2 more questions

how can i tell if my live rock has bad hitchhikers? do i just need to learn what the bad ones look like or will there be signs i will see to let me know the rock is bad? the place i am buying from says they cure the rock for 2-3 months in a fish tank, someone told me that after i get the rock home i should throw it into a batch of my own fresh batch of saltwater before transferring it into my tank to get all the die-off from the trip(i think). is it ok if the container i put the live rock in after i get home is not a fish tank with filtration and every thing because all i have is a bucket. also how long should i leave it in there for if the store has already cured it for 2-3 months?

 

If you are buying cured live rock it can go directly into your tank – you would not want to induce die off. Many people examine the rock before it goes in the tank, of course hitchhikers are hard to see and quite often can’t be seen since they are inside.

If you are not concerned with additional die off, you can put the rock on cardboard and cover it with wet news paper in a quiet dimly lit room. After an hour or so quickly uncover it and be ready to smack hitchhikers away from the rock.

Once in the tank keep your camera at the ready and practice taking tank pictures so you have the settings right (macro, flash or no flash etc) post a pic here and we can always tell you good or bad.

Links to browse as well:

Live Rock Hitch Hikers
Worm Hitch Hikers
Crab Hitch Hikers
Indo Pacific Snails

 

if i throw it straight in my tank will it be easy for me to get rid of the bad hitch hikers?

 

At least some bad hitch hikers always make it through a cycle. Aiptasia, majano, some crabs, flatworms.

Just inspect the tanks overall appearance, look for problem algae, and the above mentioned.

Uncured rock will smell, cured rock will have less odor.

 

is it ever possible to get all the bad stuff out of my tank? also if the rocks have been curing for 2-3 months is it possible that the place i'm buying from has already been taking out a bunch of the bad hitchhikers.

 

Can you define bad stuff?

You will not know unless you asking or examine the rock your self.

Do you need a link for visual ID of some of the bad hitch hikers?

 

im not sure exactly what kind of critters im talking about. i just don't want anything that can kill my fishies or my cleaner shrimp. also does base rock have anything on it or is it just totally blank rocks?

 

some more specific visuals would be nice. another person posted a link to a bunch of things that can come on them but there were a lot and it was a little overwhelming.

 

When you look at live rock, look for these things that you don't want:

Aiptasia anemone
Majano anemone
Sundial snail
Isopod (the good ones look different)
Grape Caulerpa algae
Bubble algae
Bryopsis algae
Dictyota algae
Cotton Candy algae

Sorry to just post links, but even though I know Marc I won't post pics that belong to other folks, plus you get some info this way!

 

thank you very much now at least i know what im looking for. how long will it take for things to start to show up? im working on getting some picture of the rock i just so people can tell me if there is something bad on it but i have not figured it out yet.