Should you Really be so Scared of Hitchhikers?

Sink_or_Swim

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I'm in the group that purposely started their tank with dry rock to avoid hitchhikers. I religiously dip corals too... except for the one time I forgot, and that's how a bristleworm made its way into my tank. I also had a micro brittle star fall off a coral frag I dipped, and plopped it in the tank because it's another "good guy" hitchhiker.
I do know bristleworms are also good CUC and there are many good hitchhikers in general (so I understand the argument for them) but... they creep me out, I can't help it. :face-with-tears-of-joy: So I wanted it out of my tank, but never tried very hard to catch it. And then it grew HUGE. Thought it was a fireworm actually because it doesn't look much like a "normal" bristleworm and it has red tufts in between the white... but it hasn't bothered anything and I do see it pop out from under its rock and eat leftover food. So I've resigned myself to letting it stay, lol.
 

zdrc

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I'm a big fan of live rock. The only reason I got interested in reef tanks was for the biodiversity anyway. I don't dip either. I dipped the first few corals I got, but after I found some chitons on one of the corals I stopped. I have all the main pests too: aiptasia, bubble algae, vermitid snails, gorilla crabs, and even a eunice worm. Based on the headparts, I don't think the eunice worm is a bottit. I pull out the gorilla crabs when I get the chance, and I might pull the eunice worm too, especially if it starts getting big an eating things it shouldn't. The vermitid snails and aiptasia are not proliferating, I think the 10+ feather dusters I have compete with them for resources. The bubble algae is mildly annoying, and the only thing I really manually remove. Luckily it really struggles to grow on the rock, mostly growing on frag plugs, and snail shells instead.

It seems to me that keeping a tank sterile is a herculean task, and that basically everyone ends up with pests anyway. I wonder if bad hitchhikers can actually be worse in dry rock tanks, where the lack of competition allows them to grow unchecked.
 

ScubaFish802

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The first and only time I tried live rock it was filled with cirolanid isopods :grinning-face-with-sweat: I have gotten almost all of my bio-diversity from other reefers (frags, etc) and even then I have fought off planaria eating flatworms. Live rock is not cheap, so it just seemed like too much of a gamble for me to try again.. maybe someday - I fully agree that my ugly stage would have most likely have been much shorter with the established rock though (along with all the other benefits/jumpstarts).
 

Manc57

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I returned to the hobby after a very long break. Used dry Marco rock to get the rough scape layout I wanted, then supplemented with live rock both in the display and in the tank. Have seen a few cool hitchers in the DT, a small Asterina Star, a peanut worm, among others. My hope was that the live rock would help mitigate the uglies and didn't introduce any really bad hitchers. So far so good. Been cycled for 5 weeks and just added two small fish to my solitary clown that was added just after cycle complete. Slow and steady...:)
 

AwakenedReefer

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Ive only ever used live rock. And in 25 years of doing so I have yet to experience something that would turn me off of it.

I actually like to source live rock and sand from multiple sources/systems. I believe great diversity in a reef is important and with live rock you won’t have to pay an arm and a leg accomplishing it. I also greatly enjoy seeing what life comes out of it. Surprises happen but If you get a hater in your tank see it as a challenge to overcome. You will learn allotand develop patients in the process.

Nature flows, ebbs, and works together in lockstep. Its important to realize that, understand it, and work with it.
When we try to fight, control, or sanitize it then we can find ourselves on a rollercoaster over correcting and always struggling to do what nature would have done on its own.
 

Steph72

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I started mine with dry rock and have dipped everything. Despite my best efforts I managed to get pretty much every common hitchhiker in the book…bristle worms, aiptasia, Vermitid snails, the list goes on and on lol. I’ve just accepted that this is part of it and the only thing I absolutely had to remove was the aiptasia because it was stinging corals and getting out of control. No telling what lurks in those rocks…I’m not sure I want to know hahaha
 

flyingscampi

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I started this hobby fearing hitchhikers and used dry rock and sand etc. Fed up with a sterile looking tank, I added a lump of live rock and all sorts of things started appearing in the tank which were fascinating to watch. Other hitchhikers came in from corals which I didn't dip because they came from a stunning display tank in my LFS.

My tank is now crawling with all the usual suspects, scuttling from one hiding place to another. The occasional bristle worm emerges from the sand like a scene from Dune to tuck into a meaty pellet. Tentacles emerge from crevices in the rock to wave gently in the current, as well as the delicate feathers of small filter worms.

My rocks and sand are cleaned of algae, and the corals are healthy, so, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
 
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livinlifeinBKK

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I started this hobby fearing hitchhikers and used dry rock and sand etc. Fed up with a sterile looking tank, I added a lump of live rock and all sorts of things started appearing in the tank which were fascinating to watch. Other hitchhikers came in from corals which I didn't dip because they came from a stunning display tank in my LFS.

My tank is now crawling with all the usual suspects, scuttling from one hiding place to another. The occasional bristle worm emerges from the sand like a scene from Dune to tuck into a meaty pellet. Tentacles emerge from crevices in the rock to wave gently in the current, as well as the delicate feathers of small filter worms.

My rocks and sand are cleaned of algae, and the corals are healthy, so, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Live Rock is the cure for so many problems in reefing I feel
 

jabberwock

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My biggest fear with live rock is the price tag. So I don't use it.
Just get some, you don't have to build out your entire tank with it. Shipping is really where it gets you. I drove to Tampa for local pickup! My wife said she wanted to join me, so, so much for saving a few bucks on shipping...
 

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