Living on my live rock

[cjbaker]

Hi,

I've just bought my first bit of live rock for my tank and there seems to be quite a bit living on it. I was hoping someone could tell me what they are, and if I should be putting anything in to feed them ?

Many Thanks

 

[tlkng1]

Good shots but still hard to identify. The top two look like simple macroalgae..maybe a grape algae in the top right one. These are natural sea plants and don't need supplemental feeding. The bottom right looks like a tube worm of the type that is a common hitchiker in liverock. These are filter feeders and generally just snatch stuff passing by in the water column. I don't especially feed mine but they are doing well. I do add a supplement, Coral-Vite, for the corals so it may take some "nutrition" from that. I also feed Mysis and Cyclops shrimp, cyclops being very tiny which they are probably also consuming.

The bottom right looks like two? There is a white or light brown on top, again, looks like a tube worm, the darker one to the left and below the other looks like an Aiptasia anemone but I can't be sure. You don't want the Aiptasia in the tank..the things breed worse than rabbits and spread rapidly in the tank. There are steps to take to get rid of Aiptasia but before we go into it, maybe someone else can positively identify. See the attached pic of an Aiptasia and see if that is what yours looks like.

 

[cjbaker]

Thanks for that, I was worried about starving them. Does the red grape algae also come in green ? as I also have a clump in green.
If your right about the Aiptasia I could have a problem on my hands as they are all over the rock after a closer inspection :-(

I've added another photo that might help someone with a positive identification.

Thanks very much for your info

 

[Greenturtle]

the green 'grape' algae may be bubble algae. Emerald crabs eat them

 

[tlkng1]

Oh yeah..you have Aiptasia. A few ways to get rid of it. 1. Use a mix of Kalkwasser (Kalk) and water...2 tbsp Kalk to one tbsp water. Microwave for about 15 seconds. Turn off your water flow. Take a syringe or something like it, suck up the Kalk mix and then point shoot the center of the Aiptasia. It will retreat as soon as you get close..just dose the hole. Be careful not to get the mixture on other corals as the Kalk can kill anything it touches if it goes on thick enough.. You'll see sort of a snowlike white sediment once the Kalk gets in the water. Leave your filter off for about 15 mins before turning back on. I had 100% effectiveness. The liverock I have in my tank right now came from the Atlantic and the Aiptasia version from there isn't as aggressive..that single one I attached in the picture has never multiplied.

The other stuff to use is Aiptasia-X which should be available at your local LFS. I've never used that one but I've heard it works..anyone else use it?

Peppermint shrimp will eat the smaller Aiptasia but it is a 50/50 shot. The Peppermint shrimp have to come from the same location as the Aiptasia, ie, Atlantic, Pacific etc, or they won't recognize it as a food source.

 

[cjbaker]

[moderator edit], thats why the rock was so cheap. I'll check out the Aiptasia-X and see what the application method is like for that. what is the Kalk and where would I get some from ?

Thanks

 

[tlkng1]

Kalkwasser should be available at your LFS..it is a Kent Marine product.

 

[mr_X]

you don't have to microwave kalkwasser. just mix it up into a thick paste with very little water and squirt some on the anemone with a syringe (less the metal tip).
the red algae is botryocladia skottsbergi
View Botryocladia*skottsbergii
the green is ventricaria ventricosa
View Ventricaria ventricosa

the first picture looks like button polyps (palythoa), a soft coral.
the fan worm is spirorbis or pileolaria of the family serpulidae.
Worm Hitch Hikers

nothing on that rock needs to be fed. the palythoa need light however.
kalkwasser is sold by many companies-
Kent Marine Kalkwasser

 

[tlkng1]

you don't have to microwave kalkwasser. just mix it up into a thick paste with very little water and squirt some on the anemone with a syringe (less the metal tip).
the red algae is botryocladia skottsbergi
View Botryocladia*skottsbergii
the green is ventricaria ventricosa
View Ventricaria ventricosa

the first picture looks like button polyps (palythoa), a soft coral.
the fan worm is spirorbis or pileolaria of the family serpulidae.
Worm Hitch Hikers

nothing on that rock needs to be fed. the palythoa need light however.
kalkwasser is sold by many companies-
Kent Marine Kalkwasser

Thanks...I knew it was a fan worm..why I said tube.... I am fighting a bout of walking pneumonia here so my brain is a little fuzzy.....

 

[tlkng1]

Actually, with Thanksgiving coming up, Lowe's was full of products to make deep fried turkeys. They had two types of syringes that would be perfect for the Kalk "assault." One was metal the other plastic but both had nice pointed tips.

 

[mr_X]

anything you want is right at your fingertips!
Amazon.com: Science Lab Syringes: Autosampler Syringes, Gas-tight Syringes