Good or bad?

[kemfish]

Is there some master list of what should and should not be left in the tank as hitchhikers? If someone could give a general run down of what to take out and what to leave alone in a FOWLR that would be very helpful, I have TONS of stuff coming off my live rock tonight(it's in QT, so a delay won't make a difference to my DT). This is my very first chunk of live rock, and I don't know what is good and what is bad! So far we have found:
ribbon worm
2 tiny crabs, they won't come out far enough to try to ID them
2 tiny snails
amphipods
bristle worms
and they just keep coming...everytime I look, something new is popping out, so we run and google it's description...a list of what to keep and what to get rid of would really help

 

[al&burke]

http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker/hitchhikerswf.shtml
Have a look here should help you out, Two great people from this forum have started this.

 

[geoj]

Sounds like you have some good rock. Post pics and someone will let you know, or do a www search Hitchhikers Guide to the Reef Tank and you will find lots of stuff to read...

 

[kemfish]

How about that guy? My husband found a site that said he is a ribbon worm, but I cannot for the life of me find it now(or anything else that talks about them). I have him out of the tank in a tupperware container right now, because he freaked me out LOL.

 

[kemfish]

Here are some pics of the live rock, and an attempt at the crab, but he still refuses to come out ) I am a little concerned with the rock itself too, the more I have been looking the more I think we screwed up =/. Thankfully, the only living things in our tanks are what came with this rock.

The red circle is where my little crab is hiding at.

 

[btldreef]

Why do you think you screwed up?
Hitchhiker crabs are almost always bad.
There is a way to rid your rock of unwanted (and unfortunately some wanted as well) hitchhikers:
Place rock lifted off the bottom of the tank 2 or more inches. Some people build a platform out of egg crate, others use acrylic rods or PVC.
Raise the salinity to 1.03-1.04
Place a small amount of fish food at bottom of tank.
Turn lights off
The higher salinity causes the hitchhikers to attempt to seek refuge in lower salinity water. The food is for that extra bit of enticing that some harder critters might need.
Having the rock lifted up, once the critters go to the bottom of tank, they can't get back up into the rock.

 

[btldreef]

Also, with hitchhikers, I live by one simple rule: When in doubt, get it out.
Sure, you might get rid of something that could have been beneficial, but if it's bad, it's not worth the risk. Proper maintenance will more than make up for those few beneficial creatures you might have gotten rid of.

 

[kemfish]

I finally caught my little crab! Here is a picture of him, ideas?

 

[forcrz6]

Im thinking either a anemone crab or a Xanthid crab