worms/chitons on dsb

hookedonreefs

hookedonreefs

Member
OK, so I think I want to add some more things for sand bed. I just wanted to check my picks with everyone...
I would like to add a few scarlet hermits, some spaghetti worms, some bristle worms, some chitons, and some amphipods. The worms I want to add to the main tank. The pods will go in the fuge. The chiton I don't know. I've seen on some posts here that they eat hard corals and corraline algae. Is this true? If so I'll just put them in the fuge - or maybe just not buy them-. What does everyone think.
The reason for all this is to move my sand around a little. I'm hoping it will help with my algae problem I have. Right now I have about 40 snails, 10 pep. shrimp, 2 sally lightfoots and a brittle star. I figure I need more "creatures" to help with the algae.
Any thoughts,
Thanx
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Jump over here after lights out and pluck a rock from my 90 and it will be coverd with chitons, for some reason I have tons of them. It looks like a city of albinos comes out at night in my tank as they are all white.
Thomas
 
T

thomas712

Guest
chiton , common name for rock-clinging marine mollusks of the class Polyplacophora. Chitons are abundant on rocky coasts throughout most of the world, from the intertidal zone to a depth of about 1,200 ft (400 m). They range in length from 1/2 in. to 12 in. (1.2–30 cm), according to the species, but most are 1 to 3 in. (2.5–7.5 cm) long. The body of a chiton is low and oval; it is covered dorsally by a slightly convex shell consisting of eight linearly arranged overlapping plates. The shell may be dull or brightly colored. Most of the lower surface consists of a broad, flat foot with which the chiton clings to hard surfaces, often so tightly that a sharp instrument is needed to pry it loose. When dislodged, a chiton rolls into a ball. Beneath the shell is the characteristic molluscan mantle, a fleshy outfolding of the body wall. The lower edge of the mantle, called the girdle, extends below the edge of the shell and aids the foot in gripping. The girdle may be very wide and extend upward over the shell; in some species it is smooth or covered with scales, hairs, or spines that give the animal a shaggy appearance. The many gills are arranged in two rows within the mantle, one on either side of the body. The mouth, located on the ventral surface in front of the foot, contains a toothed, tonguelike scraping organ, the radula. Chitons crawl slowly by means of muscular undulations in the foot. Most are herbivorous, feeding on algae scraped from rocks and shells with the radula; some are carnivorous or omnivorous. Most feed at night and shelter under rock ledges by day. Chitons are classified in the phylum Mollusca, class Polyplacophora, order Polyplacophora.
In other words for the most part they are a part of the good crew that we like to have in our little reefs feeding on the diatoms, film algea and such.
Thomas
 
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