new thing on my rock

[ty_05_f]

I just found a feather duster on my live rock or what i think is a feather duster. It was really tiny. It looked prettch like a star shaped then my fish started it and it recoiled. So my question is what do i need to do to keep this thing alive?

 

[ophiura]

Generally nothing. They will feed on available nutrients in the tank, and come and go in blooms. It is not likely to be one of the large feather dusters we buy.

 

[ty_05_f]

Yeah it's really tiny, thanks for your help.

 

[angelofish]

Sooner or later more will pop up. I use phytoplankton in my tank. I guess it helps. I also have some that are irredescent(spell check).Maybe someone can tell me what kind there are.

 

[ty_05_f]

Ok thanks. I also just found some kind of crab. It is brown and hairy. Any one know how to catch it?? or should i just leave the crab in there

 

[madd catt]

You may start getting feather worms of different colors as well.

 

[krishj39]

Brown and hairy crab doesn't sound promising. You can tell what the crab is SUPPOSED to eat (capitalized because crabs seem to end up eating whatever the heck they feel like) by looking at it's claws. If they come to a sharp point, it's a meat eater and likely to cause you problems. However, if it has a round disc at the tips of his claws, then it eats algae (the pads help it grab the algae), and MAY be safe to leave in your tank. As to catching it, chances are the easiest way would be stalk it. Wait for it to come out in the open, probably during the night, maybe add some food to the tank at night to entice it to come out and then grab it.

 

[killafins]

brown and hairy... hmmm, its not a hermit is it?

 

[angelofish]

I had one of those before. It was in I small piece of LR I bought. Its called a Hairy Crab(no really) Check this out http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/crust/comlist.html

 

[ty_05_f]

I checked that out it looks sorta like that but i really didnt get a good look at it because once it saw me it went back in its hole. I havn't seen it sence that day.

 

[ty_05_f]

also I have little purple things on my rock on top of the coralline algae. I have no clue what they are but they are brighter than the algae they are very tiny and are pretty cool looking.