what is in my rock?

[nanatana]

i noticed some teeny tiny creatures moving around on my lie rock a few weeks ago now i believe they have grown and are living in and under the rock. they come out at night time feeding but but only far enough to grab food.they are small with long "feelers" whiteish color they have little legs but at times seem to roll in a ball... sorry not a very good description.. they don't seem to be bothering anyone yet. i have a "dory",2 gobbies, emerald crab, sally lightfoot crab, an urchin and a chocolate chip star....which reminds me are choc. chip stars bad to have with fish? i was told he would eat my fish. so far he hasn't. thanks for any help you can give! :needhelp:

 

[dragonfli]

choco chips eat coral. never seen one eat a fish, but i havent seen everything yet. are your guys "soft" bodied, or hard? not a very specific Q, but itll help me alot.

 

[murph145]

chocolate stars are ok for fish only tank but not good in a reff tank.... they will eat polyps and other soft corals.....
as far as whats in your rocks its most likely mini brittle stars.... most live rock has many of them which live in the crack and crevaces and when its feeding time u will see there lil white arms stickin out lookin to catch anything floating by..... they are harmless and normal when u get into live rock....

 

[dragonfli]

if thats what they are. try spot feeding them at certain times at night. you can get them trained. but only if you dont care if they scavengearound the tank at night or not.

 

[55gsw]

As said before chocolate chip stars are okay in a fish only system but not in any type of reef setting. I wanted to add that they will eat snails, molting crabs if they can catch them, and all types of clams, mussels, scallops. They also need to be target fed some meaty foods. When I had my tank set up as a FOWLR, I had one and used to feed him bits of shrimp or clams that I bought at the grocery store. Had him pretty well trained too...he would come to the top of the tank when he was hungry and that's where I fed him. Pretty good for a creature with no brain!!
Those little things running around with long feelers sound more like copepods to me....which are basically tiny shrimp.....good to have BTW

 

[nanatana]

thanks.. as you may have notice i am new at this only at it since last october. would love to keep "Nemo" alive... had one for a little over a month but that is the longest... if these are copepods will they keep growing? they do look a bit like a shrimp.. :happyfish
QUOTE=nanatana]i noticed some teeny tiny creatures moving around on my lie rock a few weeks ago now i believe they have grown and are living in and under the rock. they come out at night time feeding but but only far enough to grab food.they are small with long "feelers" whiteish color they have little legs but at times seem to roll in a ball... sorry not a very good description.. they don't seem to be bothering anyone yet. i have a "dory",2 gobbies, emerald crab, sally lightfoot crab, an urchin and a chocolate chip star....which reminds me are choc. chip stars bad to have with fish? i was told he would eat my fish. so far he hasn't. thanks for any help you can give! :needhelp:[/QUOTE]