Just got some Kp live rock and im wondering How to do a hypo salinity dip on the live rock to get rid of the hitchhikers?
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What type of light can I use to see the little critters?It is not a bobbit worm. It may be some other species of eunicid, which you would probably want to remove, but I guarantee that's not a bobbit.
I tried for a week to try to find it but I couldn’t find it, so I’m assuming it died. So I just put the rock in my tank, if that worm got in my tank am I screwed?A regular flashlight with red tissue paper over the lens will spook them least, but you can go at it with a regular flashlight. Have a cup of tank water, some tweezers/tongs, and a turkey baster ready, sneak up, put the light over the bucket, and grab anything you want a better look at. Photograph it in the cup to get an ID, and you can then either put it in your tank or humanely euthanize it, depending on what it is.
You are not screwed. You'll find pests from time to time. You can: 1) Get fish or inverts that eat them; sneak up on them at night and kill or remove them; or trap them. This is a normal part of starting with live rock. It is still waaaaaaay better starting with dry rock... IMO.I tried for a week to try to find it but I couldn’t find it, so I’m assuming it died. So I just put the rock in my tank, if that worm got in my tank am I screwed?
Any animal that can eat them?If the eunicid got into your tank, it might chew on corals that are next to its burrow, or it might eat algae/detritus/etc and nothing else. They're not a very big deal, really.
I did a hypo dip at 1.040-1.045 twice for around 5-10 minutes but all that came out was one bristle star and like three good worms, so the dip didn't really work for some reason.You are not screwed. You'll find pests from time to time. You can: 1) Get fish or inverts that eat them; sneak up on them at night and kill or remove them; or trap them. This is a normal part of starting with live rock. It is still waaaaaaay better starting with dry rock... IMO.
A Hypersalinity dip (.043 ish) for the rest of the rock will make many of the inhabitants, but not all, evacuate the rock. You can then separate them between good and bad and place the rock and the good critters in the tank. You get the rest as above.
Like all things in reefing, your mileage may vary. Just press on. Everything is fine. Remember, reefing is a process.I did a hypo dip at 1.040-1.045 twice for around 5-10 minutes but all that came out was one bristle star and like three good worms, so the dip didn't really work for some reason.
Any trap or anything I can’t catch it withThat's what hypo dips do; they dislodge any mobile critters that are near the surface of the rock, good or bad. They don't get to anything deep.
Nothing you'd want in a reef will eat a large eunicid. Not a live large eunicid, at least.
What should I use as bait to make it come out of the rock so I can grab it if it’s still around?A bottle trap might have some small chance of getting it, but they're a critter you get by spotting it at night and grabbing it, not by trapping it.
Even with the pests, it's still leagues ahead of the next best option in my opinion.Maybe next time don't buy live rock lol
Arrow crabs should hunt them until they get to large.Any trap or anything I can’t catch it with
Even with the pests, it's still leagues ahead of the next best option in my opinion.
There are other options to introduce ocean microbes to the tank without the pests. Also, stony corals and shells are essentially live rock. Vast amounts of microbes likely come via corals, fish, snails, crabs, etc., so no matter what, someone gets "live rock."
Just because you and I can't Explain it, because we don't understand it, doesn't mean it is irrelevant. Anecdotally, we have all seem how coral grow (and often dont) in a sterile microbiome.Also, "beneficial bacteria" is more of a superstition in the hobby rather than anything concrete. Its just something that people guess is doing something but no one really knows whether they make a difference or not and what that difference would be.
It may come out for a chunk of dead shrimp left near its hole at night. People usually catch these by checking with a flashlight and happening to spot it, or by theirs getting bold and starting to come out during the day.What should I use as bait to make it come out of the rock so I can grab it if it’s still around?
What should I use as bait to make it come out of the rock so I can grab it if it’s still around?