Help! smoke in my tank

rzbud99

rzbud99

Member
Ok - this was really weird. I was feeding my electric blue hermit crab a piece of algae that I usually feed my tang. He was sitting on a small piece of live rock and was having a hard time grabbing it. All of a sudden, something that looked like smoke (a lot of it) started coming out from behind the rock. Was it the hermit crab?? He moved away from the rock right after that and for about 2 mins. little wisps of "smoke" would still come out of the rock at about 20 sec. intervals - really weird. Can anyone tell me what happened?? Everything seems to be ok - no ill effects or anything.
This is what I have in the tank:
FISH
2 percs.
1 yellow tail damsel
1 blue devil damsel
1 yellow tang
1 4-stripe damsel
1 neon goby
INVERTS
1 green brittlestar
1 electric blue hermit crab
1 snail
and something that looks like a fat dark purple catapiller (hitch hiker) but I haven't seen it for a couple of weeks.
CORALS
1 hammer
1 leather mushroom
yellow button polyps
some zoos
some green star polyps
1 gonipora
1 xenia
 
rzbud99

rzbud99

Member
nope - wasn't that. It looked exactly like someone exstinguished a very large match the way it was rising all whitish and whispy. I know it sounds weird, but it scard the crap out of me.
 
molamola

molamola

Member
Same thing happened to me last week. I found the source of the "smoke," and it looked like a tiny ochre colored jabbah the hut. My husband speculated that it was some sort of bivalve, but it was tucked into a rock and hard to get a really good look at and then it relocated. I found it again two days ago, and shined my halogen dive light on it and it had a pearlescent shell like an abalone, but was maybe some sort of limpet. I don't know if it's possible to get an abalone hitch a ride on Fiji rock, but it's something unique that I can't figure out. I suppose this isn't very helpful, but I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe it's spawning or something.
 
ctgretzky9

ctgretzky9

Member
Frankly, Ive been looking for a way i could hang out in my tank and smoke. If anyone else has any suggestions i'd appreciate it.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Might have been something spawning if it didn't appear to be substrate being kicked up...or detritus being kicked out. But that would be pretty clear, IMO, so I would go for the potential spawn.
 
rzbud99

rzbud99

Member
Yeah - It was kinda milky. It wasn't anything being kicked up at all. Do you think it may have been the fat purple catapiller like thing that hitched a ride on some LR?? :notsure: I thought maybe I had pissed off the hermit crab, but after he moved from the spot, it was still coming out in little wisps from the LR he was sitting on.
 
larrynews

larrynews

Active Member
as my mardarin cruise the rocks he makes that happen, thats how i always know where he is....also when my crabs are picking its like they hit a pocket of something and puff.....
 
rzbud99

rzbud99

Member
I've done searches trying to find out what it is, but so far nothing. It's dark purple and once I saw feathery things coming out of one end like a sea apple. It kinda looks like a catapiller with a few spikes - not like a bristleworm - these are more "horn" like. I would post a picture, but I don't know where the "piller" is hiding. Anyway, that's about all I can tell you. It stayed in the same spot for several months, then one day decided to roam about and then pifft he disappeared.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member

Originally posted by rzbud99
I've done searches trying to find out what it is, but so far nothing. It's dark purple and once I saw feathery things coming out of one end like a sea apple. It kinda looks like a catapiller with a few spikes - not like a bristleworm - these are more "horn" like.
This is the description, IMO, of a sea cucumber (the "sea apple" is a type of one). Tree like tentacles out of one end...used in filter feeding, and commonly spikes along the body. Generally stays in one place but may move to another good place based on flow, etc. Quite possibly is gone due to starving to death, as many do.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I am sure they die all the time, and most people never know. Few are as toxic as sea apples, and more damage can be done by trying to remove them, then just leaving them alone. I had a little one once that did the same thing. Hitch hiked in...saw it awhile, and then never again.
 
rzbud99

rzbud99

Member
Thanks Ophirua
This one is only about 1" - 1 1/2" long. I hope it survies :nervous: I did a google search and mine does resemble some of the cucumbers, but I still haven't found one that looks like "mine" :nope:
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Unfortunately, you may not. So many are cryptic and there are hundreds of species. So it may not be out there. Just some hitch hiker you were lucky to find :)
 
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