[SweeTang22]

i was just wondering if anybody out there has any realy good websites that will give me pictures and defanitions on good and bad life from LR. ive been sitting in front of the tank at night lately and i have seen a large bristle worm and several small objects. ill try to explain. they look like a shrimp, but i dont think a mantisl. they are like a J, and they very fast. they dont seem to be harming anything but if everybody could maybe post some pics of your ideas, i would really like to find out stuff about them. also i have one of those worms where they attach in a whole, and then send tentacles across the sand bed searching for food. what is the name of this worm and is it harmful?? again the more pics i can get of good and bad's and some info would be much appreciated. im sorry this is so long, but i just want a healthy tank and i want to fix anything that should be fixed right away before it becomes to hard to fix. like a 7ft worm in my plumbing!!!

[swinginbeef]

check out my thread in the 'New to the Hobby' section called 'good shrimp hitchhickers???' for pics of a mantis. Other than several featherdusters and some tiny plant, that was my only hitchhicker I've seen.

[lynnvangsnes]

It would help if you posted some pics of your hitch hikers. Bristleworms are not necessarily bad things; depending on your perspective. If you have a crop of pods hatching, that's a good thing. Some look like small shrimp, kind of clear in color. The ones I have move pretty fast also. If you get a lot of these, and they propagate, that is a great start for a tank. The pods are good food for fish, and they also can burrow into your sand to help with the denitrification.

[SweeTang22]

yeah i tried taking pics, but its so hard with glass and saltwater lol. i cant get anything that is even remotely visiable. do either of you know of any websites were they show a bunch of different possible hitch hikers?? i know the bristleworms are not bad, but if their not kept under control they could be. as far as the copepods go, i want a bunch of them because im getting a mandarian way down the road, but i just dont know what any of them look like lol. i googled it and what i saw in my tank looked nothing like the pics on the net!! so any help would be great. thanks for your time!!

[lynnvangsnes]

you might try wetwebmedia.com and do a search for hitch hikers. be very careful about asking them any question though. They aren't near as friendly as the people here.

[rlcline76]

Lynn is right about posting questions on wetwebmedia, but they are rather useful for just about everything else...most of the time.
Like Lynn, I am assuming that you are looking at pods.
The worm could be a hair worm or a speghetti worm. Good detritus eaters.

[SweeTang22]

okay so i think i figured it out. there are these little worms that swim to the moon light thats on at night. if you look real close you can see them swimmin in the current. also the other hitchikers i was talkin about were amphipods, good thing lol. and as far as the bristle worms go i got an arrow crap and figured id let him hunt them at night. neways thanks for all the help i do really appreciate it!

[bleueau187]

Eunicid. That is the name of the worm that you dont want!!! As for the little J shaped shrimp they sound like Pods to me. these are good and should be kept. Worms are not bad unless they start to eat you coral bc otherwise they will be part of the cleanup crew

[Kimjo1]

Hey, I was reading your post. I have never heard of a Dart Fish? Do you have a PIC please?
Thanks a bunch, Kim

[SweeTang22]

its also known as a firefish. i believe they are a type of gobie, good for smaller setups and they do tend to school, so i've noticed. i like them i think they have a lot of color!!

[SweeTang22]

ok so im bad with uploading pics!! never done it before. neways go to google and type in dartfish. otherwise you could go to Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums and click the saltwater fish tab. they will have several pics of fish and dartfish will be one of them!!

[kolokefalo]

I find the easiest way to catch anything in my tank is let the new live rock cure for about 6-8 weeks. By then everything is starving, bad worms, crabs, mantis etc. Then hold a piece of fresh squid just under the waters surface. EVERYTHING will go nuts. Worms will come out of rocks, crabs will appear. Put the squid in a clear large glass jar in the corner. Scoop up whatever looks suspicious as it moves towards the jar.

[SweeTang22]

nice lol. i looked at all the pics of these things and i have come to the conclusion that everything is safe. i have no mantis, thank god, and a bunch of amphipods. and only 2 bristle worms that i have seen. i have an arrow crab to clean them up. also, how fast do the amphipods reproduce?? im curious because i want a mandarian down the road, and i was told the tank needs to be atleast 6 months of age. well my tank is 5 months now. for some reason i feel like i should wait longer. what do you think??

[bleueau187]

i would wait longer, bc if you do get one they can eat all their food and wither away to nothing. If you have a fuge it will be great bc that is where the pods can grow. i would say wait a coupple more months of you have a fuge if you dont it will be very difficult to keeep him alive

[SweeTang22]

yeah i was thinkin longer then 6 months also. ive done my fair share of reserch on mandarians so im almost scared to try lol.

[bleueau187]

well you can always order pods off the internet and shoot them into your tank as food for the mandarin. ive seen them in the fish stores and they are just wilting away to nothing and they look so terrible its actually quite sad to see such a beautiful fish suffer like that.

[Tonz of fun]

I'm going to wait until 8 months to add mine maybe 12. Do chaeto in your refuigim to make food for the little guy and try brine and you should be fine