Should you Really be so Scared of Hitchhikers?

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livinlifeinBKK

livinlifeinBKK

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Yes! what the heck is this thing?! I'm not sleeping tonight
I'm not sure what you're referring to specifically because all I see in the video is a piece of rock being zoomed in on.
$30 per Kg I think I paid.

Shipped in some water. Enough for hitch hikers to survive.

I scored many a hitch hiker. I mentioned earlier being there to see 2 octopus from one delivery. One was palm sized the other thumb nail size
30 ASD a kg makes sense and sounds well worth it! I wonder how they ship to the U.S. I've heard it's in water but who knows...I wasn't able to find much info online regarding that and of course if it's from the same location/quality as the stuff your LFS gets we'll probably never know
 

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I'm not sure what you're referring to specifically because all I see in the video is a piece of rock being zoomed in on.

30 ASD a kg makes sense and sounds well worth it! I wonder how they ship to the U.S. I've heard it's in water but who knows...I wasn't able to find much info online regarding that and of course if it's

from the same location/quality as the stuff your LFS gets we'll probably never know
Sorry just worried about parasites lol it's the worm!
 

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Twiztidninja

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Ok saw it now. Don't seem to have bristles.
I have a number of largish bristle worms. Been sort of stung once. Got a lot of filaments in me but none penetrated. I guess wearing gloves should be a must. Especially when lifting rocks
Yes it's weird! Here's a better video and I need gloves now!
 

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WheatToast

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What is Eunice?
Eunice is a genus of polychaete worms. Many are predatory and will consume other invertebrates (including corals) and fish. Eunice aphroditois, the bobbit worm, is one famous species of this genus that inhabits the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific and is sometimes found in the hobby:
 

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Im a 30 year reefer, and despite trying to avoid hitchhikers in my newest tank build using dry rock, dipping every frag and splicing existing corals off rocks and onto frag disks, I still ended up with bristle worms. Life finds a way! Bristle worm eggs are very hard to get rid of short of bleach or boiling. I left some old live rock in cold fresh water for a month and then cycled it in a bucket with turbo start thinking that would work. It may not have been enough. In my last build, the bristles did get out of control and would prevent me keeping shrimp and crabs as they eat them during molting at night when they are soft. It's likely down the road that I have that problem again, and there is nothing I can really do to remove all bristle worms from the system so I get why people take this approach. All I really can do now is target the large ones when they get big enough to do some damage (flashlight fishing at night with tweezers). The other common hitchhiker that causes a lot of grief is aptasia/majano anemones. These are manageable if you act fast and dont leave it. if they are left unchecked, Ive had good luck ridding the system of them with nudibranchs or f aptasia, just requires lots of time and effort and moving live rock around looking for new ones. Snails can also be one of the hitchikers that go nuts for a while, but they tend to starve if not fed with nori or have enough algae to graze.

I agree that most tag alongs either thrive and die off over time, or become a beneficial part of the system long term without much harm. But even the good ones can get in your way depending on what you are keeping.
 

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It depends on the tank obviously, but a lot of people seem to be terrified of fireworms. I got orange bearded fire worms on some live rock and let them be (figured I could just get them out anytime) and imho their reputation is undeserved. My fish etc leave them alone and vice versa- in fact my pistol shrimp lives in a cave with 2 of them. The oldest has been in the tank probably 5 years and is the fattest worm I've ever seen. They keep my rocks extremely clean and at night venture out to clean the edges of the tank. That said, he did eat the bottom of my gorgonians which have since been relocated.
Can we talk worst purchases?? Bought hermits and got thin-stripe black legs in the batch. Never again. The largest one is so big that he killed my Florida fighting conch for his shell.
 

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It depends on the tank obviously, but a lot of people seem to be terrified of fireworms. I got orange bearded fire worms on some live rock and let them be (figured I could just get them out anytime) and imho their reputation is undeserved. My fish etc leave them alone and vice versa- in fact my pistol shrimp lives in a cave with 2 of them. The oldest has been in the tank probably 5 years and is the fattest worm I've ever seen. They keep my rocks extremely clean and at night venture out to clean the edges of the tank. That said, he did eat the bottom of my gorgonians which have since been relocated.
Can we talk worst purchases?? Bought hermits and got thin-stripe black legs in the batch. Never again. The largest one is so big that he killed my Florida fighting conch for his shell.

I had to sump my thin stripe... he grew very large and was flipping over things lol what a brat! Came in with the random hermits... I now just buy the mexican red legs or blue legs since both stay small and no random surprises.
 
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I had to sump my thin stripe... he grew very large and was flipping over things lol what a brat! Came in with the random hermits... I now just buy the mexican red legs or blue legs since both stay small and no random surprises.
Just out of curiosity do you have any Digis? My blue legs like to climb to the top of my blue Digis for some weird reason and I've actually heard of others noticing the same thing... interesting behavior...
 

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Just out of curiosity do you have any Digis? My blue legs like to climb to the top of my blue Digis for some weird reason and I've actually heard of others noticing the same thing... interesting behavior...
I've got a dead stylo and almost dead green slimer and my hermits often climb up to top off them,just something they do,probably to just get high and pretend to be king off castle or whatever reason they do it for idk.
Often see them at very top off rocks all congregated together also,could be because closer to light so algae grows more/ better or because wavemakers blow more food/ detritis there to catch or get lodged on rocks or prefer higher flow or getting higher to survey what's going on or who's about,I guess list is endless ehy could be there,I used to get worried when put these 2 corals in or when they walk on any coral as keep thinking could they damage the coral as dragging along their shell or their sharp claws dig Into and damage the coral,but font think they cause any damage unless coral already unhealthy and algae growing on it or flesh wasting away and they eating it,so from lots off reading and watching the corals, came to conclusion all is ok ^_^

Not just blue legs do this,ally hermits do it
 

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Just out of curiosity do you have any Digis? My blue legs like to climb to the top of my blue Digis for some weird reason and I've actually heard of others noticing the same thing... interesting behavior...

they climb up gorgs a lot. Don’t remember if I ever saw them on the digi
 

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Mine also climb my gorgonians.
And then can't figure out how to get back down.
 

Eric Cohen

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Here’s some pics of the Australian live rock I just imported and have available. Didn’t come in with too many hitch hikers but as you can see the shape and color are really good. It’s super light weight so a great value for the buck! Hope ya like it.
 

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Here’s some pics of the Australian live rock I just imported and have available. Didn’t come in with too many hitch hikers but as you can see the shape and color are really good. It’s super light weight so a great value for the buck! Hope ya like it.
I really love how intricate the shapes are! Very beautiful! Shops here get similar pieces in fresh from the ocean from time to time and I always try to grab up as much as I can before it's gone!
 

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I really love how intricate the shapes are! Very beautiful! Shops here get similar pieces in fresh from the ocean from time to time and I always try to grab up as much as I can before it's gone!
There’s a place for all shapes and sizes except this darn big heavy pieces that weigh and cost a ton! I always have liked to offer a variety of styles and will add 2-3 different ones to our offerings soon. When I was in Fiji developing the rock there, we had many styles and sizes and even did special orders for X-Large or jumbo pieces.
 

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