|
Home | Marine Aquariums |
Freshwater Aquariums |
Planted Aquariums |
Brackish Systems |
Ponds,
lakes & fountains |
Turtles & Amphibians |
Aquatic Business |
Aquatic Science |
Ask the WWM Crew a Question |
Please visit our Sponsors | ||||
- ID Questions - Good morning WWM peoples, A bunch of questions from watching my tank most of the night and seeing some strange things.. Pics are at http://www.geocities.com/cypren/fish.html 1) First is while peering through the tank with my flashlight I was suddenly startled by something moving real fast all over and the only thing I know that moves fast (my blenny, the only fish ATM) was in my view. It was a wormlike thing spiraling about very fast and very erratically. It did this for almost three minutes going crazy all over the tank. It was about 3.5-4" long light brown-nearly translucent except for a dark stripe down the center- on what I assume was the top. The head was a little darker and I noticed no legs or other appendages or anything except I believe it had two antennae on the head. hard to get details due to very thin size. 3 pics near top After the crazy spiral about it landed and began to crawl very slowly all over the sand on the bottom. I can not imagine how something so slow on the sand could of launched itself to swim about like that! <Sounds like a worm... was that what the question was?> 2) Second is a snail like creature - I believe it is some kind of Nudibranch but I honestly have never seen one so I am not sure... It was about 1" in length had two eyes, two projections 1/3 of the way back and halfway down the back three more projections standing up.. almost translucent and pinkish in color. 2 pics bottom right <Does sound like a Nudibranch but impossible to tell from those photographs.> 3) The snail I sent pics of a while back for Id climbed out of the sand - it has been seen only one other time in the past few weeks - up the glass and started snorkeling or something. I was sticking a tube up out of the water (yes OUT of the water!- it was constricting almost like it was trying to breathe air) and it was and moving around at top of tank doing this for a few hours. Any idea what's up with that? <Nope... could be an amphibious snail, many collected for the marine hobby are this way, unfortunately. Again, this is just a guess.> I took a bunch of pics of this cuz it was just plain weird IMO... 4) How can you tell the difference between a Crossosalarias macrospilus (trip spot blenny) and Salarias ceramensis & Salarias fasciatus (lawnmower blenny)? I know that might be a tricky one but any idea where I might find the info? <Take a look on fishbase.org - search for both fishes. There are differences is distribution and coloration.> Do the spots that are reflective/shiny have anything to do with the way they change coloration? <No shiny things that I am aware of.> Also if I hadn't seen the pics on your sight of the blennies I wouldn't have believed you actually get a pic of them! =D 5) Re copepods and relations... A friend has a 55 gal with med coral substrate and an UGF. He has had a Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus ) that he has kept for ~9 months and it is always active, well filled out and always eating voraciously. Yet somehow his tank is always crawling with 'pods! Tanks been up for ~10 months maybe, with only about 40 lbs of live rock and no skimmer. Any idea why/how the 'pods are so abundant? <You should ask him, not me.> Could it be related to the UGF or no skimmer or both? <No idea.> Any clue on this? <Perhaps just lucky - good live rock, good starter kit, could be any number of reasons.> Apologies for the length and thanks for any help/insights - JCasey <Cheers, J -- > Reef tank invader? 1/4/03 My friend from a pet store and I have come to challenge ourselves with making simplistic reef aquariums, using merely live rock (much cheaper than buying sensitive anemones), and seeing what will grow under nothing more than a 50/50 reef light. We were told it couldn't be done, but my friend who got the head start on me already has a good deal of life growing on her live rock in only a 5 gallon mini aquarium. <A great experiment! As you have seen, good quality live rock can have plenty of interesting critters waiting to come out. Many of us don't get to enjoy them because of the predators we add (fish, hermit crabs, etc.)> When it comes to my own, first off, I'd like to know about this invader that I have in it. Aside from all the problems that I have with identifying an eel in my main 55 gallon fresh/brackish water aquarium, I somehow brought in this little worm/caterpillar looking thing that fell out of my liverock that I bought for my experiment. Well, the experiment is inside of a 10 gallon. Assuming it at first to be some sort of lifeless or dead matter, I grabbed it to toss it out of the aquarium, and then felt this horrible sting. My hand went numb and now I'm taking a very long time to type this email one handed since my other hand is a blimp, and by time I had come back from rinsing and cleaning my hand, the little thing was gone. I was told by the people at the store that I picked up a fireworm, but I cant find anything about pictures on your website for the time being. <It certainly sounds like some kind of bristle worm. True "fire worms" are Caribbean endemics, so unless you got your rock from Florida, it is just a generic bristle worm. I would suggest getting medical attention. The bristles on the worm penetrate your skin and break off. Sometimes they contain a mild toxin. The bristles can cause an infection or you could be hypersensitive to the toxin. In the future, handling live rock and such critters with gloves is highly recommended!> Will I ever see this wretch again so I can mutilate him with a tweezers in vengeance before throwing him away? <It really is kind of harsh to seek vengeance on a critter that has been dragged from it's home, sent around the world and defending itself in the only way it knows how.> Aside from that, I had a question about my saltwater setup. When it comes to reef aquariums, I'm aware that any waste contaminants can bother the organisms, and I only have a 10 gallon set up. Inside of this 10 gallon there is a Tetraodon nigroviridis puffer acclimated to saltwater who still only measures about an inch, and to make sure that I don't overfeed and break the sensitive system, I give him only a single fish food flake in the morning, in the evening, and a small snail a day for supplement. <Regardless of how sparingly you feed, you will have to balance the import with some kind of export. That could come in the form of water changes, skimming, algae harvest, etc.> What actually worries me is the brown algae growing on my live rock. I started with a few crumbles first to see if life would sprout out of them in saltwater, and so far I have actually cultivated three microscopic anemones so far, but the rest of the rock has grown a full cover of algae. Are there any tips or safe chemicals that I can use to prevent this algae from growing on the new chunks of live rock? <There are no such chemicals that can be recommended for salt water. My suggestion is to add a snail or two that are too large for your puffer to kill. Also, start occasional water changes.> My idea is that the light is on for too long every day, although I'm not really the best at controlling algae in the first place. Any help. <You really need the light to support the critters that you are hoping to culture from the rock, so try the snails and some water changes and see if that helps.> Adam
Mystery Hitchhiker on LR (12/23/2003) I'm relatively new to the art of Salt Water aquaria and am continually fascinated by the variety of life you find a few chunks of live rock. <me too> I've been able to identify most but I can't find this guy anywhere. Is it a sponge? A coral? A Martian? Can you help? <This does appear to be some type of encrusting sponge. Hard to say which one specifically, but likely harmless, though some sponges are toxic. You might want to post the picture on WetWebFotos and solicit an ID there.> Thanks for the months of help you've already given me. Troy <On behalf of the crew members who have previously helped you, you are certainly welcome. Steve Allen.> Polyp ID (12/22/2003) I was wondering if you could help me identify a polyp that I used to have in my aquarium. It's brown with a stalk. It looks kind of like one of those Dr. Seuss trees or something. Kind of like a fuzzy Pom Pom glued to a straight stick. They were small, the "pom poms" being about the same diameter as some airline tubing. They were also colonial, spreading in a carpet like fashion. If I had to guess, I'd say they were about ? to ? of an inch tall. They swayed with the currents. I lost them in a move and was trying to get a name so I could get some more. I looked through pictures on the WWM site for about an hour, and couldn't find them, I guess because they aren't very dramatic. <Really not possible to ID without a picture. Take a look at Clavularia and xenia.> Oh, and by the way, the Wet Web Photo site is not working all that well in case you guys didn't know. <having some problems since changing hosts. Zo is working on it.> If you could point me to some pictures and possible names I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks, John Jordan <Hope this helps, Steve Allen> Mystery Critter Follow-up (12/22/2003) Hi, to answer your questions, the size of my tank is 5 ft (L) x 45cm (W) x 2 ft (H) it has been set up for a bit over 6 months, yes, it has live rock about 4kgs and 6 green Chromis. I got the live rock from VEBAS aquariums in Fremantle Western Australia. I believe they get the rock from coral bay and have a license, I have got some wet sand from the beach (they could have come in that) they look like little prawns ???? thank you u for your reply could you please help, please reply ASAP <As before, I strongly doubt that these are mantis shrimp, but Ian is right, a picture would be helpful. Neither of us can make an ID without seeing a picture. Do check WWM or other sources for pictures of Mantis Shrimp and copepods to see if either match. The largest copepods get to nearly a centimeter in length. I have these in my tank. Mantis Shrimp will get to several inches in length. If you or a friend have a digital camera, do send a picture so we can try to give you a better ID.> thank you, from Ryan <You're welcome, Steve Allen> What the heck are they? Hey guys, bought the latest book and it is phenomenal, best one I have seen in a while and really helpful. <thanks kindly... its very redeeming to hear.> My reason for writing are the things that have popped up in my little reef tank. I know I am not the first one to have these but cannot tell what they are. The little creatures look like little white jellyfish and are n o bigger than 1/4" in diameter. The swim around and look just like miniature jellies. I have searched but couldn't come up with an answer. Please help and lemme know if I want them. Thanks Sean <without a clear picture, I cannot say for certain. But you may indeed have Cassiopeia jellyfish larvae (common from importing small hermits and snails). Else, if you have mature coral in the tank, you have some other cnidarian larvae. Anthony> Parasites floating in the tank... nope 12/16/03 hi have 175 gal salt water tank .have developed parasites they look like tiny white worms and I mean tiny you can see them on the fish and also in the tank by the millions. tried treating it but no luck. also the fish have developed HITH can you help please. thank you <I cannot say for certain if your fish have parasites, but I can assure you that no fish parasites that you are likely to ever encounter can be seen with the naked eye in the aquarium water or on the aquarium walls, gravel, etc. No such thing fortunately. :) The worms at worst are a sign of overfeeding... but may instead simply be beneficial microorganisms from live rock or live sand. Please review our section on wetwebmedia.com regarding fish diseases (many articles and FAQs to read and learn from). Anthony> Critters in my refugium Can you help me identify some critters in my refugium? They swim, are 0.25 to 0.5 cm in length, are mostly translucent, have a fish like tail and antennae on the end I would identify as the head. They swim along the bottom as well as the top of the refugium. I can't imagine these being fish or shrimp. The refugium is loaded with macro algae, live rock rubble and amphipod/copepod type critters. <Hi Brian. It sounds like you have a thriving refugium! If you have ruled these critters out as amphipods or copepods, I would guess mysids next. Mysids tend to stay near substrate, swim around quickly and erratically, and look like tiny shrimp. It is also possible that they are the larvae of another critter that has spawned in your tank (clown fish, decorative shrimp, crabs). It is hard to guess without a picture. I would lean toward the larvae idea if they are only occasionally present.> Is there a upside/downside to having these guys in my refugium? <It is likely almost all upside and little or no downside. Very few critters that meet this description are pests, and those that are would have done significant damage if they are present in large numbers. Hope this helps. Adam>
Live Rock Hitchhikers -- Friend or Foe? (12/14/2003) Dear Sirs! <Hejsan Kalle. Var I Sverige h?sar du ifr??> My 900 litres aquarium has got new Living rock- about 50kg fr? Indonesia! <usually very nice live rock> Its with nervous fingers I write to you, because there are some animals I don't know what they are! First its a perhaps a not living thing: http://www.saltvattensguiden.se/upload/bilder/-KH-_thing.JPG That I found almost floating on a rock, its transparent - see through it. It remind of a skeleton bit. But perhaps not! It was gone after a went away a few sec. If you think it reminds of a skeleton, you perhaps have some books you can check? <Hard to say from this drawing just what you're looking at. Is this the whole thing or just part. Looks to me like it's probably one end of some sort of crustacean, probably harmless.> I do not have fishes mis, or any! so it must have arrived with the stone! <Many things do, that's the beauty of live rock--as Dr. F. once said, "It's alive!"> Next is a clam like ting... It moves fast as a turbo snail.. It has a elephant nose like in front- pink. I saw it at night time and when I use the flash lamp on it close, it pull both halves together quick! I have heard of murder snails from Australia--but this is more like a clam- but still same "nose" as the snail family from Australia..... The picture is drawn- my digital camera give me just blur pics! <It is hard to get good digital pix of small things in a tank.> But you see how I saw it! Almost like Living rock.. except it moves and have a pink nose! So- is it dangerous???? for me- and my corals/fishes? <No> http://www.saltvattensguiden.se/upload/bilder/-KH-_mussla2.JPG 1: front 2: top And still- it has two halves, not like a snail as a one- so more like a clam <It sure looks like a rock-boring clam to me--no worries, enjoy.> <Kalle. You are experiencing the wonders of the diversity of life brought into a tank on live rock (LR). That's why we call it LR, because it has so much life on it. All kinds of wondrous creatures and algae will spring forth from this rock. "New" creatures can show up after months. Believe me, you want most of these things in your tank. Very few of these are things to be feared, but rather are to be enjoyed. I personally find these and other invertebrate life more interesting that the fish (though they fascinate me as well. What sort of tank are you planning? You've got a nice big one there. Will it be a reef? You really ought to buy the book "Reef Secrets" by Alf Jacob Nilsen and Svein Foss?(fr? Norge). It has a lot of great info, including sections on the good and bad critters that come in on live rock. The two main things to watch for an eliminate are Mantis shrimp and certain large Bristleworms. Also check here: http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/index.html> <I see that you have already found www.saltvattensguiden.se which seems like a very useful Swedish site. Continue also to visit WWM. I have found it a wonderfully helpful place.> Thanks for all help- <vars?od -- Steve Allen, som har bott I Sverige och ? gift med en svensk> Kalle Holmstr?, Sweden |
|
Features: |
|
Featured Sponsors: |