NanooNanoo Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 My 10 gal nano tank is almost 9 months old. So far, so good. Everyone in there seems happy and content and the coral is turning a beautiful purple. I just noticed a little creature that looks like what I am calling a "sea slug". He has no color but resembles the color of the sand, kind of like a grey/white. He has gone on the corals and goes on the glass and is about 3/4 of an inch long. He looks like a snail like creature without the shell. I don't know where he came from but I'd like to know if he's good to have, what he is, and if he's harmful and any other info you might have. Thanks. Link to comment
janasleah Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Maybe a stomatella snail? Does he have any shell at all, a little plate-like thing on his back, maybe? Link to comment
mikedege Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 yep, its a stomatella snail. there good, be happy. btw, it usually takes a while before you notice you have them. It took my tank about 7-8 months. have fun, Mike;) Link to comment
aleiodubua Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I found mine the first week, and he's doubled in size over 4 months. Link to comment
jenniebutterfly Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 actually if it has no shell it may be a flatworm. but if it is a stomatella, you will have tons in a month or two Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I doubt it's a flatworm--I'll bet it's a stomatella. They're cute little fellas, and little bunnies, they are. Link to comment
lavalars Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I had one in my tank almost 2 weeks after I set it up, but I havent seen it since. ;( Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 They hide well, and they're mostly nocturnal. Check after lights-out. Link to comment
dianne Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Or it could be a type of "bubble shell" sea slug - I've read about them somewhere (getting old, memory selective) and have seen something like what you've described in my tank. Looks as though they have a tiny internal shell. Harmless, small, and kinda cute. Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Doubtful--they're pretty uncommon in reef tanks. But they're pretty easy to tell apart: the "bubble shell" sea slug looks like a puffed-up balloon with little "bunny-ears" for rhinopores, and the shell isn't visible at all (covered by the mantle). They come in varying shades of brown. The Stomatella looks like a flatter version, and has a little flat, circular cap on its back that hardly covers it at all. The antennae are tiny, short and thin. These guys can be any shade of gray, usually, and can sometimes be jet-black. The grays can have ANY color highlights, including green, pink, white, brown, etc. Nice little fellas; it's cute to let them crawl around on your fingers. (Careful, though; they'll drop their tails if stressed, and that's not really good for them.) Both are good to have, though. Link to comment
dianne Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Doubtful--they're pretty uncommon in reef tanks. But they're pretty easy to tell apart: the "bubble shell" sea slug looks like a puffed-up balloon with little "bunny-ears" for rhinopores, and the shell isn't visible at all (covered by the mantle). That describes one of the animals that came in with my sand, but the sand was collected by a friend - not bagged from the lfs. The shell looks like a tiny bump in the slugs back. Usually they crawl, but sometimes they swim. I also have stomatellas, but they seem to have come in with the rock. Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 If you can see the shell, then it's a stomatella. How large is the creature in question? Both stomatellas and bubble-shell slugs are about the size of the end section of your pinky digit. Link to comment
dianne Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Originally posted by Caesar777 If you can see the shell, then it's a stomatella. How large is the creature in question? Both stomatellas and bubble-shell slugs are about the size of the end section of your pinky digit. That's the size of both animals, the larger ones, that is. The bubble shells are whitish, semi-transparent. I can't actually see the internal shells, just a round bump. The stomatellas are brownish, and their shells are obvious. The first time I saw one of the bubble-shells, it looked almost as though one of the bean clams had gone skinny-dipping. Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 "it looked almost as though one of the bean clams had gone skinny-dipping." That's adorable. Link to comment
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