weird things!!!

[Jgisler2006]

okay so i have read articles about live rock all over the place, yet i have not found a list of things people find that hitch hike into their aquariums. I have identified bristle stars, bristle worms, yet i cam across too things that i really need an answer for. One of these things shoots out a long thin transparent tentacle and scrapes the surface of the rock around it. I can always find it in the same rock, and if im patient it appears, next I have been observing this green,small almost starfish like thing move very slowly across the rock, it is green with whitish almost fuzzy dots and has six "legs", i wish i could provide a picture but i do not have a good enough camera, well anyways this thing is really odd, I just observed it separate itself in half!!! WHAT IS THIS!!! haha please help me out.

[Jgisler2006]

ALSO, i keep hearing a clicking noise is this just equipment?

[Parrothead]

Clicking noise is probably a pistol shrimp, the other will require a photo for id

[zhenya]

Check out this very helpful site:
Live Rock Hitch Hikers

[TimH07]

i also have that weird thing shooting out of the rock, like a snakes tounge right?!? but similar to a shirmp claw apendage but waaaayyyy too fast for that?!?!

i have no idea but i posted about it a while ago also... post if you find it!

[TimH07]

oh, probably an asternia star, very common in tanks

[Ninong]

One of these things shoots out a long thin transparent tentacle and scrapes the surface of the rock around it.

This could be a vermetid snail.

...next I have been observing this green,small almost starfish like thing move very slowly across the rock, it is green with whitish almost fuzzy dots and has six "legs", i wish i could provide a picture but i do not have a good enough camera, well anyways this thing is really odd, I just observed it separate itself in half!!! WHAT IS THIS!!! haha please help me out

That's interesting. How small is "small?" Are we talking about 1/4" across from tip of leg to tip of leg or 1/2"??? Are we talking about olive drab green or lime green or what? How many whitish fuzzy dots are we talking about?

You say it is an "almost starfish like thing." Does that mean it's shaped like a tiny starfish? When it separated itself in half, did it split right down the center? Did both halves move off on their own? Did each half have three legs?

[Ninong]

ALSO, i keep hearing a clicking noise is this just equipment?

When do you hear this clicking noise? Is it non-stop, all the time? Is it random? Is it only after the lights are off? Are we talking about several clicks a minute or just a click or two every now and then?

All of that information helps eliminate certain possibilities. Also, did this noise just start up or have you had it since your last addition of live rock? If you recently added live rock, then maybe you have a hitchhiker, like a pistol shrimp or even a mantis shrimp.

[twisted]

check out xtalworld.com. its a great hitchhiker page

[Jgisler2006]

oh, probably an asternia star, very common in tanks

Attachment 13154

THATS IT!! thank you guys all

[Jgisler2006]

This could be a vermetid snail.


That's interesting. How small is "small?" Are we talking about 1/4" across from tip of leg to tip of leg or 1/2"??? Are we talking about olive drab green or lime green or what? How many whitish fuzzy dots are we talking about?

You say it is an "almost starfish like thing." Does that mean it's shaped like a tiny starfish? When it separated itself in half, did it split right down the center? Did both halves move off on their own? Did each half have three legs?

Yes it was odd, each half had 3 legs, and they are now on opposite sides of the aquarium, this must be how they reproduce.

[Jgisler2006]

When do you hear this clicking noise? Is it non-stop, all the time? Is it random? Is it only after the lights are off? Are we talking about several clicks a minute or just a click or two every now and then?

All of that information helps eliminate certain possibilities. Also, did this noise just start up or have you had it since your last addition of live rock? If you recently added live rock, then maybe you have a hitchhiker, like a pistol shrimp or even a mantis shrimp.

It is on and off, but when it starts, it keeps clicking for about a minute. I think i have located the rock it's in, but whats finny is when i first added my live rock i noticed a small, grey, shrimp looking creature swimming flips near my filter. I think it is a mantis shrimp. and at this point i know they are pests but i am thinking of waiting till it gets bigger to catch it because i have had no luck with the DIY traps people have posted about :/

[Ninong]

Well, uh, mantis shrimp are a lot more than mere pests. How large would you say it is right now? In any case, I would start thinking about ways to remove it from your tank as soon as possible. It's going to kill stuff you would rather not have killed.