Hitch-hikers......how long till I see em?
 

Hey peeeeeeples. Just setting up a new tank here, and I have forgotten since I set up my oldER one about 6 months ago. How long after I put live rock in the tank do I have to wait till I see some of the hitch-hikers. I haven't been looking THAT closely yet (only had the live rock in there for 2 days), but when should I START searching? Live rock was bought from "A Marine Experience" and I can't say enough good things about Neal and the way he runs his business. He figures he's had it "cooking" for a little over a month after getting it from Walt Smith. So should I start looking for goodies or not even bother for a little while yet?

Whew...........out of breath.

In my experience most of the significant hitchers get spotted within days.

and untamed is the master of hitch hikers, lol.

some people have hitchers in their tanks that they don't notice for months though... just depends how hard you look.

Some stay hidden for years.

I think that once you find a certain amount of obvious ones, there are always some in your tank that you might not ever know about, haha.

Yup I stared at a glass box for a about a year and half then 1 day I found a little red eyed crab :twised: 2 days later found another....they made funny noises one was more of a squish and one was more of a splat

:rofl: I wish mine would make those noises, can't catch the little buggers though.:neutral:

I found a worm hitchhiker that I figure has been in my tank for years probably.

My 120g's been up for 7 months now and tiny bristlestars are showing up now. Surprised me how quick they can move :)

I also have started hearing recently a loud smacking-against-something-hard sound in my tank about every 5 hours. If it's a mantis shrimp, it means I'll have to catch the bugger, but then I'll have a new excuse to set up another system :D

I would try looking in your tank at night with a red flashlight... crazy stuff comes out at night, makes me think twice about putting my hand in the tank during the day

We had a mantis we didnt know about for 3 months.And it took another month to find it and identify it as a mantis.Luckly he was caught same day.and sold 2 weeks later.Its nice when hitchhickers make money.