The best and worst of hitchhikers.

Discussion in 'Live Rock' started by reefnJeff, Mar 10, 2012.

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  1. Kevin3884

    Kevin3884 Tassled File Fish

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    I got a rock from a guy that was breaking down his tank locally and had like 5-6 different types of awesome zoas and palys all over it....the bad news is it also had a few strands of GHA...the rest is a miserable nightmare
     
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  3. reefnJeff

    reefnJeff Pajama Cardinal

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    I get my 40lbs of caribbean rock tomorrow, they plucked it out of the ocean just this past weekend, may be some hitchhikers on it that survived the trip, going to take a good look at it before it goes in the tank.
     
  4. SAY

    SAY Ocellaris Clown

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    my "worst" was a mantis shrimp. i say worst but i actually enjoy the different creatures that show up on the live rock even if i don't want them in the tank for the long run. i also enjoyed the hunt for the little guy. i finally caught him and gave him to my LFS who has helped me out a lot. the real worst are bryopsis and aiptasia which i am still dealing with today. the "best" was probably an acropora crab. i would never set up a tank without live rock. one of my favorite things in the beginning was to use a red light at night to spot new creatures. even 2 and half years later, i find animals in the tank that i have never seen before......not all of them good i have to admit.
     
  5. khowst

    khowst Bangghai Cardinal

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    Depends on your opinion of what is bad, and what aspects of the hobby you enjoy.

    Me personally i would be quite happy to have a mantis shrimp show up in a piece of live rock. I would add it to my collection.
     
  6. SAY

    SAY Ocellaris Clown

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    it actually startled me when the mantis shrimp suddenly swam from one rock to another rock. i had no idea what the thing was but knew that the little guy didn't look like he would play nice with the fish i planned to add. after finding out what it was on the internet, it took me several weeks to catch him. i bought traps that didn't work and even spent an entire fruitless night in front of the tank with net and flashlight (friends and co-workers still make fun of me for that one). i finally caught him when i walked by the tank scaring the mantis shrimp into the last patch of hair algae on the only rock small enough for me to remove with my hands without removing the lights. At the time, i thought they were just a pest. it surprised me when my LFS actually sold it.
     
  7. reefnJeff

    reefnJeff Pajama Cardinal

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    I seen some quite beautiful mantis shrimp, but the one I had was just brown, ugly and a killer, the LFS took it, but never sold it.
     
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  9. SteelerMike

    SteelerMike Feather Duster

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    What does that look like? I'm new and would probably not know it was bad either lol
     
  10. whippy

    whippy Sailfin Tang

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    Best for me would probably have to be a Joker Monti or feather dusters because I love them.

    I don't have a worst yet *knock on wood* but I do have some acoels in the tank that I'm keeping an eye on to make sure they don't become the worst!
     
  11. mikejrice

    mikejrice 3reef Affiliate

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    Small clear/brown anemones.
     
  12. SushiGirl

    SushiGirl Barracuda

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    You can dip, but it doesn't work on some stuff. I got lucky once and spotted a polyclad flatworm before it got out of a shell and into my tank. The dip didn't kill it initially. Actually, it took 10 days for it to die in the dip.

    I've gotten some pretty cool hitchhikers in the past. An anemone shrimp that came in a softball size galaxea I bought years ago (for $29.99 *sigh*) and these little green swimmer crabs I got in some maiden's hair algae I also bought years ago.