Hitchhiker thread

Discussion in 'General Reef Discussion' started by portereef, Jul 18, 2016.

  1. portereef

    portereef RRMAS Supporter

    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 18, 2016
  2. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Great link! Moved this here so it will get more views! I have this link saved on my computer.
     
  3. portereef

    portereef RRMAS Supporter

    Thanks doc I appreciate it I honestly wasn't sure where to really put it. Maybe we could make another folder just for people and there pest encounters!
     
  4. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    I'll make it a sticky and it can be a reference for all our hitchhiker/pests!
     
  5. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    That was an interesting read. Thanks!
     
  6. whippetguy

    whippetguy Super Moderator

    The second photo of the sea cucumber by john6412 is one from my tank.
     
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  7. GLJ

    GLJ Plankton

    Great link. I just ID'd some flatworms I was wondering about. Now all I have to do is get rid of them.
     
  8. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    I forgot to add the picture of the eunice worm attributed to Hogfanreefer is a pic I took of a Bobbit worm from my tank.
     
    whippetguy likes this.
  9. Deton8it

    Deton8it President Staff Member

    I have watched a colony of Zoas disappear very slowly. I have looked, and looked, and looked for the cause to no avail. Today I pulled every zoa out of my tank and did a dip in Bayer. Followed by a soak in tank water. Followed by an inspection of every rock lrior to it goin in to another soak. That is when I found it. Attached to one of my Palythoas Grandis was this Snail. I almost didn't notice it and I had a hard time removing it. There is no doubt in my mind that it was feeding on my zoas. I have seen this snail on a different colony a few months ago. I never thought anything of it until now. There was a distinct hole where this was sitting.
     

    Attached Files:

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  10. Deton8it

    Deton8it President Staff Member

    This is where it was sitting.
     

    Attached Files:

  11. franklypre

    franklypre Plankton

    so did you notice an improvement. I tend to stay away from bayer wth zoas, I prefer FW dips and H2O2. Interesting snail, hadn't seen one with a shell like that before
     
  12. Deton8it

    Deton8it President Staff Member

    Neither have I Frank. That is why I wasn't concerned when I first saw it. Sundial would alarm me but not anything like this. 12 years of reef keeping and it is a first for me.
     
  13. xystic

    xystic Wrasse

    I go pretty extreme with quarantine for zoas and they are pretty hardy. Over the last 5 years, I've realized that they have so many pests compared to other corals.

    As of late, a lot of people across the many reefing forums are reporting an increase in nasty hitchhikers, AEFW, Red Bugs, Spiders and etc. I think that the main sources of a lot of our coral our now infestation zones.
     
  14. franklypre

    franklypre Plankton

    the biggest reason we have so many pests is likely the farming methods, no reef fish(wrasses) around to clean up the nasties. The one I've noticed most recently is the white flea like euphyllia bugs as they are called.
     
  15. image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg Any idea what this guy might be? Nermetea? Bootlaces worm? Tiny little legs...in the hundreds. Several hairs/bristles at the head end. Highlighter yellow. Fast crawler.
     
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  16. franklypre

    franklypre Plankton

    Do a little research on Euncid worms, it's pretty whatever it is.
     
    NatalieMadison likes this.
  17. graciesdad

    graciesdad Treasurer Staff Member

    Looks like a medusa worm to me.
     
  18. Kim

    Kim Secretary Staff Member

    Hiya,

    Looks kewl to me. For a minute I thought it was a pipefish, but then you described it and nope...wouldn't be so lucky.

    Kim/Benton, AR
     
  19. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    That first picture sure looks like a eucinid worm (other names include Medusa worm, Bobbit worm) It's hard to say though because of the distance from the camera. Does the head look like this with the 5 tentacles on the head? I've just never seen one so colorful. If you can you need to catch him and take some pics in a plastic dish. I'm sure the guys on Reef2Reef would love to see it.

    [​IMG]
     
  20. IMG_0478.JPG I could use identification on this please. First guess is a type of sponge, as there are a few pineapple sponges in this same area. But I'm not sure. I've not seen these here in the last months so this is new growth. Could it be a type of hydroid?
    They're white, opaque, not the blue cast seen here in my lights.
     

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