so many hitchhikers/nuisance algae!

mizimmer90

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How many pests/nuisance/hitchhikers is normal for a new tank?

My tank has been up for ~4 months, and I feel like I've seen so many unexpected visitors! I haven't added anything new in over 2 months, yet I'm still discovering new critters every week! So far, I've gotten:

Asterina starfish
Barnacles
Bristle worms
Bryopsis
Bubble algae
Cyanobacteria
Diatoms
Dinoflagellates
Isopods
Film algae
Green hair algae
Spirorbid worms
Unknown tiny snails
Vermatid snails

Despite the many intruding guests, I'm still in love with this hobby and excited to see what's next!
 

Dan_P

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How many pests/nuisance/hitchhikers is normal for a new tank?

My tank has been up for ~4 months, and I feel like I've seen so many unexpected visitors! I haven't added anything new in over 2 months, yet I'm still discovering new critters every week! So far, I've gotten:

Asterina starfish
Barnacles
Bristle worms
Bryopsis
Bubble algae
Cyanobacteria
Diatoms
Dinoflagellates
Isopods
Film algae
Green hair algae
Spirorbid worms
Unknown tiny snails
Vermatid snails

Despite the many intruding guests, I'm still in love with this hobby and excited to see what's next!
Your experience sounds “normal”
 

pandaparties

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It's all part of the game, some people keep crystal clear tanks with no pests but I feel like it's a losing battle. All about creating an ecosystem! Keep your nutrients under control, get a proper cleanup crew and things will sort out. I have a nice looking tank filled with aiptasia, spirobids, limpets, sponges, vermetids etc. Find things that eat them and it'll all balance out
 
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mizimmer90

mizimmer90

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I gotta see pics of this menagerie. You started with live ocean rock? Or dead rock?

I've been working tirelessly to keep this tank clean! So I think it's looking pretty good so far (you can follow my build thread for general pics).

Otherwise, here are some pics of the critters/algaes.

Barnacles
White light definitely helps! Good call


Bristle worm:
Just happened to walk past my tank with the lights off and noticed something lurking around... upon closer inspection I saw it was a fairly long bristle worm!!! Eeeek!!

I panicked, grabbed my tweezers and fished him right out! Flushed him.. Poor little guy didn't even put up a fight and I actually feel really bad for it... pic below is after I poured some freshwater on it (curled up instantly)

20221206_203059.jpg


My big question is: how the hell did I get it? My tank has had corals in it for about a month (all small frags). I started the tank with dry rock and sand and dipped everything before going in. Did something come in a frag as a microscopic baby and grow this massive in a month??? Are there more lurking (I assume yes)?

And don't reply telling me they're beneficial lol. Granted, I had way more empathy for it than I was expecting, but I'm not about having a tank full of things that make me scared to put a bare hand in!

Hair algae:
I have a bunch of red grape macroalgae in my display tank that is covered in hair algae! I don't know how to clean it.

My macro lost all its little grapes when I first got it, but has been slowly regrowing them. The issue is that yanking the hair algae off knocks off the small growing grapes! I spend 2 hours every weekend delicately pulling off the hair algae, but in 2 days, it grows back in full force! Any ideas on how I can clean these?

I can pull the algae out of the tank and dip them, but I don't know what to dip them in. I tried a freshwater dip but it didn't do much. I am considering a peroxide dip but I don't want to hurt the macro.

Full tank photo and zoom in on the macro (completely covered and weighed down) in the background:

20221208_204926.jpg


20221206_154926.jpg

spirorbid worms:
20230205_174156.jpg


Bryopsis on a snail:
20221112_145835.jpg


Vermatid was found a few days ago on my alveopora and was removed instantly. Same for the Asterina!
 

Tamberav

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It's normal. Half the things you listed I don't even consider a real pest.
 
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