[Ninong]

There are a few mysterious objects on this rock. Lets see how many we can name.

Starting clockwise from lower left:

(1) Sesame seed looking things, the freshly laid ones are white and the older ones are pale green. What are they?

(2) A little higher up are some greenish-brownish small beads. Actually they are all over the this rock. Any ideas?

(3) At the top is another patch of my new mysterious nuisance red turf algae with a few white tubular thingys. I'm not sure what the red algae is but the white tubular shapes are Nerite egg strands. (P.S. -- Dr. Ron just told me that the white tubular shapes are NOT Nerite eggs. They must be fecal castings. So I guess that's what Nerite poop looks like???)

There are more white sesame seed looking things on the right side of the rock and Nerite poop all over the place.

Any ideas?

[Ninong]

More Nerite eggs (poop?) with the snail that just laid them but notice the white sesame seed looking things on the clam's shell. Any ideas?

[Reefland]

Hey Ninong!

Are the white spots laid out in a circular position, almost like a spiral? I think I know what we're looking at but I can't seem to find the name of it in my quick search (I'm stuck at work with limited time).

Also on the algae, I feel your pain there for sure. That red crap has come back in our tank again and has completely covered 1 side of it. I moved all of our corals over to the other side trying to save them until I can order a tank full of new rock. I am going to have to remove all the corals and fish and tear it down and start over with new rock, it is the only way.

Scott Z.

[Ninong]

Scott,

The white sesame seed looking things are not in any particular pattern and they are all over the tank. They showed up this morning on the sides of both clams and I am sure that there were none of them on either clam yesterday. In the first picture, you can see a group of maybe five or six that are pale green. Those have been there a couple of weeks. Over to the right side in the same picture you will see maybe eight or ten that are fresh. They are so white that it is hard to get them to show up in the picture clearly. It's easier to see what they look like on the clam shell because they are in the shade there.

[Reefland]

Is this what you have Ninong?
http://reefcentral.com/forums/attach...postid=2089204

Scott Z.

[almostdiva]

I'll play....

On the greenish/brownish small beads -- algae?? eggs???

I don't even wanna guess on the rest.

Rebecca

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Is this what you have Ninong?
http://reefcentral.com/forums/attach...postid=2089204

Scott Z.

I have those, too, but that's not the ones I am asking about.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by almostdiva

I'll play....

On the greenish/brownish small beads -- algae?? eggs???

I don't even wanna guess on the rest.

Rebecca

Rebecca,

I'm not sure what the little brownish dots are but I don't believe they are eggs of any sort.

[Ninong]

Here are the leading guesses so far:

• The white tubular shapes are probably Nerite fecal castings.
  
  
• The white sesame seed-like shapes are probably Nerite egg cases.
  
  
• The tiny brownish dots are probably some sort of algae.

Other guesses welcome!

[zhenya]

George,

here's a pic of the eggs laid by Nerites in my tank.Dr.Ron id those for me and I hope it'll help you.
I have no clue as to what that red algae could be but it looks nasty and like you,I have a feeling that it could be trouble down the road.If you could take that rock out and scrape it clean somehow it might help get rid of it.

[Ninong]

Gene,

Yes, Dr. Ron is the one who told me that my white "sesame seeds" were probably Nerite egg cases. He is also the one who told me that if I saw the white tubular things coming out of a Nerite snail, then they had to be Nerite fecal castings. And, yes, I did actually see them being extruded from the bottom of a large Nerite snail.

As far as the red turf algae is concerned, I wish it were as simple as removing that one large flat piece of Kaelini, but it isn't. The stuff is coming up all over now. It completely covers that one rock but it is on at least five or six other large pieces of Kaelini, too. I have tried scraping it with a metal tool and that doesn't seem to do anything to it either. That was while it was still in the tank. So far I have not removed any pieces of rock from the tank to tackle it outside the tank because that would disrupt the entire upper deck of my rock structure. I am almost certain it is only going to get worse and I am considering getting an urchin to see if that helps. With my luck the urchin will probably eat all of the coralline first.

[zhenya]

George,

If it'll take coralline together with that nasty stuff...I'd let him Coralline will grow back before that urchin will turn back to make another pass

Seriuosly though, I don't think one urchin will do all that much of a damage in your tank. I'm sure if it'll take care of the problem(or at least keep it in check) it would be worth the trouble.Did Ron say by any chance wich of the urchins would most likely eat that red tuft?
Any other herbivorous fish might eat it,you think?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

George,

If it'll take coralline together with that nasty stuff...I'd let him Coralline will grow back before that urchin will turn back to make another pass

Seriuosly though, I don't think one urchin will do all that much of a damage in your tank. I'm sure if it'll take care of the problem(or at least keep it in check) it would be worth the trouble.Did Ron say by any chance wich of the urchins would most likely eat that red tuft?
Any other herbivorous fish might eat it,you think?

Gene,

Ron is not the one who suggested I get a long spined urchin, Doug Lowey is: What is this stuff?

I'm not sure what eats it because I'm not sure what it is yet.

[zhenya]

Well,

Doug said that his urchin took care of his algae problem for good,something to think about for sure. If only you can be sure that his algae was the same as yours,right?
I just re-read your thread on Ron's forum again...I'm not sure what those long stringy looking things are as I never saw my Nerites leave any such things,hmmm...,I got to start looking more closely now.I'm trying to set up a small jars and see if I can rase some of the Nerites larvae to juvies but so far I just gathered some 1g wide mouth jars and some air pumps and some other junk needed for this.Time has been a short commodity so far and I desided to leave this untill after the holidays. Ron had graciously send me some reading material for this so I can prepare properly and said that he'll help with whatever questions I might have

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

I just re-read your thread on Ron's forum again...I'm not sure what those long stringy looking things are as I never saw my Nerites leave any such things,hmmm...,I got to start looking more closely now.

Gene,

They're not exactly stringy looking. They are white cylindrical shapes that were extruded from the Nerite snail in the picture. I had to stand there for 10 minutes waiting for it to produce one so that I could be sure. I watched it slowly come out of the snail and plop down onto the rock's surface. There was about an 1/8" space between where it came out and the surface of the rock. The one large Nerite snail extruded a couple dozen of those "things" over a period of about an hour.

I had been watching that snail for some time and I noticed that it was leaving a trail of these white shapes behind it. I kept seeing new ones appear but I had not yet seen it actually producing any. Finally it "did it" while I was watching. They were all almost exactly the same size and shape and a very bright white. They were completely gone within a few hours.

Did Ron say how long the Nerite egg cases take to hatch? I believe I have had some of mine in the same spots for weeks.

I asked him about Stomatella varia reproduction and he told me they were broadcast spawners -- male and female gametes meet and join up in the water column. I forgot to ask him if they were hermaphroditic. If they aren't, then that means that I managed to get at least one of each in the original three individuals from Inland Aquatics. They're probably hermaphroditic. I wonder how the fertilized eggs manage to stay out of the overflow? Unless they settle out right away? Virtually everything in my tank seems to go over the overflow within seconds after it hits the water column. There are very few things that I can feed without turning off the main system pump.




P.S. -- I finally re-started the repaired Sea-Swirl on the left side of the tank and sent the other one in for motor replacement. They will get it this Friday and hopefully I will have it back by the end of next week. Right now both of my outlets are from the left side of the tank.

[zhenya]

George,

I actually watched my Stomatella vr. spawn in my tank and yes,it appeared to be a broadcast type spawning.I'm not sure if they are hermophrodites or not but what I saw was just two or three spawning simultaneously and then...there were babies all over the place

I'm glad you got that sea-swirl replaced and on its way to be repared,I'm waiting for mine to arrive soon.

I can't remember if Ron said how long it takes for them to hatch or not and will have to go back and re-read his mail,however,the eggs on the backwall of my tank had been there for at least three weeks if not longer.Three weeks is since I noticed them while taking some pics and then looking at them on the screen My eyes are not that good either,George. You should see me with that big round mag.glass-regular Sherlock Holmes
Now, I now you thinking that eggs going over in the sump will be destroyed but I don't think so.I think some get pumped back up safely and get stuck on rocks and such,becouse I did not shut off my pumps either when they were spawning and still,there were increase in numbers and many,many juveniles.

Originally Posted by Ninong

He is also the one who told me that if I saw the white tubular things coming out of a Nerite snail, then they had to be Nerite fecal castings. And, yes, I did actually see them being extruded from the bottom of a large Nerite snail.

So...now we know what Nerite poop looks like

[Ninong]

Gene,

I have dozens of Stomatella varia in spite of the fact that I am running a foam block in my Lifereef sump just after the first compartment. I removed the polyester filter pad from the final compartment but I can't remove the first foam block because for one thing it prevents all my snails from getting out of that first compartment. If they get past there, which they can do every time I turn off the pumps and the water level in the sump rises high enough for them to make it over the first baffle, then there is nothing to prevent them from being drawn into the two pump inlets. I usually check the sump first before turning off the pumps so that I can remove the mostly Nassarius snails that end up there on a daily basis and throw them back into the tank. I remove three to five every day.

[zhenya]

George,

How in the world do they make it all the way to the sump?
I see my Nassarius crawling on the sand and sometimes on the glass but I never found them in the sump or the overflow box,I do see Nerites in the overflow sometimes but they are attached to glass or the plastic and just eating gunk in there I see mysids make a trip from sump to the tank in one piece so I assume it does not harm them. FWIW, the overflow is made differently on AGA tanks I'm sure and perhaps the slots on yours is much larger then on mine.The only way for a snail to get into the overflow in my tank is over the top and it's not likely to happen to most of the snails.The only ones that I ever saw above the water line are the Nerites,no Trochus or Stomatella or the Astraea.
My S.alatus had perished and now all I have is the cuke to do the clean up duties on the sand and he's not much on sand either
I have found few other peanut worms,not as large as the first one I discovered but look large enough. I will have to scout my LFS for another conch and hope that they get S.alatus instead of the S.gigas...they wouldn't know one from another if they had signs on them

[Ninong]

Gene,

Inter-American tanks have black eggcrate at the top of the overflow compartment. It's great for increased flow and none of the snails will crawl on it but anything that is small enough to climb through the 1/2" square openings is fair game. The Nassarius climb the walls at night for some reason or other as do the Ceriths. About once a week I remove a Cerith from the sump. The Trochus and Astraea snails are too large to fit through the openings and they won't climb the eggcrate.

How long did you have your Strombus alatus? Was it just a baby or a fairly good size. The two that I got from Reeftopia in Florida were both 1.75" long when I got them. They are only 2" long today. My only worry is whether my tank is large enough to support two of them once they get a little larger. They're not supposed to get larger than 3"-4" max. I would definitely not recommend a S. gigas because of their adult size.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Gene,
How long did you have your Strombus alatus? Was it just a baby or a fairly good size. The two that I got from Reeftopia in Florida were both 1.75" long when I got them. They are only 2" long today. My only worry is whether my tank is large enough to support two of them once they get a little larger. They're not supposed to get larger than 3"-4" max. I would definitely not recommend a S. gigas because of their adult size.

I found him at the LFS as they didn't know what it was exactly(they knew it was a conch though,doh! ) I got it basically for nothing
I had him for about three month or so and at appeared to be growing,it was about 1.5" and I'm measuring its shell now as we speak and it's 1.75" long.
What happened was that it got sort of stuck between the glass and the H.crispa oral disk,I wasn't worried as I'm sure it is capable of getting out of the jam if it is healthy. FWIW, I took pics of him just a day before.As it turn out,after I saw that it was not moving for two days, it was an empty shell
Someone ate him for sure.
BTW, I wouldn't think of introducing S.gigas to my tank,unless I had a 500g tank or something
Here's a pic of that unfortunate S.alatus and my cuke.