Identify Please, unknowns on my Live Rock

[Copingwithpods]

One thing you'll learn in this hobby is nothing good ever happens fast, and that includes cycling a tank. Live rock is great for jump starting a tank but as you're starting to notice it isn't without its down sides. For this reason most people now a days choose to start a tank with dry rock and live sand. Makes for a lengthy cycle but it avoids the hitchhikers we all hate all together.

So far by your pictures I have seen (that I can positively ID)

Glass anemone
vermetid snails
spirorbid worms

All normal hitchhikers and not end of the world scenarios. That's not to say you won't have to deal with some of these as they will impact your corals down the road. I don't want this to come off as discouraging as most of us including myself have dealt with all 3 of these even though I started with dry rock and dipped all my corals. These can enter your tank in many ways frag plugs and hermit/snail shells so don't second guess your live rock choice.

My advice, test your tank and keep it as stable as possible. Enjoy all the creatures in the rock. It is an incredibly wonderful feeling discovering new life forms every day. Take note of them, take pictures and do your research. If you can't take pictures of them sketch them on a piece of paper best you can for identification. Remove the bad ones and keep the good ones but above all enjoy the experience.

 

[Copingwithpods]

From the video it looks to be a brittle star of some kind.

There are many species so a good picture of when it's out and about (probably late at night) is your best bet for a positive id.

 

[GibsonGuitars]

From the video it looks to be a brittle star of some kind.

There are many species so a good picture of when it's out and about (probably late at night) is your best bet for a positive id.
[/QUOTE]
Yup, I think there are at least two of not three of those hidden inside the rock. Are they also invasive?

 

[fishguy242]

no good cuc

 

[GibsonGuitars]

thanks again for all the help. I fully expect another 6-10 species to be visible by morning... half of them pests... This can’t be normal for a LFS to send home a Noob with a rock like this is it? Is there any way this actually came from a tank, or was this pulled from the ocean? I am not sure how happy I am with this rock right now

 

[fishguy242]

be happy fully established rock,enjoy

 

[GibsonGuitars]

Ok, it is just a little overwhelming to start a clean tank with a few undesirable pests, wasn’t the plan , lol... I should probably stop googling “is this (insert something identified on the rock) a problem” because it’s showing me tanks overrun with whatever I search for...

 

[fishguy242]

lol sit back and relax ,take care of that glass nem asap ,who needs google you have r2r

 

[GibsonGuitars]

How do I kill the glass nem? Is it safe to touch? Cause that sucker Looks like a jelly fish and my natural instincts say don’t touch it! Also, the vermetid snails and the spiro worms? Do I ignore those for now? Tomorrow I’ll start a built thread as recommended...

 

[OKCorals]

How do I kill the glass nem? Is it safe to touch? Cause that sucker Looks like a jelly fish and my natural instincts say don’t touch it! Also, the vermetid snails and the spiro worms? Do I ignore those for now? Tomorrow I’ll start a built thread as recommended...

Glass anemones are also referred to as aiptaisa, peppermint shrimp are known to eat them, or you can purchase one of the fairly expensive wands and them yourself. They're not the end of the world, but can be annoying to battle. I mean I've seen public aquariums with aiptasia problems but the coral in their tanks are still fine. If the population blows up, then they can start bothering your coral, but it's not the end of the world to have some aiptasia in your tank. There are also aiptasia eating nudibranchs you can get.

Ricordea mushrooms are not anemones, by the way. As far as your zoa, that looks like it may be a radioactive dragon eyes zoa as pictured here:

Although the color on yours looks a little faded, but can return in time.

Vermetid snails can also be annoying, but are also no the end of the world. I would just try to remove them when you find them. I usually take the bone cutters I have for fragging and cut the entire shell off of whatever it's stuck to. Vermetid snails send out a mucus net that they use to catch food that can irritate coral. You want to make sure you get the entire shell or they may grow back. People also have success super gluing the opening of the shell so the snail is stuck inside and starves to death.

I have no recommendation on the spiro worms as I haven't dealt with or read about those, but I guess I should look into them now.

 

[HOOPDEEZ]

You may want to add a small powerhead to add flow as well. Flow will help minimize algae blooms in the tank and help keep coral healthy. A lot of people point the return at the surface, and use power heads as the main source of flow. Don’t worry too much about the pests, next time you plan on a water change, I would take the rock out and remove the aiptasia and vermited snails with a screwdriver or side cutters. Make sure to get all the aiptasia and scrape where is was attached to the rock really well. Then while the rock is out dip it in the waste water to remove any pest pieces and reef on

 

[brandon429]

agreed this live rock is preferable to any other type of start, he has less chance of getting dinos/tank wreckers. threads show how to remove the offenders/screwdriver and surgery outside tank is best.

 

[GibsonGuitars]

Thanks very much, I do have a small Wavemaker I purchased and was planning to install it yesterday before I got sidetracked with all of the oddities on my rock. It seems cheaper than it looked online, I may buy something better like the $87 Currant USA set up with the remote, cool realistic setting and a timer... or maybe pop the $199 for that Nero 5 mini one... any recommendations between those two or another I haven’t look at for a better Wavemaker?

 

[OKCorals]

Thanks very much, I do have a small Wavemaker I purchased and was planning to install it yesterday before I got sidetracked with all of the oddities on my rock. It seems cheaper than it looked online, I may buy something better like the $87 Currant USA set up with the remote, cool realistic setting and a timer... or maybe pop the $199 for that Nero 5 mini one... any recommendations between those two or another I haven’t look at for a better Wavemaker?

My only advice on wavemakers is to not go cheap (too late it sounds). You'll just end up buying the cheap one and then a more expensive one later. I learned that one the hard way.

 

[Bfragale]

Cool find! Glad you got good hitchhikers. Nice score!

 

[GibsonGuitars]

And by the way, I am up to 4 glass anemones now...

 

[Bfragale]

And by the way, I am up to 4 glass anemones now...

Glass anemone- is that aptasia? If so, not so good hitchhicker. I would research methods of killing the aptasia.
I use a paste made of kelkwasser and put a blob over aptasia and it kills it. You can’t treat a lot at once because Kalk will raise Cal and Ph in tank. But if it’s aptasia they can spread pretty fast.

 

[GibsonGuitars]

My only advice on wavemakers is to not go cheap (too late it sounds). You'll just end up buying the cheap one and then a more expensive one later. I learned that one the hard way.

Yes, I figure if the cheap one didn’t work out I could use the cheap pump for other circulation needs ...like mixing saltwater if I decide to brave that challenge or other needs.

 

[OKCorals]

Yes, I figure if the cheap one didn’t work out I could use the cheap pump for other circulation needs ...like mixing saltwater if I decide to brave that challenge or other needs.

That's exactly what I've done with my cheap pumps haha.

 

[OKCorals]

And by the way, I am up to 4 glass anemones now...

You might want to make solving this problem your priority on your tank for now. Aiptaisa can definitely become a big problem if you let it, so tackle it while it's still manageable. I know the tone sounds a little different than my previous post on aiptasia, but I just didn't want to discourage you. The aiptasia may still be manageable now, so get after it.