Jump to content
Top Shelf Aquatics

THE ULTIMATE ID THREAD! Before you post WHATS THIS? LOOK HERE!


Helfrichs Chick

Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I think i have Asteriniid stars. they look like Campbells Chiken and Stars soup and they have taken over my tank. I hope they are the harmless kind, but since they have taken over my tank, how do i get rid of them?

 

Here is a pic attached

post-32863-1197345303_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
I think i have Asteriniid stars. they look like Campbells Chiken and Stars soup and they have taken over my tank. I hope they are the harmless kind, but since they have taken over my tank, how do i get rid of them?

 

Here is a pic attached

 

unlimited food supply for Harlequin shrimps!

Link to comment

The harmful critter section scared me, literally. I fear for my tank now.. :scarry:

 

I also fear for my mantis tank, because I have reason to believe that there is a MANTIS in it... :wacko:

 

But every thing was very helpful, except now Im scared.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Helfrichs Chick

Nanu Nanu: Def a zoa nudi... hate to tell you this hun but you should take out all of your Zoas and give them a FW and Lugols dip. Where there is one nudi there are more.

 

Doapamine: Yea definatly a softie nudi. Most come in on finger leathers from what I have encountered. Check the underside of all leathers and especially at night. They can do some real damage... dont forget to look for eggs too.

 

Vic: :wub:

 

Plankton: Only good way is to remove them manually. Find someone with some harlequin shrimp, they eat them right up!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...

Thank you for this Incredible list, I have searched everywhere for the fan worms that I didnt know were fan worms until this post and now Im like 'whew' so first a thank you to you... Now my question to you is do the fan worms also come in a blackish gray color? (Not very pretty, but thats ok if it is harmless) the 'fan' is kind of crown shaped? I mean it isnt flat like a fan but more like in a circle? I kept calling it a tiny feather duster like thing but the internet did not comprehend, lol. So that is my little mystery critter, blackish gray feather-y crown, about a quarter to a half inch long that sucks back in when you get near him. Thank you! Tanya

 

Ok I see sooooo many “WHAT IS THIS” posts. I decided to make a thread where people can come look BEFORE they post. SO I hope this helps someone. Also help pass this along to anyone who is looking for an ID. Its taken me a while but let me know if I forgot anything I will add it. Its going to be very basic with a brief description and with pictures that will be under each description. The goals of this is not to provide information to get rid of the hitchhikers, or any detailed info but to simply ID them and then leave it up to you to search and find more information on removal of critters and algae.

 

I will start with the harmless critters:

 

Amphipods, Copepods, Good Isopods and Just Bugs: Pics in that order. HARMLESS

Now there are some 5,000 species so I will list the most common ones. These are all harmless, you will see them on the glass rocks and your hand if you leave it in there long enough, These are the most common species. Pictures in this order, Amphipods, Copepods, Isopods.

amphipod.jpgcopepod.jpgisopod.jpg

 

Mysis Shrimp: HARMLESS

You will probably only get a short glimpse they are VERY fast lol. You will almost always see them in your fuge, sump or back in the LR at night. At night with a flashlight their eyes will glow. They also make great tasty treats for your fish so as they reproduce toss them in the display!

mysis.jpg

 

Bristle Worms: HARMLESS

Jury is out on these, but IMO if they stay small they are harmless and actually keep your sand nice and clean. There are also large other species that can be very damaging to a reef tank, they will be listed later.

bristleworm1.jpg

 

Spirorbis: HARMLESS

Tiny while calcareous worms, that mostly will develop in the dark areas. Filter feeders and a sign your tank is doing well, very common.

spirorbis-cf-inornatus-wb1-600x400.jpg

 

Feather Duster Worms: HARMLESS

Again like pods there are too many to list here however they are harmless filter feeders, and some can be BEAUTIFUL! I have some red spotted ones and some pretty frilly white ones.

Feather-duster-22.jpgCreature-Feather-Duster-Worm.jpg

 

Stomatellas: HARMLESS

Probably the most common “WHATS THAT!?!?!” Looks like a snail with ½ a shell. You’ve got to love these guys they are SOO cute! If I could buy them at my LFS I would. GREAT algae grazers, and have been known to even eat cyano.

Stomatella2.jpgstomatella.jpg

Link to comment

WOw this is def the ultimate id thread.. Love it. But, the sundial snail? I never knew he was harmful! I have one living in one of my nanos.. Hope he didnt lay any eggs. I guess he gots to go now!! :naughtydance:

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for all the hard work HC. I was trying to figure out what kind of snail hitchhiked onto my colony of zoas. According to your pictures, it looks like a Stomatella snail. :happy:

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

How big are Spaghetti worms? The picture looks like it is standing up. Do they always do that? the other day I woke up and went to stare at my live rock (that is all I have so far...it has been in there for 9 days) and I saw all of these little tube like trails in my sand and over some lower parts of the rock. I figured it was some kind of worm. Well just now I saw something. At the end of one of the sand tube/trail things I saw what looked like spider webs waving in the water. They are very fine and white. When I got a better angle I was able to see through the sand tube/path thing (my sand it white). The end looked like it had something in it that was a brownish orangey color. And the spidery web things seemed to be coming from it. Then I saw one little weby thing grab a little black speck off the sand and move is closer to the.... mouth I guess. But it is all so little it is hard to tell. The sand tube/path it seems to be leaving is only about 1 - 1.5 mm wide. Could this be a spaghetti worm? If so should I try to get rid of it? I almost grabbed the turkey baster right away to try to suck it out. I figured I might not ever be able to find it again. But I couldn't bring myself to do it with out knowing what it was. It would have been creepy if it was bigger. Some the the webby/tentacle-type things were reaching out about an inch and half! At first I though there were two until I saw that they all brought the gunk they grabbed back to the same place.

 

Any advice will be great. As you can see I am very new at all of this. Other then an Amphipod this is the first life I have seen other then the algae that seem to grow each time I leave the room for 5 minutes!

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
revaltion131
Awesome all!!! I added a collonista snails .... they look similar to sundials yet very tiny. Glad this is so informative for you all!

 

Very happy you added those, saved me a forum thread! Took a flashlight to my rocks after I turned off the light on the first night and found about ten of those little guys in an area that couldn't have been more than 5 square inches. All of them were barely bigger than pinheads. I did think they were sundials at first, and was worried I'd be stuck plucking them off with tweezers for years. I turned on the tank light to get a pic since my camera won't do dark shots, and all but one were gone when I got back to the tank.

 

I'm pretty sure the white worm-looking things are the remains of various calcareus(sp?) worms. They're hollow tubes that are about bone-white. Some are long while others are very short. Is that what I am looking at as far as those go?

Link to comment

Awesome job HC ...

 

I did not seem to find a description of a type of rock worm that will create holes in LR or eat the stony part of your frogspawn. I have spotted a worm in the rock that is like purple/blue color. Not sure what that is ... any ideas?

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
Reefer-tron

I was frightened to find something new in my tank today that was indestructible. Luckily I found this thread and have since declared him a chiton! I had never heard of these guys before and there are others here that are new to me.

 

 

Thanks for your time this works great!

Link to comment

What do you think this is? It does not seem like flatworm because it does not move like a slug. It is only 2-3 mm long and it runs kinda fast and looks like it can swim in the water too. Is this the Cirolanid isopod or some other kind of isopod? I found these on a set of ricordea I just bought. They were hiding at the back side of the rock.

post-28763-1209861304_thumb.jpg

Edited by bluesky
Link to comment
What do you think this is? It does not seem like flatworm because it does not move like a slug. It is only 2-3 mm long and it runs kinda fast and looks like it can swim in the water too. Is this the Cirolanid isopod or some other kind of isopod? I found these on a set of ricordea I just bought. They were hiding at the back side of the rock.

 

Identified by Diane as "A specific kind of sphaeromatid commonly called a "sand skater." Reef safe."

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...