Hitchikers

[StrawberryBlonde7]

Hello there started my first saltwater tank a month ago , in the lovely diatom bloom right now and my starry Bennie can' t keep up , lol, I've been moving around some of my live Rock with the slow addition of fish, and found these ? Polyps and something else that opens and shuts my thoughts were itty bitty clam or barnacle type thing it is on the bottom left of the picture in a hole if anyone can tell me what they are and how to take care of them i'd be happy. I don't want them to die. I was planning on doing corals in the future I've put a lot of money upfront for the start up and wanted to wait a bit before more expensive purchases.

My tank is a 55 gallon I put the polyp rock on the very top of the pile closest to the light , it is just a 32 w

Also on the white rock there is something pinkish growing not sure what that is either

Thanks for any insight or direction!

 

[Sniperhank]

The first is def a button polyp, most likely a zoa. Hard to see the rest as im on my phone.

 

[Petrichor]

I agree the first is some sort of button polyp. They mostly photosynthesize so good job moving them closer to the light. If they start to lose color they could be getting too much light (going from a dark place to a much lighter one) and if that happen just move them down to the middle of the tank for a few days, then over the course of a week or so move them back up to the top.

The clam thing looks like some sort of bivalve to me. Should be harmless and you don't have to do anything in particular to care for it.

As for the second picture I can't tell what it's suppose to be of, but from your description it might be some form of algae like coralline.

 

[StrawberryBlonde7]

I looked it up it does look like coroline algae. From what I've read that is a good thing?

I do think it is a clam , and I bought a feather duster today and my clean up crew should be here tomorrow.
What should I be testing for now? Other than the basics? Iodine? Calcium? Something else? What are the best types of test? Do people add supplements without testing and what should I be adding? Imdomuse a reef buffer now every once in a while when my ph dips . Thanks so much for all the help

 

[StrawberryBlonde7]

Where can I get other colors of coroline algae and should I be doing to get into grow more?

 

[Petrichor]

Most people like coralline algae as it grows all over and prevents nusiance algae from forming. Then again, people hate it because it grows all over and then you have to scrap it off your powerheads and such to keep them running smoothly. Overall it's a good thing in my opinion as it pretties up the rock and indicates you have enough calcium in your water which will be important for your feather duster.

You shouldn't have to do anything to get the coralline to grow; just keep up with water changes and such. To get other colors you'd have to actually have a rock that has other colors of coralline on it and put it in your tank. Purple is just the most common. You can spread the coralline faster by scrapping some off the rock after it fully forms (it'll be hard to scrap and pure purple) and letting the pieces scatter throughout your tank. This will help it to spread. There are also products you can buy to add to your tank that supposedly help coralline grow (one is called Purple Up! I think). Beware though because some sea urchins eat coralline, so always research the dietary needs of any algae eaters.

As for testing some people say only test for what you're putting into the tank. So if you're dosing iodine then you'd need an iodine kit etc. Generally I don't think you need to dose anything as long as you keep up with regular water changes or have a lot of very demanding corals like SPS. I use the API testing kit and it seems to work well for me and my LFS (and my wallet), but other people have their favorites like Salifert and Instant Ocean.

Hope that answers some of your questions!

 

[danbstrong]

Most people like coralline algae as it grows all over and prevents nusiance algae from forming. Then again, people hate it because it grows all over and then you have to scrap it off your powerheads and such to keep them running smoothly. Overall it's a good thing in my opinion as it pretties up the rock and indicates you have enough calcium in your water which will be important for your feather duster.

You shouldn't have to do anything to get the coralline to grow; just keep up with water changes and such. To get other colors you'd have to actually have a rock that has other colors of coralline on it and put it in your tank. Purple is just the most common. You can spread the coralline faster by scrapping some off the rock after it fully forms (it'll be hard to scrap and pure purple) and letting the pieces scatter throughout your tank. This will help it to spread. There are also products you can buy to add to your tank that supposedly help coralline grow (one is called Purple Up! I think). Beware though because some sea urchins eat coralline, so always research the dietary needs of any algae eaters.

As for testing some people say only test for what you're putting into the tank. So if you're dosing iodine then you'd need an iodine kit etc. Generally I don't think you need to dose anything as long as you keep up with regular water changes or have a lot of very demanding corals like SPS. I use the API testing kit and it seems to work well for me and my LFS (and my wallet), but other people have their favorites like Salifert and Instant Ocean.

Hope that answers some of your questions!

It seems in my aquarium that any alkalinity fluctuationss stresses my coral the most most good salt mixes should keep up on additives as long as your doing your scheduled maintenance imo most important test kits to have would be alkaliniy calcium ph nitrate and phosphate

 

[danbstrong]

It seems in my aquarium that any alkalinity fluctuationss stresses my coral the most most good salt mixes should keep up on additives as long as your doing your scheduled maintenance imo most important test kits to have would be alkaliniy calcium ph nitrate and phosphate

Also i dont dose anything other than having a calcium reactor

 

[StrawberryBlonde7]

Is the purplish/red corolline? Thanks

 

[Flreefer]

Yup, looks like coralline algae!

 

[StrawberryBlonde7]

Woohoo looks like I got one lucky rock , it has coralline, and I found two polyps and a clam