new additions
There were lots of nice invertebrates in the tanks at Tropic Isle this afternoon. I had their coupons for free fish with me, so I got several things. A couple scallops, a feather duster, a little algae blenny, three tiny hermits and a big photogenic blue hermit crab.
starfish attack
Someone attacked and ate my nice red starfish! I suspect it may have been the rusty angel, who is looking very plump. The red legs are scattered and a couple are gone. I suppose it may have died before being dismembered. Hard to know. I thought starfish were usually the predator, not the meal. But I suppose that's the way it goes in an ecosystem - even though its a small one.
new freshwater fishes
In addition to my marine tank, I also keep a 90 gallon fresh water system. This week I added many fresh plants and 3 new fishes: two altum angels (Pterophyllum altum) and a baby severum.
The angels took two days to acclimate to my busy tank and start eating, but are quite happy now. It seems that I got lucky, as they are getting along very well together. Maybe a male-female pair. They are very beautiful fish.
clowns and anemone
In the center of my tank is a very large bubble tip anemone. My plan was that it would host my two 6 month old, tank raised clown fish (Amphiprion ocellaris). The clowns seem to have other plans. To try to get them into the anemone I tried herding them in. No luck. I tried luring them in by suspending a clip with food above the anemone. Again, no luck.
Since these guys are tank raised and have never seen an anemone before, I have now taped photos of clown fish and anemones on outside the tank. I hope they are taking note. But I don't think this is working either.
The last resort would be to return these two to the store and purchase a wild caught pair. I think I'll just wait and see if anything changes as they grow up.
mandarin fish
Two weeks ago we added a Mandarin fish to the tank. After a couple days of hiding and causing us some concern that he was not going to eat in his new home, he started munching on copepods. He's looking good now, but is pretty camera shy.
starfish
I have two starfish in my marine tank. They do a great job of cleaning up. The sand sifter (Astropecten polycanthus) is the pale one and is usually hidden under the sand. The bright red one (Fromia milleporella) crawls all over the rock and glass.
snail babies
I believe these are Astrea snail babies hanging out with Mom (or Dad?). A few weeks ago, I noticed many (50-100?) on two of my large snails. These elongated little snails are gradually growing larger. There are still several on the big snails, but now I'm finding them in others places in the tank and in the refugium. This is good news. I could use more snails and would rather get them for free.
something red
This is some nice red thing growing in my tank. Colorful and interesting. I'll have to ask JD what it is. Maybe a sponge? I see a small aptasia in the middle of it and a big one on the side. I'm going through a lot of Joe's Juice on these guys, but gradually am finding fewer on them in the tank.
Note added Nov 7: JD says this is a red coralline algae. A nice thing to have in the tank.
Here's some info from the Monterey Bay Aquarium on coralline algae.
collected seaweed
This week I collected some seaweed floating in the waters off Cape Cod. I brought it home to my marine tank. In the past I have added collected seaweed and the fish enjoy eating it. I was amazed at the number of different types of macro algae that one small clump of flotsam included. I imagine it will not survive my tank temperature of about 78-80F, as the Cape water is much cooler, about 65F.
(Yes, that is me with the camera in the reflection!)
Nemo
Almost in focus!
