Crab/worm/other ID

[C4ctus99]

I name looking for IDs on several Tagalongs so I’ll just go down the list:

So I think this guy is a small gorilla crab. Didn’t even realize he was there till today, he’s got really good camouflage

these next two:
One is a bunch of super thin clearish worms, like clear noodles. Ranging between 1”-1.5” long and just chilling and moving around on one section of the liverock. The other guy I’ve been told are either hydroids or aptaisa but I’m not convinced on either

any help would be appreciated

 

[C4ctus99]

I don’t have any good way to upload videos and don’t have YouTube so can’t link, sorry

the worms aren’t very visible but are stringy looking.

also came across this worm too, he looks more segmented but also like he lives inside this hole in the rock. Video is kinda blurry, was hard to get it to focus

 

[JoJosReef]

The crab is absolutely not a gorilla. See the fans he is waving about? That is a filter feeding porcelain crab. Good hitchhiker.

The worms harder to tell fro the vid and I can't zoom.

The aiptasia thing is also hard to see, but in general, don't poke aiptasia. Quick way to end up with many more aiptasia. On a rock like that with no corals around it, I would just boil RODI water, suck some up in a pipette and blast it quickly to kill it and all its babies.

 

[C4ctus99]

The crab is absolutely not a gorilla. See the fans he is waving about? That is a filter feeding porcelain crab. Good hitchhiker.

The worms harder to tell fro the vid and I can't zoom.

The aiptasia thing is also hard to see, but in general, don't poke aiptasia. Quick way to end up with many more aiptasia. On a rock like that with no corals around it, I would just boil RODI water, suck some up in a pipette and blast it quickly to kill it and all its babies.

Good catch on the fans! I didn’t see them before.

I think the seethrough worms are actually comb jelly’s, I thought they were individual worms but it looks all interconnected when I look closer

I’ll try that on the aptaisa… or maybe invest in a peppermint shrimp. Although I did see a handful of super tiny ones on a different rock

 

[C4ctus99]

Also, I noticed what I originally thought were small (<1/2”) clams fossilized into several of the rocks but now they are open! Except the don’t really open, they seem to have some sort of membrane across the opening with only a couple of holes in it… anyone had any experience with these?

the white part is the membrane and you can see on the zoomed in picture the hole in it… thought it was part of the rock and it was just calcified like that but went to touch it and it closed

 

[JoJosReef]

Where are these rocks from? You can get live bivalves on ocean rocks, but it's very hard to keep them alive. And that pic was all the confirmation I need for a porcelain crab--you can see the typical oversized, bit downward pointed claws--seen some other box type crabs with similar types of claws, but of course without the fans.

I like feeding mine with a pipette. It usually comes right up to me as soon as the pumps are turned off.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Also, I noticed what I originally thought were small (<1/2”) clams fossilized into several of the rocks but now they are open! Except the don’t really open, they seem to have some sort of membrane across the opening with only a couple of holes in it… anyone had any experience with these?

the white part is the membrane and you can see on the zoomed in picture the hole in it… thought it was part of the rock and it was just calcified like that but went to touch it and it closed
View attachment 3062556View attachment 3062557

Those are bivalves, probably a type of oyster. The easy way to keep them alive is live phyto, not the store bought bottled stuff, but stuff that has been grown from a culture.

 

[C4ctus99]

The rocks are from salty bottom reef company @sbreefco

Ah, so that’s what bivalves are. I have not fed any sort of phytoplankton, bottled or other for a couple of weeks, fed some seachem phyto daily but stopped a few weeks ago.

Ive been thinking about starting a phyto culture but didn’t really have anything to feed it to so I guess this would be a good start

what do you feed your crab?

 

[JoJosReef]

They'll eat anything. If the is not enough food on the water column, I would give them a pellet. You can also blast the rocks with turkey baster to get some particles in the water for them to filter.