A white eruption ?

WindWalker · 01-22-2001, 09:18 AM

I was watching my tank last night, and out of the live rock came a fountain of white...Kinda like a birds doo consistency...
After careful inspection it seems this is happening out of two rocks, at different ends of the "rock wall" Any hints ? I figure I've got a hitch hiker I haven't seen yet.

01-22-2001, 10:22 AM

Hmmmmm, you say it has a semi solid consistency rather than a plume of dust for instance. I havent heard of anything quite like that although this might be close http://liquidreef.freeservers.com/inverts.htm
other than that I would suspect some kind of boring creature expelling sand. Usually with borers you may see occasional plumes of dust expelled. HTH

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WindWalker · 01-22-2001, 11:05 AM

Doug Thanks

The pictures from liquids site are very close.
I did see a black "furry" arm sticking out of one of the rocks the other night. I figured it was some type of brittle star that had been in one of the rocks but it could have been a worm.
It wouldn't surprise me that there are mature creatures in the rocks that I bought.
A lot of the rock *Figi and Marshall Island* has deep holes with connecting "tunnels" through out.
This is a really neat hobby

[This message has been edited by WindWalker (edited 01-22-2001).]

01-22-2001, 11:57 AM

No kidding, having been into Salt Water fish for a long time I was amazed at the things that show up on Live Rock. My wife was always asking about fish that weren't reef safe and was kinda dissapointed when I had to tell her no, but she is discovering new things in the tank and got her own magnifier :I truly believe a lot of us just have a few fish to keep from being commited by concerned relatives

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

jegel · 01-23-2001, 03:09 AM

I've had my 10 gallon tank up 4 months but I've had the live rock in it for a year. I figured there couldn't be anything I hadn't already seen in that small of a space. then 2 nights ago I take a look at the tank with the lights out and here comes this huge bristle worm, I never saw the whole thing outside the rock completely but there was about 4 inches sticking out and no end in sight. theres also a bristle star that hitch hiked on the rock my new colt was on. Anyone know how big bristle stars and worms get, and I'm assuming they only come out at night?

01-23-2001, 07:24 AM

Dr Ron Shimek has worms over 16" in his tank, he maintains tha in most cases they are harmless scavengers but allows that in a samll tank with little fishes they might be problematic.
Regarding the brittle star, what does it look like, there are lots of them ranging from mini brittles to ones over 12" tip to tip. Me old green brittle was a bout 10" and the red one I have now is over 6"

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

jegel · 01-23-2001, 02:30 PM

It has a light grey center body, almost white, the tentacles are white about 1.5" tip to tip and brislty, go figure. I've only seen it out twice for a few seconds so thats all I've noticed.

01-23-2001, 02:57 PM

Sounds like one of the common and benign scavenger stars, not sure on the size but I dont think that one gets huge.
Green Brittles have been known to attack fish and nead to be fed to keep them happy. Personally I find their octopus dance very entertaining but they are only marginally fish friendly if left to scavenge

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

jegel · 01-23-2001, 06:32 PM

What about the bristle stars from IPSF, I take it those are harmless scavengers?

I've been thinking of getting those and the WonderMud to help with my substrate.

Any input on WonderMud out there?