Life found in rocks...

[inkblue]

...this morning when the lights were dimm'd, i saw this tentacle coming out of a rock. it look bristly kinda but it was only one, and it was groping the area for food, i gueSs. i turn'd on a flaslight and it zipp'd back int0 the rocK :sgrin: yoU think it's a starfish? but i have NEVER seen it or put it in...:scratchch

theN on anotHer rock, this jEllo-lookin' tentacle kept coming out with some kind of sucKer and would grope round the hoLe it was it grabbing at watever it could find. again, it was just one semi-translucent tentacLe :bigeyes2:

 

[jawwad2004]

I got a bunch of those jelly lookin tentacles in my tank, dont know what they are, but hey, its alive and there are a bunch of bristle stars in my rocks as well!

 

[inline6]

Most likely Brittle stars.
I have a bunch, all you do see is their arms during feeding time.

 

[Deanos]

Hitchhiker's Guide to Reefing

 

[inkblue]

...but i onLy see ONE arm/leg/etc, aLso i had a brittle star once, before my carpet ate him, and taht was bristLy... this looks more like a flat tentacle/arm with bristles only on the sides... :bigeyes2: :shocked1:

 

[jawwad2004]

What color are they? Mine are white, I even see them during the day during feedings like inline stated. I also have seen few of those SPS eating stars. I ususally take them out with a tweezer

 

[Reefer420]

if its reddish in color its probably a bristleworm- black then a brittle star, white a spaghetti worm that sends its feeding arms out.

I have a TON of those spaghetti worms all throughout my rock. My brittle star also likes to roam around my tank at times- so I get to see it hunting for food. The bristle worms i only see at night after the lights are out.

 

[nanoreefer22]

What color are they? Mine are white, I even see them during the day during feedings like inline stated. I also have seen few of those SPS eating stars. I ususally take them out with a tweezer

What SPS eating stars??? Those little white guys???? That split like crazy????

 

[DEEPWATER]

...this morning when the lights were dimm'd, i saw this tentacle coming out of a rock. it look bristly kinda but it was only one, and it was groping the area for food, i gueSs. i turn'd on a flaslight and it zipp'd back int0 the rocK :sgrin: yoU think it's a starfish? but i have NEVER seen it or put it in...:scratchch

theN on anotHer rock, this jEllo-lookin' tentacle kept coming out with some kind of sucKer and would grope round the hoLe it was it grabbing at watever it could find. again, it was just one semi-translucent tentacLe :bigeyes2:

Welcome to reef keeping INk ,if you spent 1/4 of the time looking in your tank at nite time ,then staying online ,you will notice other weird ,crazy ,cool,maybe evn things that you dont need in your tank
almost like freaky hunted house (only a tank) :bigeyes2:
Crabs ,snails ,bristle worms ,and lots of other critters come to play at nite

 

[inkblue]

...i did notice thiS one guY wh0 keePs caLLing me to buy his stuff with biRd noises in the backGround :lol: :bigeyes2: :shocked1: :joke:

 

[inline6]

What SPS eating stars??? Those little white guys???? That split like crazy????

Check out :

http://www.garf.org/

Under Aquarium Pests
------Under SPS eating Starfish

 

[DEEPWATER]

You will often notice this small starfish on the glass just above the sand. This predatory starfish can be distinguished because it often has two or four shorter legs. During the last year we have been noticing a new starfish in our reef aquariums and it seemed to be dividing. Several people noticed this type of starfish in their aquariums and they have wondered if they were harmful. Well the small, flat, large body starfish are definitely harmful to SPS corals.



LeRoy Headlee

One of the first things that we noticed about the starfish was the different length of the legs on almost every member of this group. After some detective work we were able to find these predatory starfish eating several types of small polyp stony corals. The starfish are approximately 1 in. long and they often have seven legs.

When the starfish is ready to divide all the legs will be about the same length. The starfish then starts to split across the disk leaving each new starfish with from three to five legs. The starfish seem to be able to grow very fast and they rapidly populate an entire aquarium.


The starfish then find SPS corals to feed on. It is hard to find these starfish because they are able to camouflage themselves among the coral branches. It is very common to find two of the same size starfish feeding on the same coral.
When the starfish attack a Stylophora fragment they can eat all the polyps in one day. The other coral that they seem to attack is the Pocillopora. If you have been noticing large white patches on your SPS corals you may have an infestation of these predatory starfish.





These types of starfish often arrive on Fiji live rock. This is another good reason to quarantine live rock before you add it to your reef aquarium. If you have seen this type of starfish in your aquarium already, you'll need to find them, and finding them can be quite a problem. Of course it is easiest to remove them when they're crawling on the glass. If you see the starfish do not put off collecting them because once they are on the rocks they are very hard to see.