The Official Hitchiker I.D Thread

[Reef Fever]

Havent seen a thread pertaining to I.D'ing hitchikers...figured I would make a specific thread for people to post in and get help rather than making a thread everytime something you cant I.D yourself pops up (mods feel free to delete if there is already something like this)

Ill start...these little things are about half the size of a pinhead. The tubes at their base are NEON green.

 

[ritter6788]

Hydroids.

 

[Reef Fever]

hmm...im gonna leave em be for a bit and see what they do since they are only in a 4.5 gal.

 

[Reef Fever]

anyone know what kinda sponge this could be? sorry for the bad pic it was in an awkward spot of my fuge

 

[Reef Fever]

just found this guy cruisin on the LR...havent seen any coral damage but it looks to be one of the predatory asterina stars,bout the size of a dime..can anyone confirm this? if in fact it is, would it be a good fuge addition?

 

[Connie]

Great thread!

 

[Reef Fever]

Great thread!

Thanks! hopefully it catches on and can become a good reference for people. I PM'd Rev about making it a sticky

 

[Weehawken64]

Hi I just found a star that looks similar to that on my live rock last night. Only comes out at night and is the size of a pencil eraser. I thought all stars were ok?


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[Reef Fever]

Hi I just found a star that looks similar to that on my live rock last night. Only comes out at night and is the size of a pencil eraser. I thought all stars were ok?


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no sir! Chocolate chip stars for example can be coral predators

 

[Weehawken64]

I was able to get a pic of this star this morning. I know picture quality stinks but maybe someone will recognize it please. It's very small like head of pencil eraser. Appears to only come out at night although I only discovered it 2 days ago and tanks been running for 7 wks.


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[Weehawken64]

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[turbo21]

asterina star

i have hundreds in my tank and never had an issue

bob

 

[Mr. E Wrasse]

asterina star

i have hundreds in my tank and never had an issue

bob

I didnt for awhile either until one day I found it eating the base of my ultimate stag :'( if you notice anything weird going on weehawken like sps parts bleaching over night or if you see the starfish sitting on a coral in the same spot for more than a day. Get rid of it!

 

[Weehawken64]

Hmm. I've only seen one so far. I'm wondering if I should just get rid of it now while its easy to get just to be on the safe side? I'm new to this hobby.


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[WatercolorsGuy]

I have found a few in my tanks. I typically remove them just to be on the safe side based on all the negative reports about them. I have thought about throwing them in my sump/fuge but not knowing their reproductive habits and whether or not larvae could be pumped into my tanks, I have opted not to do that. If someone you know has harlequin shrimp they may be interested in them as a food for the shrimp.

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[Mike J.]

anyone know what kinda sponge this could be? sorry for the bad pic it was in an awkward spot of my fuge

It's called Encrusting Purple Sponge.

 

[Weehawken64]

No I dnt know anyone with harlequin shrimp. What to do!


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[Connie]

Just attaching photo of bristle worm for a thread reference.

 

[Connie]

Shown below are two Gall Crabs. They burrow into the hard skeleton of LPS and steal food from them. My Elegance Coral was irritated and going down hill fast. I dipped it in Bayer and I found these two guys.

 

[mainereefer]

asterina star

i have hundreds in my tank and never had an issue

bob

this is true for most but if they have orange,red,yellow spots they will eat your corals