ID please?

[Nikki]

I bought some LR recently and saw this on the rock when I purchased and was told it was a sponge of some sort. I have read the posts here that indicate usually this will proliferate in low light, but this seems to be proliferating in full light and it is growing quickly and looks smushy and slimy, any ideas?

[art_of_war]

I bought some LR recently and saw this on the rock when I purchased and was told it was a sponge of some sort. I have read the posts here that indicate usually this will proliferate in low light, but this seems to be proliferating in full light and it is growing quickly and looks smushy and slimy, any ideas?

It's a sponge. Prolific or not; you could just reach in with a pair of tweezers and rip it out.

[Nikki]

Thank you for the quick reply. Do you happen to know whether it will always look slimy-like or will it evolve into a puffy sponge? Thanks!

[art_of_war]

Thank you for the quick reply. Do you happen to know whether it will always look slimy-like or will it evolve into a puffy sponge? Thanks!

Perhaps puffy; I doubt slimy. Sponges aren't all that bad. I assume you're in the process of cycling your tank?

[Nikki]

Yes, I have had it up about 3 weeks and am slowly adding LR and live sand. I have some great coralline algae growing already and am learning the right water parameters for growing corals and the like. This is my second tank ever and I am pretty excited about it!

[art_of_war]

Okay.

Well, your patience is most impressive. It might sound kind of weird but you should take your live rock out along with some of the tank water and scrub them of some of the die-off followed by a 20% water change. That should shave a few days off of your cycling process. Otherwise, your tank won't be ready for almost a full month.

[Nikki]

I was thinking about scrubbing some of the detritus off although I don't think there has been much die off as I purchased the LR cured. I am just taking it slow and planning out how to do it. I actually had a hitchiker of a mantis shrimp on one piece so I have bought an 8 gallon nano cube to keep him in so I am actually starting up two tanks at once. It will be interesting! Of course now the trick is to get the mantis shrimp out of the big tank and into the little one :-)

[art_of_war]

I was thinking about scrubbing some of the detritus off although I don't think there has been much die off as I purchased the LR cured. I am just taking it slow and planning out how to do it. I actually had a hitchiker of a mantis shrimp on one piece so I have bought an 8 gallon nano cube to keep him in so I am actually starting up two tanks at once. It will be interesting! Of course now the trick is to get the mantis shrimp out of the big tank and into the little one :-)

Good eye!

Mantis shrimps are worth some money to the right person. However, catching him will pose some problems. Good Luck.

[rjs5134]

Easy enough Nikki, especially at this stage of the game. Take the rock(with gloves) with the shrimp out of the display and dip it as briefly as possible in fresh water. The shrimp will immediately come out of the rock. Quickly return the rock and the shrimp to saltwater.

I've been told there will be die-off on the rock from this process, but did not notice any on my rock. I'm sure the shrimp didn't enjoy the process either. I guess if the rock is suitable, it could just be added to the nano with shrimp and all.

Enjoy.

[Nikki]

Rob,

Thank you for the advice on capturing him as to date I have been unable. I tried a 'poor man's' shrimp trap (a plastic bottle with frozen brine propped against a rock) to no avail. Well actually what I got was a spike in nitrates as I have nothing to eat the shrimp :-) I now have more live rock and am unsure which piece he is in. I will try this as my next avenue. I am taking my time with adding anything so not in a rush (although my husband is!).

[art_of_war]

Nikki,

Rob is right. The freshwater thing is the best method. There will be casualties but you'll feel better in the end b/c you don't want that mean little creature sharing the same tank with more docile and ornate fish/inverts.

[Nikki]

Not so easy it seems :-( I dipped all my LR today in freshwater and let each piece sit at least 10 seconds. No mantis shrimp, although I did find a great looking little crab that I posted an ID request for and I offed a little brittle star I didn't even know I had :-( I have read that there are two types of mantis shrimp, the spearer and the clubber. When I saw him before I had been sifting sand to remove some large grain sand I had placed on the bottom of sugar sand and then learned that wasn't the best way to go, do some of the mantis shrimp burrow in the sand? Or can I believe he has passed?

Thanks!

[art_of_war]

Did you ever actually see a mantis shrimp in your tank?

[Nikki]

Yes, you can see pics of him here:

Little Creature - does he need food?