Newbie with hitchhikers (questions I'm sure you're sick of)

[AGWL]

A week ago, I took in a 23-gallon tank from a friend who didn't want to care for it anymore (long story). It has two pieces of live rock, a clownfish, a banded coral shrimp, a small mushroom coral, and a small assortment of snails and hermits. Okay, cool.

Tank was in pretty gross shape and it's been about 20 years since I last had a saltwater tank. I'm working on getting it cleaned up and am actually hoping to move everything over to a 55-gallon at some point in the future, fingers crossed.

Anyway, the hitchhikers in question:

1. Fairly certain it's a hydroid. Yes? Only seeing the one at this point, but who knows. Should I remove it?

2. Bristle worms? There are a couple of the same rock as the hydroid (?), plus I'm seeing some in the substrate. Do I need to worry?

Should I just chuck the whole rock?

Thank you all for your patience with a newbie. I looked over the pinned thread re: hitchhikers and just want to make sure if I should be freaking out or not.

 

[WheatToast]

A week ago, I took in a 23-gallon tank from a friend who didn't want to care for it anymore (long story). It has two pieces of live rock, a clownfish, a banded coral shrimp, a small mushroom coral, and a small assortment of snails and hermits. Okay, cool.

Tank was in pretty gross shape and it's been about 20 years since I last had a saltwater tank. I'm working on getting it cleaned up and am actually hoping to move everything over to a 55-gallon at some point in the future, fingers crossed.

Anyway, the hitchhikers in question:

1. Fairly certain it's a hydroid. Yes? Only seeing the one at this point, but who knows. Should I remove it?

2. Bristle worms? There are a couple of the same rock as the hydroid (?), plus I'm seeing some in the substrate. Do I need to worry?

Should I just chuck the whole rock?

Thank you all for your patience with a newbie. I looked over the pinned thread re: hitchhikers and just want to make sure if I should be freaking out or not.

1. Appears to be emerging from a calcareous tube, so my guess would be a fan/tube/feather duster worm. Harmless filter-feeder.
2. Young common bristleworm. Good detritivores/scavengers that will multiply over time. Be careful when handling them since their bristles will painfully break off in your skin.
The common bristleworms have pink skin with grey innards. Undesirable fireworms have grey skin and prominent red tufts (their gills) amongst their bristles.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Agreed with WheatToast above- the first seems to be a feather duster worm (personally, I’d keep it), and the bristleworms, while arguably unsightly, are actually harmless/beneficial. If you have more of them than you would like, then you could probably add in a small wrasse (like a sixline) or something else that should eat them and thin the numbers a bit without overstocking your tank.

Edit: should have clarified, regular bristleworms are harmless (yours are regular ones) - fireworms, as mentioned, are not.

 

[damsels are not mean]

1. Looks like a feather duster, you'll probably get a wave at the beginning and then a dieoff then some stabilization in the long term, assuming there is enough of them to breed. Harmless and indicates good spots to put filter feeders if you want any once the tank stabilizes.

2. Regular ol' bristleworm. They are ubiquitous in every tank, harmless, and beneficial as they help break down organic matter quickly. Fireworms are obvious because they are bigger and nastier looking. That is not a fireworm.

 

[AGWL]

Thank you all so much. I'm pretty skeeved out by the bristle worms and I have admonished my banded coral shrimp for not doing his job (I've read they like to eat them).

As for the feather duster, it appears to be actually attached to the shell of a hermit crab! It's still on the rock, but when I looked at it this morning, I could see a claw and there were eyes looking back at me. Hahahaha. Doofus. Trying to figure out if I should move him from the rock, but figure he got himself there, he can probably get out if he wants.

 

[damsels are not mean]

Thank you all so much. I'm pretty skeeved out by the bristle worms and I have admonished my banded coral shrimp for not doing his job (I've read they like to eat them).

Any natural predator solution is hit or miss. I have tried feeding bristleworms to my banded shrimp, no dice. Yesterday I saw my clownfish playing with a bristleworm in her mouth then going on to swallow it.