Nocturnal Hitchhikers x 2

[honeyb627]

Hitchhiker #1-</em>
The other night after wondering where the GSM's were hiding in my sleeplessness, I turned a flashlight on and to my surprise saw an ugly smooth rather plump worm (not a bristle or fire worm, no legs or anything), I'd swear it was pink, but I was tired, so who knows... So, last night since I had another set of eyes that were awake (KayakATL), we turned off the lights in the tank and the room for a bit and turned on a flashlight... This time there was a worm out of the same hole that was not quite as plump as I'd remembered and more tan in color, not pink... Has anyone ever had a worm like this? Maybe it was two separate worms... eh

Hitchkiker #2-</em>
After the worm retreated into its hole from the light, I noticed something move in a larger crevice of the neighboring rock. It reminded me of a hairy spider, but I'm going to say it was some sort of hitchhiking crab... We couldn't get a great view of it, and it retreated fast, but it had furry legs, a brownish/white body I think, it was rather ugly! Something tells me it is not good... and if it's not, how the heck do we get rid of it!?

:rocketwhore:

 

[jonboyb]

#1 sounds like a peanut worm and a good guy if it is. Did his head kinda look hairy or have bristles?

#2 sounds like a potentially dangerous crab (gorilla) and if you can get the rock out and do a freshwater dip to get him out it's probably a good idea. Else you have to try and trap him via a tilted cup with bait or standard trap. Search should pull more info on trapping him. I have one in my tank right now, light colored, dark tips on the claws. Haven't worried about him yet because he's about the size of a dime and stays in a rock off to the side. Rock is covered in ricordias so don't really want to dip it.

 

[honeyb627]

jonboyb;450328 wrote: #1 sounds like a peanut worm and a good guy if it is. Did his head kinda look hairy or have bristles?

#2 sounds like a potentially dangerous crab (gorilla) and if you can get the rock out and do a freshwater dip to get him out it's probably a good idea. Else you have to try and trap him via a tilted cup with bait or standard trap. Search should pull more info on trapping him. I have one in my tank right now, light colored, dark tips on the claws. Haven't worried about him yet because he's about the size of a dime and stays in a rock off to the side. Rock is covered in ricordias so don't really want to dip it.

I will definitely have to do some internet research later this evening or this weekend... Most of the hitchhiker crabs that look similar to what I think I saw are all bad for a reef tank... eek... time to figure out how to get rid of the guy... And nope the worm didn't have any hairy parts or bristles that I could see, but I didn't see his whole body as he was too fast once that light hit him from the flashlight

 

[gnashty]

Try a red piece of cellophane or plastic over the flashlight. You may get a better look before they "peace out"

 

[budsreef]

I had a crab for a long time without knowing for sure other than I saw a moult once and every now and then I would loose a perfectly healthy fish overnight. I finally spotted it in a huge rock almost totally encrusted with a neon green pavona. I tried dipping it in a bucket of fresh water but it didn't budge. I finally had to chisel into the back of the rock and pull it out in pieces. The pavona turned white, but has since recovered and I haven't lost another fish overnight since.

 

[honeyb627]

Budsreef;450831 wrote: I had a crab for a long time without knowing for sure other than I saw a moult once and every now and then I would loose a perfectly healthy fish overnight. I finally spotted it in a huge rock almost totally encrusted with a neon green pavona. I tried dipping it in a bucket of fresh water but it didn't budge. I finally had to chisel into the back of the rock and pull it out in pieces. The pavona turned white, but has since recovered and I haven't lost another fish overnight since.

Eh, that's just not encouraging at all, laughs... We tried to find it to get a better look last night, but had no success... I've read in a few places a lot of those crabs will beat up on small fish, that concerns me with the baby GSMs in the tank now, eek...

Teddybear crab? lol... sounds like such a cute name, for something so ugly even if this one isn't a teddy bear crab in the end... lol...

Maybe we can drown the rock tonight in some freshwater... I hope it works instead of traps or extremes... grrr