I have recently set up a 30 gallon tank to start my saltwater experience. I did my research and talked to a lot of people before jumping into it and I think I have a fair grasp on what I need to do. Of course, as I've learned, with saltwater, You're always learning. I started my cycle about 2.5 weeks ago with 20 lbs of "live sand" which I'm told, "there's nothing live about it", and about 10 lbs of live rock to start. One piece of
LR was already cured, and the other piece is in the process of curing, it's already begun to change color. Upon doing research, I read that curing live rock can make your ammonia levels go through the roof so I decided on a whim to add a couple drops of ammonia detoxifier to the tank, (looking back, since it is a fishless cycle, i probably shouldn't have. I was then informed of adding a shrimp to speed up the cycle process which I did about 4 days ago. After 2 days of having the shrimp in the aquarium, I noticed my first organism in the tank which seemed like a tiny sea star. It was dark brown with small spots, had three legs with tiny "hairs" sticking off of them and was clinging to a piece of rock. My girlfriend was kind of creeped out by it but I looked at it as a positive thing. I did a little searching on the internet to try to identify this thing and i kept coming up with asterinas which i know can be bad. however, the pictures of asterinas look nothing like this thing. it was probably about an inch wide (from tip of leg to tip of leg) and it bent its legs almost like they were waving in the current (snake-like). I'm not sure what this thing is, I assume it hitchhiked its way into my tank from the cured live rock, but i'm not sure if i should be concerned about it. It was there one night and by the morning it was no where to be found. Any response would be appreciated.
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