Hitchhickers

[cweaks]

I’ve seen discussion here and on other forums about hitchhikers on LR. Many people seem very concerned about them and go to some great efforts to rid themselves of them. My LR came with a few, what I would call small bottlebrushes, and my wife loves them. Do these things cause problems that I don’t know about? I know the photo is very grainy. I cropped it from a much larger photo, but I think you will see enough to know what I’m talking about. Just look at the end of the little red arrows.

Thanks,

 

[Hara]

my eyes arent that great, but I am gonna say they are tiny feather duster worms. If so, they are not harmful. Someone else may say they are something else tho.

 

[cweaks]

BTW, can anyone give me THE REAL NAME for the red, spindly coral on the left-hand side of the image. My LFS called it fan, someone else called it staghorn, and I've heard about a dozen other names that it's not. It's pretty common at LFS. I suppose that has led to the proliferation of names.

Thanks

 

[reefrunner69]

The red spindly coral is a gorgonian, likes lots of waterflow, strong light and plenty of food. The specified hitchiker looks to me to be more of an anemone (possibly aiptasia), but it certainly could be a featherduster, it's hard to tell from the pic. Possibly a slightly less exposed pic would help.

 

[fishfreek]

I say featherduster.

If you disturb it does it retract fully into the rock with one quick motion? If so then its a feather duster. They are filter feeders. Totally harmless to your tank.

 

[cweaks]

Then it is a featherduster. If something comes clse to it, it jerks quickly back into its self

 

[PrettyFishies]

I have one on one of my snails ...

http://marks-aquaticlife.com/page4.html

 

[Stephanie]

I have many of them. They are tiny featherduster worms. I've had the same ones for two years now, they even made it through the cycling! I've read that they feed off the juices from frozen food. They have never caused any harm, and I think they are pretty neat!

 

[cweaks]

With all that good advice, I'm keeping them.