Whats Hiding Under Mushroom!!!

[Ryan Kindle]

What the heck? Never seen this till today. Some kind of crab? And is the little star thing good or bad.

 

[DereksReef77]

Looks like an emerald crab

 

[Ryan Kindle]

Also, theres like 20 of these bristleworms in this rock, is that good?

 

[Ryan Kindle]

Looks like an emerald crab

Is this good to have?

 

[DereksReef77]

Supposedly, but it seems like they irritate some soft corals that I’ve had. Bristle worms that is.

 

[DereksReef77]

Is this good to have?

Yes if you have bubble algae or other nuisance algae in your tank. They will eat it. Emerald crabs that is.

 

[Texas Reefer]

The crab looks like an emerald crab, which is good! Some people don't like them, but they can be good for bubble algae cleanup. The other is an asterina starfish. Some are good, some are bad. I'm nervous that it's reddish looking, some I might throw it out.

 

[Mical]

+1 on emerald crab

 

[Ryan Kindle]

The crab looks like an emerald crab, which is good! Some people don't like them, but they can be good for bubble algae cleanup. The other is an asterina starfish. Some are good, some are bad. I'm nervous that it's reddish looking, some I might throw it out.

Throw out the star?

 

[Ryan Kindle]

I bought all these established rocks, didnt kbow about dipping, and now keep finding all kinds of suprises lol

 

[Mical]

I'd keep them both

 

[Webslinger]

If you have bubble algae. The ones I have don't bother anything. But my dwarf eel finds them tasty

 

[Lloyd Williams]

I bought all these established rocks, didnt kbow about dipping, and now keep finding all kinds of suprises lol

Dipping is STRONGLY recommended. That being said... I don’t dip. I observe... a lot. But no dipping. I like the surprised!

 

[Rcpilot]

I'd get rid of both.

The star is an asterina. Some eat coraline algae. They reproduce like CRAZY. One will turn into a hundred in no time. A hundred turns into plague proportions soon thereafter. I had them once, in a 30H reef. I spent MONTHS sucking them out with a turkey baster. Finally got rid of them all, but it was a lot of time spent hunched over the tank and sucking them up-- one by one.

The emerald crab is usually okay until it gets larger. Some can turn into muderous heathens when they get larger. I've had them before. One grew very big and started attacking snails and fish. I watched the crab hunt a nessarious snail, dig it out of the sand bed, kill and eat it. I hunted him for months with a 2-prong fork. Finally stabbed the little bugger one night.
He promptly went down the garbage disposal with a resounding, "TAKE THAT YOU... YOU... YOU SNAIL EATING LITTLE DEVIL !!!"

 

[nrenn]

They reproduce like CRAZY. One will turn into a hundred in no time. A hundred turns into plague proportions soonn thereafter. I had them once, in a 30H reef. I spent MONTHS sucking them out with a turekey baster. Finally got rid of them all, but it was a lot of time spent hunched over the tank and sucking them up-- one by one."

I just read about harlequin shrimp eating starfish, maybe try that next time?

 

[N00B1]

I'd get rid of the star but keep the emerald crab. My emerald doesn't bother anything other than algae and it fun to watch sometimes. It will hold both its claws up and it appears to be waving at me from time to time.

 

[Rcpilot]

I just read about harlequin shrimp eating starfish, maybe try that next time?

What happens to the shrimp after all the asterinas are gone?

I'm not making a direct comment to you now @nrenn -- just thinking out loud.
It irritates me when people are lazy with QT, or don't QT at all. They get unwanted pests, and the solutiuon is sometimes to go and buy another live animal to deal with the pest "naturally". There's nothing natural about our reef aquarioums. It's a glass box, with a simulated environment, housing exotic animals from 1/2 way across the globe. Introducing a fish or other live animal to deal with a pest that SHOULD have been caught and removed in QT is shoddy IMO. How are you going to feed the animal when it eats all the pests?

Yes, some animals will eat the pests, and can survive on a supplemented diet of prepared foods. A lot can't. IMO is shows poor stewardship for the animals, and smacks of impatience and poor ethics. Again, going back to QT tanks..... most reef pests are, or can be, preventable. It just takes effort and patience.... 2 things that appear to be sorely lacking in todays society.

 

[saintsreturn]

pluck out the stars, they are not worth it and have a range of potential issues. The crab is great. Keep him. I have had them for a long time now and they have never killed a fish. Eaten one yes, but never killed. They keep algae down and mine works on little patches of GHA all day. Good guy in my opinion.

 

[nrenn]

What happens to the shrimp after all the asterinas are gone?

I was assuming they just liked starfish but could survive as any other shrimp. Did some more reading and turns out they pretty much only eat starfish or urchins, so probably wouldn't fair so well unless you continue sacrificing starfish to them. I'm in agreement, probably best to not need them in the first place

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