

 

[duberii]

@KJ I could use some help with #1 as well

 

[Terri Caton]

Just ordered some of this rock. A little nervous about the bad hitchhikers and catching them but excited to have real live rock!

 

[duberii]

Just ordered some of this rock. A little nervous about the bad hitchhikers and catching them but excited to have real live rock!

Just isolate it and watch it for a bit. I got 20lbs and my only regret was not getting more

 

[CuzzA]

I just got a shipment from TB saltwater and I'm trying to pick out the nasties before I add it to my tank. I found multiple of each of these, and I'm looking for an ID and a clarification if they're reef safe or not.
1) Some type of snail

2) AIptasia/ some type of anemone

3) Hairy white/cream hermit crab

4)Whelk?

5) Different tiny snail?

I may have more as time passes, but please let me know what you think of these!

The first snail is a Florida cerith. Good guy. Whelks need to go. White hermit get too big and will likely resort to eating coral tissue. Whelks have to go. Anemone is fine.

Gorilla crabs, stone crabs, pistol shrimp and possibly mantis shrimp will need to be caught and removed. Traps and kabob skewers will work.

 

[CuzzA]

I ordered form TBS last summer and I was very pleased with the rock and the diversity of life that comes with the rock. I was impressed with the amount of sponges, tunicates and squirts that were growing on the rock, but I was cautious of the motile hitchhikers that also came along.
I "cured" the rock for a couple of weeks in a Brute container and I removed every single snail and crab that I found. I know what snails and crabs that I want in my display so I buy them. It's not worth the risk of keeping an unknown species in the tank. I placed all of the rock in my sump so I am able to monitor the rock over time. Even after months of being in the system, I will find new gorilla crabs crawling on the rock. Gorilla crabs seem to be the most prolific hitchhiker that I had with my rock.

Having mentioned all of that, I am very pleased with adding the TBS live rock to my system. I now have sponges, tunicates and other microfauna growing in my display that came with the live rock.

There was one "hitchhiker" that I did keep.
I received a piece of rock that had two branches of coral growing on it. It turns out that it is Oculina robusta; a protected Caribbean coral. It arrived in rough shape (bleached and receding from the base) but has definitely rebounded and is growing well in my reef.
This is one of the branches after it has colored back up.

The far right snail with the white shell is an astrea snail. Good, but have not evolved to right them self if they fall on their back. A pain in the butt to keep saving them.

 

[duberii]

The first snail is a Florida cerith. Good guy. Whelks need to go. White hermit get too big and will likely resort to eating coral tissue. Whelks have to go. Anemone is fine.

Gorilla crabs, stone crabs, pistol shrimp and possibly mantis shrimp will need to be caught and removed. Traps and kabob skewers will work.

Good- there are hundreds of those ceriths they would’ve been a nightmare to get out. I’ll throw the hermits into the back part of my bio cube- I’m sure they’ll thrive back there. I’ve already seen some gorilla crabs, and I’m working on getting those out. Any advice for Oenone fulgida or any Eunice works? I’ve seen dozens that poke out when I throw in reef roids to feed the cup corals. I have no idea what my plan of attack should be....

 

[CuzzA]

Do you plan on having any Halichoeres wrasses? They would likely knock the population down.

Worms are tough and there's thousands of species. Some harmless, others more problematic. I think real live rock is the secret to getting off to a good start and SPS corals not slowly dying, as often is the case with dead dry rock, it comes with the risk that we will introduce predatory worms that are very hard to remove.

If you really want to try and get them out you can pour or dip club soda or hydrogen peroxide on the rock. It will drive out any pests, but may kill some good guys too.

 

[duberii]

Do you plan on having any Halichoeres wrasses? They would likely knock the population down.

Worms are tough and there's thousands of species. Some harmless, others more problematic. I think real live rock is the secret to getting off to a good start and SPS corals not slowly dying, as often is the case with dead dry rock, it comes with the risk that we will introduce predatory worms that are very hard to remove.

If you really want to try and get them out you can pour or dip club soda or hydrogen peroxide on the rock. It will drive out any pests, but may kill some good guys too.

I couldn’t get away with a wrasse- I have a 32 gallon biocube that this rock will be going in...what I might end up doing is chiseling off the cup corals and sponges that I want in my tank ASAP, then keeping the rest of the rock and watching it until I feel better putting it in my tank. Obviously not 100% effective nor ideal but at least I won’t be scared of having a hundred predatory worms....

If only I could just inject the tube with something while leaving the stuff around it unharmed, but that’s pretty unlikely