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

[X-Treme]

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.

[untamed]

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

[justinl]

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.

[Moogled]

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.

[Murminator]

Originally Posted by Moogled

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 2 days later found another....they made funny noises one was more of a squish and one was more of a splat

[christyf5]

Originally Posted by Murminator

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

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

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

[kwirky]

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

[Kronk]

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

[draco]

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.