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FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal Identification
33 Related Articles:
Marine Invertebrates, Marine
Invertebrate Systems, Marine
Invertebrate Compatibility, Marine
Invertebrate Disease, Marine
Invertebrate Reproduction,
Quarantine of Corals and Invertebrates,
Feeding Reef Invertebrates,
Lighting Marine Invertebrates,
Water Flow, How Much is Enough,
Related FAQs: Non-Vert IDs 1,
Non-Vert IDs 2, Non-Vert IDs 3,
Non-Vert IDs 4, Non-Vert IDs 5,
Non-Vert IDs 6,
Non-Vert IDs 7, Non-Vert
IDs 8,
Non-Vert IDs 9,
Non-Vert IDs 10, Non-Vert IDs 11,
Non-Vert IDs 12, Non-Vert IDs 13,
Non-Vert IDs 14, Non-Vert IDs 15,
Non-Vert IDs 16, Non-Vert IDs 17,
Non-Vert IDs 18, Non-Vert. ID 19,
Non-Vert. ID 20, Non-Vert. ID 21,
Non-Vert. ID 22, Non-Vert. ID 23,
Non-Vert. ID 25, Non-Vert ID 26,
Non-Vert ID 27, Non-Vert ID 28,
Non-Vert ID 29, Non-Vert ID 30,
Non-Vert ID 31, Non-Vert ID 32,
Non-Vert ID 34, Non-Vert ID 35,
Non-Vert ID 36, Non-Vert ID 37,
Non-Vert ID 38, Non-Vert ID 39,
Non-Vert ID 40, Non-Vert ID 41,
Non-Vert ID 42, & Marine Invertebrates,
Marine Invert.s 2, Marine Invert.s 3,
& FAQs about: Marine Invertebrate
Behavior, Marine Invertebrate
Compatibility, Marine Invertebrate
Selection, Marine Invertebrate
Systems, Feeding Reef Invertebrates,
Marine Invertebrate Disease,
Marine Invertebrate Reproduction, &
& LR Life
Identification, LR Hitchhiker ID 1,
Anemone Identification,
Aiptasia Identification, Aiptasia ID
2, Worm Identification,
Tubeworm ID, Polychaete
Identification, Snail Identification,
Marine Crab Identification, Marine
Invert.s 1, Marine Invert.s 2,
Marine Plankton, | 
|
ID needed 2/22/08
Hi Crew at WWM!
<Adele>
Love the
site. I use it all the time when something new and confusing happens
in my tank. Your information is always helpful. I have been having a
bit of a frustrating period with my FOWLR 55 gallon tank. Between
the green hair algae, red slime and excessive Caulerpa, keeping a
saltwater tank has been more work than joy lately.
<Hopefully you
have been investigating, reading re the control, reorientation of
your system...>
My biggest problem (being somewhat new to the
saltwater world, less than two years) is that all the above got out
of control because I, at first, thought all of it was a new
interesting phase that my tank was going through, and let them run
rampant before finding that these things are not what you want then
had to take steps to eliminate them.
<Your situation is common...
adding, replacing some LR will likely be of benefit here... as well
as adding a refugium... Read here re:
http://wetwebmedia.com/marsetupindex2.htm<
I am still battling
the green hair but it is slowly dying. Thus, my current dilemma. I
just got some new liverock with coralline algae
<Oh, good>
to
reseed my pathetic looking rock I currently have. In the process I
came home with a bright red tipped looking piece that on the end
looks like a raspberry. Quite lovely I think. However, 9 times out
of 10 if I think it's cool that means it's not good for the tank. I
shall attach a picture and await your prognosis on if it should stay
or go.
Thanks again for all the help.
Kind Regards,
Adele
<Should stay... is most likely a sponge... Bob Fenner> | 
|
Polyps growing on mushroom! 2/21/08
Good afternoon WWM crew,
A kind reefer recently donated two mushroom frags to my aquarium two
weeks ago. One is doing great, the other appears to be struggling. They
are sitting in near identical flow/light conditions. The downfall of the
struggling mushroom may well be that these were my first attempts to
mount frags. My question relates to the struggling frag. This mushroom
is folded up, with the bottom sides now partially facing "up" (think of
a piece of mail that has been tri-folded). While inspecting this
mushroom last week I noticed two small polyps (for lack of a better
term) growing on the "bottom" of the mushroom that now faces the light.
(photo can be seen here:
http://www.saltbucket.com/v/scottandjodie/Picture+014.jpg.html
"polyps" are near top/center of mushroom, one with base in red section
of mushroom, one in white portion) These polyps appear to be reaching
for the light. 2 more days of observation has revealed that these polyps
extend during the day and disappear at night. I also have noticed that
the tentacles on one of them are green tipped. As I have never had any
corals in my tank, I am curious as to what these polyps could be. Have
you ever heard/seen such a thing? Any advice/information would be
appreciated.
<Wow, that's pretty weird. Could you please send some
other photos from different angles? My first thought is that this might
not really be a mushroom coral (or that possibly something is growing
over the mushroom). But I can't tell much from just the one photo
unfortunately.>
Thank You,
Scott
<Best,
Sara M.> | 
Sponge?
|
Can you tell what these are 2/21/08
They popped up almost
over night. I have added no new rock during the
last 12 months
<If you're talking about the little yellow balls, they're just
harmless sponges (probably Syconoid sp.).>
Best Regards,
Paul
<Best,
Sara M.> | 
|
What Is This? Possible Snail Egg Collar – 2/19/08
Hi there!
<Hi Kerstin!>
I have looked, and asked, and am drawing a blank...
<Let’s see if we can’t fix that!>
I have a 92-gallon corner tank that
has been set up since just before Thanksgiving, when I transferred
everything over from my 3-year-old 29- gallon tank. I have slowly been
working on trading in soft corals and assorted other items at my LFS for
new stony corals. But this past weekend I suddenly had a circle in the
sand (see the first picture). I could pick up the sand "circle" without
it disintegrating; over the
course of the week, the left side has
slowly started to blend back into the sand bed. While I used to have a
feather duster in my old tank, I traded it to a friend about 6 months
ago. I have never purchased a sea cucumber or sea squirt...those are the
three items this shape has been guessed to be.
<Okay>
Do you have
any clue what it could be?
<I have a possibility, yes.>
I have
had a diatom problem - which has now apparently cycled through; I am
still working on ridding my tank of the red slime, but even that is on a
downturn.
<Excellent>
My fish are a Six-line Wrasse and a Purple
Tang. I have 4 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, and today added 2 blood red shrimp.
<That’s an awful lot of shrimp, especially given that there are two
different species. Keeping them well fed will help, but keep an eye on
them.>
My other livestock is a brittlestar, and an assortment of
snails (~12-15)
<What species?>
..and hermit crabs (only 3-4
left, not being replaced). My specific gravity runs at 1.0265, <Hmmm,
watch that this doesn’t get too high.> pH around 8.2, and temperature
varies between 78.5-79.3.
Any ideas you have would be greatly
appreciated...everyone I know here is at a loss.
<Heeheee! I can
certainly understand. I'm not exactly sure myself! Among the snails that
you have, by any chance do you have any “Moon” snails (Family:
Naticidae)? What I see in your photo looks a lot like the remnants of an
egg collar, sometimes called a “sand collar”. It’s actually two layers
of sand and mucus with eggs sandwiched between. Please see this link for
comparison:
http://www.manandmollusc.net/Mystery_shell_pages/mystery_shell_steve.html
>
Thanks tremendously for your great web site...I have spent many
hours browsing and learning (I am currently trying to determine what
other fish I would like to get, and your site helps tremendously in the
decision-making process).
<Super!>
I look forward to hearing from
you,
Kerstin:-)
Fig. 1 - sand "circle" - can be picked up...My
current tank setup - ~40-50 lbs. LR
<There are a couple of other
possibilities if you rule out the Moon snail, but I’d need a livestock
list to narrow it down. At any rate, this structure will assuredly
continue to disintegrate, becoming part of the food chain without issue.
Take care, -Lynn> Re 2:
Question...what is this?
Re: What Is This? Possible Snail Egg Collar,
Lysmata spp. Compatibility - 2/19/08
Thanks for the quick
response!
<Hi Kerstin! You’re very welcome!>
However, that snail
doesn't look like any of the ones I have.
<Steeee-rike! That’s one
guess down.
You were asking about snails. I have some Astrea, a
Mexican, 2 Margarita, 2 Cat's Eye, several Nassarius snails, several
Cerith snails, and I think that's it. Most of these are still alive -
<Hmmm, wouldn’t be any of those listed. If you happen to see one of
these structures again, do try to get a photo of it asap and we'll take
another look. :-)>
I am not replacing hermit crabs because, to
reflect the "opportunistic nature" mentioned so often on WWM, <Yep> the
last time I added empty shells, they still preferred to get the shell
from a live snail vs. a clean shell with no one living in it - an
expensive habit to support!
<Yes indeed! I’ve had the same issues
with several hermits in one of my tanks. It’s annoying, for sure.>
You seem surprised at the number of shrimp - and the mix. Interestingly
enough, I haven't run across anything that indicates how many shrimp one
should have on average - and I got the impression that the two types of
shrimp would get along well.
<Given enough room and food, they
usually do just fine.>
Is there generally a rule on shrimp I should
be aware of?
<Nope, there’s no hard and fast rule. It depends on how
much food is available, the aquascape (enough hiding areas, etc), and
the personalities of the shrimps involved. Basically, as you increase
the number of shrimps you have, you increase the competition for food
and risk of territorial issues. This is compounded when you increase the
number of species involved. I think the four Cleaner Shrimp (given
enough food) are fine because they do tend to group together. The
Scarlet Shrimp (Lysmata debelius), however, are a separate species and
need their own area. Please see this link:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/arthropoda/shrimp/cleaner.htm
>
I am sure my LFS would let me trade some of them back in if I
needed to.
<I’d just make sure everyone’s well fed and keep an eye on
things for now. As long as they’re all happy in their areas and have
enough food, you should be okay.>
Also, r.e. the Specific Gravity -
over the past 3-1/2 years, that is what my tank seems to have stabilized
at. At one point my 29-gallon tank had around 25 different corals in it
(why I upgraded), and it generally moved up to that, even if I worked at
lowering it with water changes...should I worry, or just make sure it
doesn't go any higher?
<I think you’re fine with it where it is. Mine
has been right around the same number for years with no problems. My
concern was that it not get a whole lot higher. As long as you’re able
to keep it stable where it is, you’re good to go!>
Thanks again for
all your help and your fast response,
Kerstin:-)
<You’re very
welcome, Kerstin, it was a pleasure :-) Take care, -Lynn>
Re: What Is This? Possible Snail Egg Collar, Lysmata spp. Compatibility
- 2/19/08 2/21/08
Wow...fast!
<Heheee!! We aim to
please! :-)>
I did actually look at the link you provided...and will
keep a watch on the shrimp. So far they seem happy, we'll see how it
goes.
<Yep, sounds good.>
R.e. the picture - I actually took the
picture the morning it showed up.
<Woops, I thought that it was taken
after a few days!>
I had a smaller (only 1/3 of that C) one of these
about 1 month ago, when I was at the height of my diatom problem
<Interesting>
(I had the diatom problem because I didn't change my RO
filter, and started out with very high silicates; needless to say, it
self-propagated the diatom problem until I changed enough water to lower
the silicates....lesson learned about filter changes!).
<Yes indeedy!
I wish I had a dime for every lesson I’ve learned the hard way!>
I
took it out, didn't think about it at the time - but this is the same
structure. Could I have somehow imported something with LR? <Is indeed
possible.> I have gotten several new ones as I have taken advantage of
the new tank to switch out some of my rocks - but I haven't seen any new
snails.
<Okay>
Anyway, open to suggestions...you saw in my first
email what my LFS was thinking.
<Yes, and I don’t believe any of
those are what created this (mainly because of the size/shape). For
example, if you had a cucumber/Holothuroid in there that left a casting
this size, you’d likely have seen it. I’ve also never seen one leave
castings with this consistent "C" shape. Unfortunately, I've checked
every source at hand and haven't seen a similar structure anywhere.
What I’d like to know is whether this casting/casing/whatever is
rubbery, hard, hollow, etc. I’d like to know what’s under that top layer
of sand! Is it a gelatinous/rubbery mass or does it appear to be sand
through and through? Is the sand covering a parchment tube? If you blew
water at it with a turkey baster, would it disintegrate or would it hold
its form? Have any of the shrimp or hermits been picking at it? Sorry,
but as you can see, I have more questions than answers. I do love a good
puzzle! Unfortunately, at this point, I’m not sure what made this
object. Even if you could answer all of the questions I listed above, my
answer(s) would still be just supposition. Wouldn’t it be great if we
could set up cameras in front of our tanks so that we could see all the
neat things that happen when we’re away - and answer some of these
perplexing questions!>
Thanks again, and it's fun chatting with you,
Kerstin:-)
<With you as well, Kerstin, it’s been a pleasure. Of
course, it’s driving me nuts not being able to solve the puzzle, but
hey, the journey’s been fun! |  
Follow-up: What Is This? Possible Snail Egg Collar – 2/21/08
Hi there again!
<Hi there, Kerstin!>
Well, I tried to answer
some of your questions, and don't know that I succeeded. However,
here goes:
<Thank you so much! I know I loaded you down with
every question I could think of! :-D>
1. I forgot to list 2 other
creatures I have in my tank (at least that I know of): a small Blue
Tuxedo Urchin, and a small conch (see the attached picture for his
size compared to the casing). As far as I can tell, this conch was
the only one who ever worked on the casing - and the casing's length
was ~3 inches from top to bottom. I have a fair amount of worms in
my sand from where I took LS from my DSB in the old tank to this one
- but I had never seen this in the old tank.
<Okay>
2. The
original photo of the casing was taken on Feb. 13; the last photo
was this morning (Feb. 21). This morning I also tried to take out
the casing, and by this time it was falling apart into pieces,
although on Sunday I could still pick it up easily. Without having a
microscope, I did not see anything in it this morning other than
sand. However, parts of it did feel rubbery - I am sure it was even
more so when it was fresh.
<Likely so.>
I hope that helps
<Absolutely, it all helps!>
- otherwise, since I seem to have
had this before, I will write back if I get another one...
<Please do. My best guess is that we’re seeing the remnants of an
abandoned tube formed by some sort of tubiculous Polychaete (of
which there are many possibilities).>
Fig. 1 - left - small
conch and the left (disintegrating) side of the casing;
Fig 2 -
right - the casing after 1 week - looks solid, but falls apart into
pieces if picked up.
(Pictures taken under actinics only)
<Thank you for the additional photos!>
Thanks again for all your
help, and I hope the weather is better where you are than here,
Kerstin :-) (from snowy/icy Kentucky)
<Brrrrrr! We’re actually
having an unusual stretch of gorgeous weather out here in Seattle.
Lol I’ll do my best to send some your way! By the way, you’re very
welcome and thank you for the additional information! Take care and
stay warm! -Lynn> |  
|
Follow-up 2: What Is This? Possible Snail Egg Collar? Sand Clumping?
3/8/08
<Hi Kerstin!>
And a cheery good morning (or
afternoon).
<Thanks, and right back at you!>
Apparently this
might not have gone through yesterday, so I added another comment...
<Thanks, it did indeed go through, and I apologize for the delay in
responding! I’ve just been wracking my brain trying to figure out
once and for all what these things are.>
Well, after our last
foray with the unknown, these casings seem to be coming up more
regularly - I have two more casings within 3 days of each other
(March 4 & 6) - but they're more like the first one I found, not the
perfect C shape I wrote about earlier. You had asked several
responses ago, and so I picked up the first one (pictured on a
towel). It was about 4 cm long, and solid sand - did not feel
rubbery, but I also did not look with a microscope as to what might
be in it.
<That's okay. No need for a microscope!>
For what
it's worth, if it is of any help, my aquarium contents are (I have
been working on making it a full listing):
<Thanks, it’s all
helpful!>
- A 92 gallon tank (moved from a 29 in mid-November),
with 1 Purple Tang (Zebrasoma Xanthurum) and 1 Sixline Wrasse
(Pseudocheilinus hexataenia)
- About 60 pounds of LR, a DSB, and
a variety of other critters - 4 skunk cleaner shrimp, 2 blood red
shrimp, 1 or 2 peppermint shrimp (they disappeared during the move,
have recently reappeared), 3-4 hermit crabs (all that remains), a
variety of snails (multiple Astrea, a Mexican, an Olive,
<Watch
out for Olive snails. They’re predators/scavengers that although
pretty, can deplete your sandbed fauna, attack other mollusks.>
..a Tiger cowry, several Nassarius, 2 Ceriths (laid eggs several
days ago), a small Conch, and several Margarita,
<Sorry, I should
have mentioned this before, but these snails (usually Tegula
funebralis, Tegula brunnea, or Margarites pupillus) are cooler (to
downright cold) water species. Although they’re sold fairly
regularly as reef snails, they shouldn’t be. The warmer temperatures
in our reef systems greatly shorten their lifespans.>
..a Cat's
Eye) and a small blue tuxedo urchin.
- My coral collection is 2
Acroporas, 1 Stylophora, a Caulastrea, a Micromussa, 2 Fungia (1
orange, 1 green), a green Favia, an Acanthastrea, and a Lobophyllia.
- 2 anemones - Eric identified them as Bunodosoma cavernata…the
Warty Sea Anemone
- Running a Tunze 9010 skimmer in the tank,
also have 3 powerheads - Hydor Koralia 2 and 3, <Love these!> and a
MaxiJet 1200.
Like I say, I just wanted to let you know that they
are still coming up - apparently seemingly regularly, although not
necessarily in the perfect C shape. I greatly appreciate any ideas
you have...I don't think they hurt anything, it is just a curiosity
thing at this point as to what may be creating them.
<Heheee! Do
I ever understand! I really want to know what these are too, but I
don’t see anything in the above list that stands out as a
possibility.>
Additional comment - I was reading Anthony Calfo's
forum on Reef Central, and ran across a mention of aragonite
clumping.
<It’s interesting that you should bring this up. I've
been wondering whether it was possible that these formations were
aided/created by a snail or urchin and clumping action. In other
words, in the course of its foraging/burrowing, one of these
critters plowed up an area of sand that had on the surface,
something sticky enough (mucus, bacteria, etc) to hold the top layer
together and roll it into these forms. Any thoughts, Bob?>
A
quote from Dr. Ron Shimek was:
"Here is what Dr Ron has to say on
the subject
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...hlight=concrete
quote:
Originally posted by Dr Ron
Many aquaria are saturated
with dissolved mineral salts such as magnesium and calcium
carbonates. In the sand bed where water flow is slow and the
chemical milieu is different than in the water column, precipitation
of calcium salts can cause clumping. The high pH
environment you
mention facilitates this clumping. In essence, in such a situation
what is created is a type calcareous sandstone.
The other cause
is clumping due to bacterial cementation. The bacteria in the sand
bed glue the grains together with a material referred to as a
glycoprotein; basically this is a material about the consistence of
rock candy. Once the bacteria have bound the sediment, the minerals
can also precipitate and make the binding permanent.
When one
inoculates a sand bed, one needs to strive for maximum diversity of
the burrowing infauna. The action of these small animals will keep
the sediment rather continuously in motion and prevent the
cementation. In addition to the lack of these "motivators" of
sediment motion, the larger sediment particles tend to resist
movement, and consequently facilitate the cementation."
So to
check, I also want to say I have the following measurements (after a
10 gallon water change done just earlier today, using SeaChem's Reef
Salt): Calcium around 300, Alkalinity at 2.06. mEq/L. :-( Apparently
over the course of the last month it went from both values being
high to now both being low...so I will work on correcting them,
<Good, just take it slowly.>
..but that means this isn't a
possibility for the clumps, and we're back at square 1, right?
<Hmmmm, well clumping can be caused by a number of things, pH
problems, not enough water flow, lack of adequate sandbed fauna,
overcorrection of calcium, etc. You might want to stir the top layer
(~1/2”) of sand and see what happens (look for sticking or
clumping). Please search the term “clumping” at WWM for more
information:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm>
Thanks again for any input you can provide, and I hope you're having
a nice and warm day,
Kerstin:-)
<You're very welcome! So far,
so good on this end as far as weather goes. Hopefully the new winter
storm they predicted for y’all never happened and that you're nice
and toasty! Take care, -Lynn>
IMG_6924.JPG On a towel
IMG_6932.JPG Same size, in tank under MH with flicker |  
Follow-up 3: What Is This? Possible Snail Egg Collar? Sand
Clumping? 3/8/08
<Hi Kerstin!>
Thanks for the great
response.
<You’re most welcome. I just wish I had a concrete
answer for you!>
I will keep searching on "clumping".
<Sounds good. I have my doubts as to whether that’s really
what’s causing the formations, but it’s something to
consider/rule out.>
I thought I had pretty good water flow
(~1750 gph + my skimmer), and before I sold my 29-gallon tank, I
got about 1-1/2 cups sand from it, so my sandbed seems pretty
well along.
<Good>
Re: the Margarita snail - yes, I bought
it before I researched - and this point I will let them survive
until their death, but will not be replacing them...and feel bad
for shortening their life, in fact.
<Yes, it's sad, isn't it.
I doubt there’s an aquarist out there that hasn’t made a similar
misstep at some point, and felt horrible about the inevitable
result. I know I have. Complicating matters is the fact that
these snails are often sold as part of reef-cleaning packages.
People are led to believe that the various animals included are
well suited to reef systems. It’s a very unfortunate practice
and I’m going to stop right there before I get on a roll!
Suffice it to say, experiences like this serve to teach us all a
sad but valuable lesson.>
Thanks again for all your help. We
did end up getting about 5 inches of snow - but it's nice, and
once the drive is shoveled, it melts pretty fast...so it's not
all bad.
<Oh good! LOL I wish you could send some out here.
I’m one of those crazy people that loves snow!>
Thanks again
for your help and this great website, Kerstin:-)
<You’re very
welcome, Kerstin, and thank you - it’s been a pleasure! Have a
great weekend, -Lynn> |
Follow-up 4: What Is This? Possible Snail Egg Collar? Sand Clumping?
Nope! 3/8/08 3/10/08
Hi again!
<Hi there, Kerstin!>
Well, I have continued searching, and you know that looking for
people who have written in about worm poop or castings or sand being
compacted...well, I seem to be the first one...or I am just not
searching the right words.
<This has been quite a challenge,
hasn’t it!>
In any case, since Dr. Shimek had mentioned sand
being "concrete", I submitted my query to him as well, and his
response was:
"Your structures appears to be fecal castings (=
"used food" ) of a deposit (= sediment) eating large worm or sea
cucumber. It is definitely not a snail egg collar, very much the
wrong shape and "texture." "
<Yes, although the initial photo did
remind me of a sand collar/egg casing from a Moon snail, the
subsequent photos did not.>
That made me think it must be a huge
worm (!), which I asked about (esp. since I have not knowingly
purchased or imported one into my tank); in return, he responded:
"These animals are occasionally found as hitchhikers, and they come
in as small individuals and may grow in the tank. It is likely it is
living in your sand buried out of sight. Such creatures are good
additions to a tank; as long as it can get enough food, it will be a
good detritus-feeding animal.
You may never see it, even with
staying up at night looking for it. Such worms typically live their
entire lives under the surface of the sediments, and just back up to
the surface, stick their anus out of the sand a bit and defecate the
fecal casting. My guess is that this is happening far more
frequently than you realize, probably once a
night or so. I
suspect most of the time fish, other animals, or currents disperse
the sand before you observe it. "
I hope that information is
useful to someone else out there as well...I think it's also
interesting that something as big as this possible worm could be
hiding in my DSB. Personally I still like the idea of egg casings -
there are some neat ones out there, that I could find pictures of -
but don't you know, that would have been too simple
an answer.
:-))
<Heheeee – too true! I’m so glad you were able to have this
answered! This does indeed help me, as well other aquarists with
similar castings showing up in their tanks! I too would love to see
the critter that’s leaving poo of this size! The reason I discounted
the possibility originally was that since the sand/substrate had
been transferred from one tank to another, it seemed unlikely that
such a sizeable worm, or Cuke, would go unnoticed. Ah well, maybe it
was hiding within some rock, etc, that was also
transferred/introduced. The point is that I implicitly trust Dr.
Shimek’s judgment in these things and am relieved to finally have
this mystery solved for you! Yay! By the way, if you ever do see
this critter out an about, please let us know!>
Thank you again
for all of your help - I really appreciate it, and all the work you
did researching about this. It's been fun talking about this, and
hopefully someone else will be able to use the information as well.
<Absolutely! You’re very welcome and thank you as well! It’s been a
fun learning experience and I know the information will be very
helpful to others.>
Also (shameless plug) because of all the help
you and everyone at WWM have provided, I did make another donation -
I think something this great should be considered in the same light
as shareware - it will improve and continue to be there for everyone
who needs it if people have it in their hearts to consider what it
is worth to them...
<Awww, that’s so kind of you! On behalf of
Bob and the rest of the crew, a most sincere thank you! :-)>
Kerstin:-)
<This has been a real pleasure, Kerstin! Take care,
-Lynn> |
Please help ID these...Eggs? 2/19/08
Good Day! I
am a Long-time reader and 1st time writer! I hope you can help me as
I've witnessed you help millions!
We have a 16G Bow front Display
FOWLR tank (actually we have a few Paly's and Mushrooms in there) w/
2 True Perculas and 1 Citron Goby. There are plenty of snails, crabs
and even an Urchin. I have seen many fire/bristleworms, spaghetti
worms, pods and feather dusters.
Parameters are:
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: <15
Ammonia: 0
Salinity: 1.024
Temp: 79 degrees
Calcium is normal and Phosphates/Silicates are in check
We woke
up this morning and found these little brown things everywhere! They
look like little pieces of dirt, but appear to be eggs. There was a
large snail that was in the area of these and may be the culprit.
<I do believe so...>
I have had Nassarius snail eggs before and
they looked nothing like these! I hope the picture helps.
My
question is what are they, will they last and are they good??
<Might otherwise be urchin eggs... likely will be consumed... Are
"good"... not toxic>
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in
advance and keep up the good work!
Derek L. Rush
<We're
trying! Bob Fenner>
Re: Please help ID these... Eggs?
Thanks for the quick
response!!! It's an honor to be answered by the one and only Mr. Bob
Fenner!!!
Anyways, someone told me that the things I see are
just harmless pieces of Urchin Pooh!
<Heee! Could be this as
well... There are some snails that do lay eggs that are quite
similar though (as well as the more familiar clusters by some
species found arrayed on viewing panels, and in webbed clusters
attached to hard substrates...)>
If that is true I was wondering
2 things:
1) Will this cause a rise in Nitrates?
<Mmm, not
likely appreciably>
2) I've heard that Urchin feces carries
Coralline Algae spores? Is that true?
<Likely so... digested to
some extent>
Thanks again and I will be looking forward to your
response!
Derek L. Rush
<BobF> |
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