A tank I got in the deal

Gill Roy

Gill Roy

"Up to my neck"
Nov 6, 2007
102
0
0
New Port Richey, FL.
I recently found a deal on a skimmer, light, pumps, overflow, ect..... to set up my 120gal and with it I got a 29 gal tall tank with some live rock, sand, a couple perc clowns, 2 orange spot gobies, a lawnmower blenny a few hermits and snails. I figured "what the heck, maybe use some of this stuff in the new tank. And everything looks good now I have it set up, except.....................

I have a problem with brittle stars, I mean I have em in every crevice, nook and cranny in the live rock. I couldn't guess how many.... They are very small, long arms, with whitish and black rings waving around out of their holes. (sorry no pic)
Sometimes I catch them on the glass when I turn the light on.

What are they? and does anything eat them?
I don't like seeing so many.

.
 
They are preyed upon by shells (like the triton shell), some fish (like the trigger fish), crabs and shrimps and by other echinoderms like starfish which are carnivorous.

From another source: Creatures that snack on brittle stars include fish, crabs, hermit crabs, mantis shrimp and even sea stars and other brittle stars.
 
I also have a problem with bristle worms in this tank.

Nice Figi rock in here with some good coraline too.
 
It's just that there is like a bazzilion of both.
I had bought this with the intention of putting it all into the 120 when it gets going.

now I am not so sure I want to start out with this "stuff" in these numbers....
 
I have just noticed I have a bit of a problem with Aiptasia as well.
The opaque white kind and it seems as though there may be a fair amount of these as well.
This tank has obviously been neglected and needs attention before I introduce this mess to my 120 gal to be starting a cycle in the next 2 weeks.

BTW I do have a few Peppermint Shrimp in there ATM.
 
Not possitive, but I think maybe Arrow crabs like to eat bristle worms. I agree, in large numbers they can be a problem.. I have my 29G stuffed with microbrittles though and didn't really see how those could ever be a problem since they are almost always in the rocks and must keep them very clean.. but now thinking about it more, I guess they probably eat all the smaller stuff in the rocks like copepods.. so ok, I can see how both can be bad in large numbers now.

Wait.. if your going to "start a cycle" then why not "nuke" the rocks? Maybe make a super kalk water mix to let them soak in, like a pH of 10-11 for a few days then rinse really well in saltwater for a couple days after that. To me that would be the quickest way to get neglected rock back to a starting point if your planning on starting a cycle from scratch and not using the live rock and a big bump start. IMO if you put in all the rock you want to put in at the very beginning and you know all that rock is well cured then there really should be no cycle to speak of. That was how I upgraded my 29G to my 75G, just moved all the rock and sump over and new sand and water, put all my fish and coral in the tank the first hour it was running and never even had a bump of any bad parameters nor loss any fish or corals from the move.
 
Oblique dotty back will devastate brisstle worms in a hurry - Just dont feed the fish. You can also build a small trap with a shallow dish with a removable lid. Cut about an 1/8th in hole in middle - put some food inside and bury it level with the sand so you only see the top. Worm goes in and dont come out. Now dont feed the fish because you want the worms hungry and they can smell the food. Some of them are good for the sand bed airiation so dont get rid of all just 90% or so.
 
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