Survival Rate?

[sueandherzoo]

Hi there.
I'm getting so enthralled and fascinated by the various hitchhikers that I'm discovering on the live rocks that I don't think I'll have any problem being patient about adding fish and clean-up crew. Right now I think I'd find them too much of a distraction and would be afraid they'd eat some of the neat stuff I'm seeing on the rocks.
I wonder, though, if I should not get too excited about the life I'm starting to see because aren't a lot of hitchhikers real sensitive to water conditions? For example, if and when I go through an ammonia spike, won't that kill some of them?
I don't want to get too attached to any of my discoveries if they're basically going to be dead meat in a few days.

 

[spanko]

You will be surprised at how resiliant these things are that hitch hike in on our rocks. Post up some pictures so we can enjoy them too. If there is something you cannot identify post a pic of that too and maybe someone will be able to help.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by SueAndHerZoo
http:///forum/post/2718309
Hi there.
I'm getting so enthralled and fascinated by the various hitchhikers that I'm discovering on the live rocks that I don't think I'll have any problem being patient about adding fish and clean-up crew. Right now I think I'd find them too much of a distraction and would be afraid they'd eat some of the neat stuff I'm seeing on the rocks.
I wonder, though, if I should not get too excited about the life I'm starting to see because aren't a lot of hitchhikers real sensitive to water conditions? For example, if and when I go through an ammonia spike, won't that kill some of them?
I don't want to get too attached to any of my discoveries if they're basically going to be dead meat in a few days.

Just don't let your ammonia level spike.
Get ready with lots of fresh saltwater for water changes. You can save these animals by simply not letting ammonia climb above 0.5ppm for long stretches of time.
Remove anything that is obviously dying right away to keep ammonia low, especially any large sponges.

 

[aquaguy24]

carefull..not all hitchikers are good..tell us wat u got or even better, show us pics...i love hitchikers..when i bought my live rocks i looked for the rocks with corals..and i found one with mushrooms..

 

[sueandherzoo]

Okie dokie - I didn't want to bore or bother people with photos but it seems they are a welcome addition here so my next challenge is to figure out the best way to get decent pix of the tank. I think it will be tricky to figure out which camera setting, how much light, and what distance and angles to use but once I figure it out I should be a photo-ing fool.