hitchhiker tank.....hum

floatingfish

floatingfish

Member
i have been contemplating my next tank as a hitchiker only tank. now i know that this idea can sound really boring and a waste of money, but if i am not pleased with the tanks outcome i will have a nice little established tank to stock. now my main questions are do you think i should try to just buy some quality LR and see what i get. if so when would the best time of year to purchase. you now because of breedding. also should i just consider buy the creatures that are considered hitchhikers and stock only them. well hopefully someone will chime in and help with my thinking process.
 
promisetbg

promisetbg

Active Member
I think pretty soon, you will want more than just hitchikers. There is no way to know how the LR you purchase was handled, so no way to guarantee hitchikers. For example, LR is shipped in boxes, dry, and dirty. When it gets to your LFS, they often take it outside and blast it with a hose to get rid of alot of excess stuff. Then they cycle it in tubs/holding containers..whatever for weeks{hopefully} before you purchase it.
One way to insure more hitchikers would be to purchase a whole box for yourself, and cycle it yourself. I can't believe I am going to suggest this, but Florida rock probably has the most wicked hitchikers of any that I know.{I hate it}
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
order uncured online and you'll end up with a lot of hitchikers, the problem is you never know what your gonna get (now I sound like forrest gump)... but you can get lots of cool things this way too my friend ended up with a couple SPS that managed to survive shipping AND curing, he was super diligent on water changes for the cureing.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
oh IMO if you go out and buy them specificly even though they are generally called hitchikers- that removes them from being hitchikers. takes the sport out of it. I think Your Idea is great to do. I wanna see pictures if you do it.
 
floatingfish

floatingfish

Member
thanks, i am glad nobody has bad mouthed the idea yet. i am kind of friends with one of the guys that work at the LFS. It is a saltwater only store. But to the point, i can get him to call me when fresh LR comes in so i can buy it before they even have a chance to do anything. i seriously would not mind having an empty tank for a while. i do realize that the chances of my actually finding anything more than just some worms is pretty low. i have a anemome i need to relocate so i think i could just put him in there when my levels are good and just wait.
 
floatingfish

floatingfish

Member
another thought that came to me, wont i loose to many hitchhikers during the cycling process due to high levels. i wonder if i should slowly add more and more LR to reduce the amount of possible losts inhabitants.
 
promisetbg

promisetbg

Active Member
Originally Posted by floatingfish
another thought that came to me, wont i loose to many hitchhikers during the cycling process due to high levels. i wonder if i should slowly add more and more LR to reduce the amount of possible losts inhabitants.
If that were true there would'nt be any such thing as a hitchiker...think about it.. :thinking:
 
kelly

kelly

Member
You could have a temporary tank for some the hitchhikers while the rock is curing, so when they come out of the rock, you can temporarily house them in the other tank. This tank could be fairly small and do massive water changes if the nitrates, nitrites start to climb. A 5 or 10 gallon tank should work just fine.
Good luck on your new idea.
Kelly
 
floatingfish

floatingfish

Member
well most hitchiker stay kind of buried in the holes and cracks, but i bet there are some that can not tollerate high levels, but you may be right. they probably just stay hidden until everything seem alright. ....................but i think i will still add rock gradually so that i get LR from different times and hopefully places.
 
floatingfish

floatingfish

Member
well i think i have decided i will buy a 36" long tank to match my other one. Fill it with a mix of LS and some Caribsea. One or two large LR's and just go from there. then over the coarse of a couple months slowly add more live rock. then i think i can have a nice little HH tank.
 
floatingfish

floatingfish

Member
not a problem, unfortunatly i will have to wait about six month to start. my house will be finished being built by then. i would hate to move another tank. the one i have will already be a nightmare.
 
20galfowlr

20galfowlr

Member
i actually baught some tonga rock a while back and i had a fairly large mushroom hitchiker, he was about the size of a quarter now he is really big, so you never know what you are gonna get, just felt like sharing
 
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