Life forms on live rock

wen123 · #1 04/22/2007, 05:01 PM

Hi
I am new to marine keeping (my partner is just setting up a tank), we are going to have live rock and I wanted to know what sort of hitchhikers there may be on this. I have heard that there could be snails, crabs, shrimps, worms. We have read that there could be Mantis shrimps living on it. I was just wondering what should we look out for that could be harmful to our tank (keeping some coral, hermits, shrimp and a couple of clowns).

Tank 40gal
20kg live rock
1" bed of sand
Deltec mce300 skimmer
Eheim 2026
4 x 24w T5

Many thanks for any information.

alexb518 · #2 04/22/2007, 05:07 PM

manthis shrimp...for sure. rule of thum (for me at least), is to kill/toss any crabs or snails. the worms are gross, but beneficial. but, you really can't tell what you're gonna end up with until you put it in your tank and see what's crawling around or growing on the rock. I put a new coral in mine the other day, and this morning i saw a little snail on my back glass, under the rocks. just waiting for him to come out so i can smash him. however, if you do see something obvious on there, throw it off before putting it in your tank.

reefshadow · #3 04/22/2007, 05:20 PM

Hey, Wen, [welcome]

As stated watch out for mantids, crabs, stars, snails, eunicid worms, flatworms, aiptasia, majanos, predatory isopods and a host of other creatures that may arrive.

You are going to have to cycle the rock anyway, which means you have alot of time to ID and remove anything that is suspect. In addition, the cycling process will generally kill off all but the hardiest of hitchhikers. Lots of HH's also have very specific dietary needs (nudibranches come to mind) and so will die off from starvation.

You are welcome to post any pics in the forum so we can take a crack at IDing them, we like to do that

Paintbug · #4 04/22/2007, 07:05 PM

here is a couple of links to help you ID anything that may pop up.

http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyu...tchhikers.html
http://www.melevsreef.com/id/
http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

wen123 · #5 04/23/2007, 02:10 PM

Hi alexb518
Thanks for your advice, I am new to the game of marine life and it has helped a lot.
Will keep you posted on how we get on.

wen123

CrystalAZ · #6 04/23/2007, 02:33 PM

Mantis shrimp are more common on Florida rock, and are not as common on other types of rock.

Snails are common, but I wouldn't rush to smash one if you see one. Get an ID first! Some are beneficial and very cool!

Most hitchhiker crabs are bad, but there are exceptions there too. Definitely get an ID before removing anything.

Most worms you get are good guys - bristleworms and peanut worms being most common.

Most pods you get are good too. Make sure you add fish slowly. That way if you do have any fish parasites in there, they will die off before you add fish.

You'll also almost definitely get some featherduster worms and sponges. They are good!

I have found that most hitchhikers are good additions and very interesting! My favorite was a small urchin who started out about quarter-sized, but has grown to baseball-sized.

Enjoy!

Crystal