Forums / TEAM Marine Depot / Invertebrates; Morphology, Ecology, and Behavior – by Dr. Ron Shimek

16-v-08

Ron Shimek — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:01:03 GMT

Hi Folks,

Well, this is supposed to be a beautiful day here. And I don't doubt it!

So... I will spend the day indoors making my presentation about the feeding of Diodogorgia. The feeding method I have recorded certainly is different than any other method of feeding described in the scientific literature for the cnidaria. It can be fast - from initial capture to ingestion of food - I have one set of images that gives a time of 0.3 sec! Very cool. And I have indirect evidence of food preferences. Also very cool.

Now all I have to do is to pull this together into a new talk.

And hope somebody comes to see it.

Some kind of polychaete?

c'est ma — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:30:53 GMT

Found this on the bottom of a 10g tank in which new but cured LR is being held for observation. After dark, crawling very slowly through the detritus on the bottom of the tank:

It is a bit less than 1" in length (~ 15/16"). 15 more pics in the following threads, including ventral shots and a few glimpses of the head:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?s=93052c65d309d11e9b5c4cea968c750e&showtopic=157377&pid=1635409&st

--Diane

what is the translucent thing?

Reefski — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:35:27 GMT

no FTS. working on the infrastructure.

i haven't cleaned the viewing pane in a week. it has got a good coating of algae, with other things growing in it. you can see very small tube worms, there are very small pods, and then the other things in the photo.

some kind of flat worm, looks like Planaria in the photo but in person they don't look red or green at all, just a kind of dark brown/grey.

they don't seem to be on any of the corals, they are on the sand bed .
the corals all seem fine.

what is it and what do i do about it?
flat worms. probably hundreds of them. what if anything should i do? what will eat them, biological control.

the other translucent thing is about 1/4" in diameter and has things growing inside i think. it was suggested by a friend that it is snails. there are some 1/2" snails in the tank. i don't know what else it could be. the only other things in the tank are two Diadema urchins and a lawnmower Blenny that hang at at that end of the tank.

the other question is what if anything to add for more algae control?
most of the algae appears dead but still in place, you can see both forms below.

Crinoid…weird

reifen — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:25:11 GMT

I bought a crinoid ,I know you will tell me I shouldn’t and the same things I told the store owner 3 days before buying it.

But I found a source I could get phyto, rotifers and others, plus recently I set up a 10 g algae tank with no fish and no skimmer.

So at the first 2 days it was in my 45g tank sitting under the skimmer outlet and I decided to move it to the smaller tank which I thought it was a better place for it to feed.

Now the weird part starts as soon it hit the bottom of the tank it stop moving just sitting there lifeless and wide open , I thought I killed but left it there thinking it was just shocked maybe from the deferent light (regular warm osram pc lamp) or ph .

And I waited and waited from 15:00 yesterday until now still with no signs of life so I decided it was time to take it out of the tank.

I grab it and it curls a little so instead going to the garbage I take cup put a little water in it and headed to my other tank thinking if it dies there or it is dead the tank will hardly be effected at all.

I soon the first drops of water fell into the glass it came to life, the cup Is almost full now and it is still fine moving inside the cup.

I am happy that I didn’t kill yet it but it is weird

Word helps when I am writing in English but not as much I need …sorry

Acropora commensal crabs vs coral dips

sjames — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:29:31 GMT

Hello,

I recently purchased some acropora colonies that had commensal crabs. I proceeded to dip these colonies in Revive coral cleaner like i normally do with new frags. The crabs did not appear to appreciate this at all, so I ended the dip quite early.

Are these dips toxic to crustations? Should I attempt to remove any commensal crabs before dipping in the future, or is the dip tolerable by the crabs in the recommended dosage for the recommended time? I also have an iodine based dip (Tropic marin pro coral cure) I could use if thats safer?

Thanks

Turbo snail attacking a stomatella??

magellan007 — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:04:02 GMT

I didn't get to snap a picture of it, but I have a turbo snail(i believe) with an orange shell and Monday I saw it attached to the top of one of my stomatella and at first I thought the stomie was attacking the snail, but on closer inspection I could see the stomatella was still moving along the glass and the snail seemed to be hitching a ride or something. The stomie eventually dislodged it when it went behind a rock which scraped off the snail.

Last night my husband saw almost the same thing, only this time it looked as if the same snail was attacking a stomatella. My husband wasn't sure what was going on, but just to be safe he knocked off the snail..Was it hitching a ride or fighting it, seeing it as competition for food?

Does anyone know what might be going on??? I've never heard of such a thing. And it's only my orange "turbo" The margarite, tongan, and astrea are normal.

07-v-08

Ron Shimek — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:01:03 GMT

Hi Folks,

Well... Wadda day! I got some research movies made!!! And the idea is sound. All I have to do is get enough movies recorded that at least some of them show food capture.

The rub is... that will not be easy. One thing that most people forget is that when one magnifies something through a microscope, that size isn't the only thing that is magnified. As result of the process velocity is also magnified, and the feeding process is fast. I did happen to actually see food captured and eaten, so that I can describe it, but getting a movie is going to be difficult. Nonetheless, my idea about what happens appears to be sound.

I plan on calling the process, "Hydrodynamic Entrapment."

If I get some relatively good short movies, I may post some here.

A bit of an emergency

freedomverse — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:05:12 GMT

My wife woke me up this morning to these dreadful words, "the fish tank is leaking!" Yikes! Turns out that the back glass is cracked from the top to the one of the bottom holes that served as an inlet for a closed loop. It had caused a slow leak (thank you, Lord!). If it wasn't for the fact that I reinforced the back with black plexiglass on the inside (more for looks than anything) the back probably would have cracked worse and all the water leaked to the neighbors below. I was able to rescue all the fish and set up a temporary home for them in the water change tank. I just sat down and am thinking what to do next.

One question that comes to my mind is about the sand bed. The tank is about 4 years old and has a somewhat lively sand bed. Do I try to rescue some or all of it? How?

Sad thing is that I was just admiring it yesterday and planning to add a coral or two as a paged through Borneman's book, "Aquarium Corals."

Jared.

Some Forum Peculiarities

Ron Shimek — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:59:22 GMT

Hi Folks,

I normally will check on this forum once or twice a day. I will generally post a short note when I first look at the forum each day, so you will know if I have been here. If I don't respond to your post after a couple of days, you may assume I have nothing to add. That having been said, I will endeavor to reply to all questions in a timely manner. Sometimes, for many and various reasons that will not be possible.

It is probably a good idea to read the pinned posts. They are there for a reason.

If you want to find out a bit about me, please see the biography page of my website.

In short, I am an invertebrate zoologist/ecologist and for close to 20 years, I have been advising reef aquarium hobbyists about their animals. By now, this has turned into a sort of a tertiary or quaternary career, and I also am on "the reef aquarium" lecture circuit. When I am off on a speaking trip, I will announce it here beforehand. If you post during an absence, be prepared for a thudding silence. I also often take a couple of days a week off from answering the forums, particularly if the forum is busy. I will announce those absences ahead of time as well.

I live in the small town of Wilsall, Montana, and if you can find it on any printed map, you have a good map, indeed. Google Earth will find my town, and IGoogle Earth's Panaramio feature has a few images I have uploaded showing my house and environs.

Wilsall is a little cow town (as in the modern version of the "Grade B Western Movie Cow Town") with about 250 people; it has 1 place to refuel one's automobile, 2 taverns, 1 liquor store, and a tiny grocery store (note the ratio of ethanolic outlets to food outlets, and you get a flavor of the place.) , the nearest "real" town, with 7500 people, is about 30 miles (50 km) from here. In other words, there is lots of space around here with nothing in it. I like it that way.

The town is in a broad mountain valley 20 mile (30 km) wide about midway between two mountain ranges; the main peaks in each mountain range are at about 11000 feet (3500 m) elevation, and the town's elevation is about a mile (1590 m) above sea level. The climate is very hot (up to about 105 F (about 40C)) summers and potentially very cold (my personal best = - 57F, (-50C)) winters, and not much precipitation.

As for reef tanks, at the presnt time I don't have a "reef" tank. What I have are a series of research tanks, including a variable velocity laminar/turbulent flow research flume. My main system now functions as a holding tank for my research animals, which are azooxanthellate gorgonians, particularly Diodogorgia nodulifera. You may find information about my aquarium research that is more-or-less up-to-date here or on my blog. I post to the blog irregularly, lately about every 10 days or so, but if you are truly interested in what I am up to you may mine it for a lot of information, by going through the back issues.

Anyway, the major thrust of my present research is determine proper care for animals that potentially might find their way into reef tanks.

So far, the short answer for many azooxanthellate soft corals is don't even try to keep them, you can't possibly feed them enough.

For some of the detailed answers, see my ezine AHABS, and buy a few issues! or pool your pocket change and pay my way over to present the data.

So... Now it begins...

Welcome to my forum, or as was posted above my teaching laboratory, at one time (in reference to the work load demanded of my students):

"Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here..."

Hmmm... I seem to have read that somewhere else, in a book by a rather obscure Italian poet, I think.

Aquarium Husbandry Articles By Subscription

Ron Shimek — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:27:32 GMT

Hi Folks,

This is an announcement that I have published 12 issues of an ezine. More may appear as time and interest warrants. These issues are up-to-date and detailed (and advertisement free). They are also - unlike most reef aquarium references - based upon science and peer-reviewed research, not the standard aquarium mythos, most of which is relevent somewhere - just not in this universe!

The contents, format, and costs (yes, costs... as the great Janis once sang, "Ain't nuthin, hunnychile, it ain't free...") are detailed here on my website.

If you have questions about AHABS, please feel free to post them.

Cheers, Ron

tank temps

Reefski — Sun, 04 May 2008 07:54:43 GMT

Charles says that reef temps in his backyard are minimally 82 degrees.

is it ok for my tank temps to vary 82-86 degrees over the day? what is the max variation and daily high?

i thought bleaching events occurred with sea temps of 82 or a little more.

if i didn't have to worry about my tank getting to 86 i could probably run it without a chiller saving a bunch of money both short and long term.

last weekend my air temps got to 92 for two days and my tank peaked at 86. these are very unusual temps for us here so close to the ocean. i live about 3 miles inland in los angeles. summer temps rarely get into the 90's in my area.

i still have the sump to set up too. that will be in the garage and hold about an equal volume of water to the tank.

03-v-09

Ron Shimek — Sat, 03 May 2008 07:35:10 GMT

Hi Folks,

Well, the main thrust of today's activities, provided my serious hurting and aching body permits it, will be to get set up to try to get some movies of Diodogorgia feeding in my flow chamber using my microscope so I can actually see prey/food capture by the polyps and (I hope) see if it matches my hypothesis of feeding.

On the likely other hand, if the body doesn't permit it, well, there are always references to read.

BTA reproduction

Mark — Thu, 01 May 2008 23:14:39 GMT

Hi Ron,

I've finally located a spawning known-male RBTA that I'll be bringing in to hang out with my egg bearing female RBTAs. I assume the three major things I can vary, to encourage gamete developement and spawning are food, temperature and lighting. Do you have any recommendations as to what to vary, by how much, and for how long?

One other question: What influence, if any, does color have on the ability of E. quadricolor or S. haddoni anemones to reproduce? In other words, can a green BTA successfully sexually reproduce with a rose BTA?

Thanks!

Mark

04v08

Ron Shimek — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:25:24 GMT

Hi Folks,

Well, yesterday, I mentioned I was going to try to see if I could arrange my microscope to watch and get movies of feeding by Diodogoria.

Yup, I can do that... See below.

Hard to tell with the perspective of the image, but the microscope nosepiece/objective lens is about 3/8 of an inch (a bit less than a cm) above the water in the water jacket and the 'scope is focused on the specimen in the flow chamber tube. There is a second specimen below and to the left. By the way, the water is not yellow. There is the problem of color balance in my office/lab. The room has fluorescent and incandescent lighting and the microscope lights are incandescent. This kind of confuses the blazes out of the "white balance" settings on the camera.

There was only one problem... For me to get a movie of the animal feeding, the polyps have to be extended and feeding.

Hmm. Never underestimate the perversity of one's experimental animals.

Note the time of this post. Guess when the animal decided to be extended. I got up out of my bed about an hour ago, and have been trying to get images since then. Methinks my work day will be over by noon or so. Snore....

animal or vegtable?

Reefski — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:05:51 GMT

the green things are rather slow growing and have kind of a halo of tentacles or ??? at the tip.

i am going to try and get the Valonia out soon. what is the organism with polyps adjacent to it?

Question regarding breeding of jawfish...

magellan007 — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:43:08 GMT

I'm very interested in exploring behavior and breeding of Dusky Jawfish.. The only problem is that everywhere I look only the Pearly, Blue-spot, and Tiger jawfish reproduction are discussed.

So first things first, I would need to sex the jawfish. I believe the one I currently have is male, due to his little ritualistic dancing that comprises of him hovering almost completely over his burrow, gaping his mouth, and waving his pectoral fins about (this usually takes place at dusk; obviously his internal clock knows what time it is, since the aquarium lights are still on). So is it possible to use my current male and seek out a female since he displays a desire for one? Or would I have better success starting with small, juvenile jawfish?
I'm also interested in what type of filtration I would need on the breeding tank so I wouldn't have to worry about the fry getting sucked anywhere. (and do adults eat their young once they're set out into the world?)

I realize I may not get many responses due to jawfish-breeding not being a very popular subject, however, any tips and information would be appreciated. If the breeding does not work, I would at least enjoy observing the behavior of the species in the same tank.

Thanks,
k.c.

I cut my RBTA, 1 is good, 1 isnt

xroads — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:10:14 GMT

I finally cut one of my RBTA last night. Within an hour half of it looked perfect, all blown back up, tentacles waving.

The second is not filling back up or closing very well. It isnt dead yet but I have limited hope for it.

My question is what did I do wrong? The mouth wasnt centered, but I made sure I cut the mouth in half along with the rest of the body.

Thx

Craig

Assorted Shrimp

charlesr1958 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:31:35 GMT

All coming out of the same pocillopora colony.

2. There were a great many of this species

4. This pistol shrimp is about 1.5cm in length, can give ya a nasty thump too

And Leslie, all the crabs and these shrimp plus a good many others are already pickled and will have them out to you by next week. Thanks ya all!

Chuck

scaphopods-

wblevins — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:39:05 GMT

Scaphopods have been used by our tribal people for hundreds of years as a sign of wealth, which is how I got interested in them in the first place. I've been trying to read more about their needs in an aquarium or even if they can be successfully be kept and or able to reproduce in a captive setting. Amazing creatures!

Hawaiian cushion star - what does it eat

AlexAndCoral — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:34:50 GMT

Hi,

My wife bought me a cushion star. It's very pretty, and a cute little thing. It's been living in my tank for a couple of months. Last night it crawled up onto one of the hard corals that came on my live rock. It stripped one of the lobes of life. It's now a white skeleton.

What do they eat?

I can move it into a larger fowlr tank, but I'd like to ensure it's health and find a way to feed it in there. What would be suitable? Is it a scavenger?

Thanks,

Alex

Starfish ID by chance?

charlesr1958 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:04:49 GMT

Found this starfish on the reef yesterday and thought it strange enough to bring home for a few days and get some photographs, which is hard to do with such a large animal.

Thanks!

Chuck

Assorted Crabs

charlesr1958 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:27:29 GMT

While coming back in from diving today I spotted a pocillopora coral in about a meter of water and had been stepped on so many times its branches were no more than a few centimeters long, which made spotting a pair of coral crabs easy. I was going to pass them up but also noted a lot of small shrimp so went ahead and collected to coral and much to my surprise, I found that the coral crabs were a new species to me as well as there being a great many other crab and shrimp species bailing out of it. So here goes...lol

1. Coloration really jumps out at ya

2. This one I have not a clue as to what it could be, other than very tiny, as are the rest of the crabs shown below.

6. The rest of these appear to be juveniles of various coral crab species

I did not include the numerous xanthidae and "hermit" crabs either, just amazing how much life uses a single small coral colony as shelter.

Will start a new thread for the shimp.

Chuck

Microscopic plant/animal id please

Graveyardworm — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:57:09 GMT

Good day Ron, yesterday at our monthly club meeting part of our day was spent looking at various samples from our tanks under a microscope. We had a really good time. Anyway there was something in my sand bed sample that I didnt recognize. I looked at my sand bed several months ago when I got the micrscope and dont recall seeing these, and now there quite a few. In a very small sample ( a couple water droplets worth ) there were atleast half a dozen of them. They didnt appear to move, so I'm leaning towards a plant of some type. Sorry for the quality of the photo I dont yet have a way to take photos through the microscope, the picture was taken from a projected image on a wall. They are red as you can see in the photo, and have little nubs sticking off from them. I cant recall what the magnification was, but the sand grain in the photo is Southdown sand size, about sugar size.

20-iv-08

Ron Shimek — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:19:49 GMT

Hi Folks,

The only really important questions in keeping animals alive is what do they eat, and how much do they eat?

Without addressing these factors properly, all else is moot. The animals die. And, this is how most reef aquarium animals perish. Most reef aquarists can't seem to seem to get it through their little pointy heads that animals need to feed. ALL ANIMALS...

So how much??

Here is an image of a single polyp of a small specimen of Diodogorgia nodulifera after a four hour experiment on feeding under the proper current conditions. The blob of bodies above the animal is what it burped out when I disturbed it. I counted 13 Artemia nauplii in this regurgitation, and there are a few more inside the beastie. I think that specimen has about 500 polyps on it; I haven't counted them yet. The specimen is about 9 cm (3.5 inches) high. That means in 4 hours it could eat at least 6,000 brine shrimp nauplii. It also NEEDS to eat that much.

Now, the question is,"How does one feed a tank enough, to ensure that a small soft coral even impacts 6,000 brine shrimp?" Let alone, provide enough brine shrimp to that system that the animal can actually capture and eat them. Relatively few of the shrimp that hit the gorgonian are captured.

And everywhere on the net, where this and similar animals are sold, they are listed as "easy to keep."

These are instructions on how to kill a reef... collect the animals because they are "easy to keep."

Yeah, Right!

RBTA Appearance

xroads — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:53:51 GMT

What should the normal appearance of a RBTA be like?

I purchase 2 clones a couple weeks ago that are awesome. When I picked them up & after I acclimated them they tentacles were short in their bubble appearance. Ever since they are more open & their tentacles are longer. I feed them a combination of small silver sides & chopped krill nightly.

Is this ok or should I be concerned?

Thx

Craig

Patriotic Copepod

TidePool Geek — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:36:22 GMT

Hi Ron,

Over the past week or so we've found two or three of these copepods in our plankton trawls; one each in short trawls off our pier on successive days. I've never seen one this large but others at the Fiero Center say they have (very rarely). The coloration, however, hasn't been seen by any of us. BTW: These animals are large enough that the colors are 'naked eye' visible and the attached photo was taken with a macro lens and no microscope!

Any information you might have about this beast would be most appreciated.

Macroscopically yours,

Alex

P.S. Like the last copepod picture I posted, this photo was taken by Fiero Center employee Burt Foote.

OK mr Ron...

Tizzo — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:40:26 GMT

I have...had a wrasse in QT for 2 weeks. He seemed fine until yesturday, when I noticed he had what looked like flatworms on him.
I have done as much research as I know how and I cannot find any pics that match this creature. It isn't an isopod, although the pic may look a little like it. They are completely clear except for the one I took a pic of. I did a freshwater dip to the wrasse and these things puffed up and looked like blisters on the fish, then they released their hold and sank to the bottom of my container.

Anyway, here are 4 pics. They are on a plastic spoon, I mention this for size reference... 4 pic total.

The only one with color...

little larger...

Hanging on to the edge of the spoon...

a zoomed image from the pic above...

MYSTERY ORGANISM PLEASE IDENTIFY!

Sandtiger — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:53:21 GMT

Does anyone know what these are? The appear on the glass of my saltwater tank. There are only a few, they do move across the glass. The largest one is about 1 centimeter long. Are these snails, worms, horseshoe crab larvae??? They appeared with live rock.

Thanks,

Sandtiger

Crabzilla! An update with pics

Mr.Firemouth — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:09:50 GMT

I took some cool pics tonight of Brutus my stone crab, my he is getting BIG!!!!

Here is a body shot...

Here are some fascial close ups...

here are some pics of his claws...

Finger snappers! LOL

15-iv-08

Ron Shimek — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:31:05 GMT

Hi Folks,

A comic strip for you today.

Very cool! For me at least, I had an epiphany of sorts last night and realized just how close I am to finishing my Diodogorgia project. I have a few more experiments and observations to make to wrap it up/confirm my ideas, but those shouldn't take long.

The bottom line is that these animals (specifically Diodogorgia, but generally soft corals as a whole) feed using a method that has not been described before in its entirety, and it should be quite easy to maintain asymbiotic soft corals - PROVIDED one remodels one's tank to satisfy their special requirements. The flip side is that unless those special need are met, there will be no way that these animals will survive for extended periods in aquaria.

I think I will be able to write 3 papers for the peer-reviewed journals generated from the research;
1) One to describe the differences in their feeding under various current regimes,
2) One to describe their feeding method,
3) One to describe their husbandry for people that are serious about maintaining them.

After those are out, I will write a paper or 27 for the aquarium mags.

For a time line... I hope to be done with the "real" articles within 3 months. We'll see, these things have a habit of growing in the telling.

What won't they eat?

jonnyloback — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:42:12 GMT

Dr. Shimek,

I was wondering something about Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata Wurdemani, Lysmata Rathbunae as well). I have seen these things maul a small Tridacna clam (about 1 inch) when the lights went out and it was from a couple of pictures someone sent me as well as them harassing smaller clams in my home aquariums. I of course remove the smaller Tridacnids when this happens. When my Trochus Snails breed, these shrimp will take out any of the baby snails that I don't get out of the tank in time. I had a local person that has an expertise in identification make sure that is what kind of shrimp they were.

My question, is there a MM size snail, limpet, or clam that these things won't eat? I am just worried about their compatibility in tanks where I breed snails or have smaller invertebrates breed. The only upside that I really noticed was that I had about 4 peppermint shrimp in a tank with 4 7+ inch Tridacna clams. No fish in this tank. I transferred the peppermint (L. Wurdemani) over to another tank and all the sudden had an outbreak of pyramid snails where two of the clams were located. I added 5 peppermint shrimp back, and the pyramid snail population diminished again.

I see the peppermint shrimp on the clams shell every night at about 1 am and witness them picking at the pyramid snails and pull the empty shells out of the sand bed constantly (the shells are about 2mm and white). I was just wondering if this is normal behavior? So far, nearly EVERY species of peppermint shrimp that I have put in my tanks, has been efficient at keeping pyramid snail populations under control.

I just have seen the pyramid snail population go from noticing nothing, to several hundred within a week or two without any method to eradicate them. I have also noticed that the shrimp will pick at the "slimy" egg sacs that are laid on the sides on the clams. Don't really know if they are doing anything with those yet though.

nitrate control

beaslbob — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:47:17 GMT

I pmed Dr. Shimek a concern I had. To paraphrase my pm I was concerned that on another board the poster was praising an xenia fuge to control nitrates. As being much better than macro algaes.

Dr. Shimek's response was:

[quote="Dr Shimek"]Hi Bob,

Xenia is a far better material to use as a biomass export. The values of nitrogen and phosphate are much higher in animal tissue than they in algal tissues.

A comparison that might help -would be beef steak versus lettuce. The former has much more in the way of proteins (heavy in nitrates, phosphates) than the latter.

The way in which either of these material is an efficient remover is that one grows it and then removes it from the system and discards it. If any of them are allowed to remain in the system, there is no net loss or removal at all.

Presently my website is down while the server owner is upgrading software. While is occurring I do not have a link to send to you.

Please post any further questions about this in my regular forum. Other people would benefit from the answers.[/quote]

I agree so I am posting here.

And I do want to thank Dr. Shimek for responding to my concerns here.

Please wait for next post

Snail ID please

charlesr1958 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:34:52 GMT

These very small snail species are a very common find by me in the sandbeds here, have never seen any larger than the one shown so am assuming this is an adult or very close to it. I tossed a few of them into my desk top tank (phyto) when much smaller and I beleive they have bred successfully as I now see more very tiny snails on the glass, but too small right now for me to photograph.

Chuck

Unknown zoa predator/irritant!

xltom — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:14:49 GMT

Hello,

I have a colony of zoas that are not opening. I can see small inverts crawling around on the polyps and some eggs in between. I first thought they must be young nudis because I have removed a few from this colony before. After researching further I think it's something else. The eggs looke like small sesame seeds not the stringy eggs of a nudi. Same color as a sesame seed but a little smaller(closer though to the size of a sesame than poppy seed). I have seen snail eggs on the glass front of the tank that look very similar. The critters themselves are only slightly larger but are pink(maybe from eating the purple zoas). They move fast enough to be observed doing so. I don't see a spiral shell at all in fact they seem entirely featureless, just perfect little pink balls scooting around. I have attached a terrible photo. Unfortunately my camera just won't seem to focus on anything that fine. I thought you might get an idea of the size and color anyway. I will try to get better photo's later tonight when I remove the colony for some manual removal.

In the meantime, I'm trying to find out exactly how to perform a freshwater dip. I'm reading here that zoas are exposed to rain at times so I'm wondering if I still need to match PH of the tank water. If so what should I use? I have kent superbuffer and kent two part tech cb. I hate to rush this kind of stuff but the zoas have been closed for too long to wait any longer. Any help would be appreciated....

id them

reifen — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:44:01 GMT

First photo a little flat crab I would like very much to add it to my tank

Second photo they are small, biggest 6mm, I found them even in the collection cup of the skimmer

Third, appeared few months ago, now they are growing on rocks and dead parts of corrals, my live rock looks like porcupine

Fourth appeared with new rock two of them.

Fifth no photo a mantis with amber color from Indonesia and purple patches on the sides 1,5 cm long

ID Snails in skimmer, Stomatella?

teamreefers — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:02:16 GMT

Was cleaning the skimmer this morning and found about 20 of these small snails. They are about 2-3mm long. I think they are stomatella but not sure. Am I right?

Thanks

Jack

12-iv-08

Ron Shimek — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 08:45:26 GMT

Hi Folks,

Been doing some research - offering Diodogorgia nodulifera specimens various food items and testing their responses, but also looking at some other critters on the same rocks or even specimens.

This image shows an Artemia nauplius being ingested tail first by a Diodogorgia polyp.

Thought you might find some images interesting.

Remember Nausithoe/Stephanoscyphus? It has been called a hydroid when it shows up in reef tanks, not surprisingly as it looks like a hydroid. But, actually it is a the polyp life form (called "a scyphitoma") of a "true jellyfish" or scyphozoan. And the question becomes how can you tell that it is a scyphozoan and not a hydrozoan (if you care to know that is...) Well, here are some images... that should clear it up.

This is a lateral/side view of the polyp.

And this view, "down the bore" so-to-speak shows that the animal is clearly divided into 4 quadrants, and this type of symmetry (of 4s) is characteristic of scyphozoan polyps.

Then on one of my specimens was this odd hydrozoan. I wish it wasn't on the gorgonian, but the critter is quite interesting.

The upper image shows the colony on the tip of a gorgonian branch.
The lower image shows the a close-up of the hydrozoan. The 4 club-shaped tentacles is definitely an odd structure for a hydrozoan.

Kinda neat stuff...

Hitchhiker Crab

I'm A Dork Fish — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 05:45:10 GMT

I found this crab in one of my rocks yesterday. Any ideas?

My shallow sandbed turn black!

scarab — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:05:59 GMT

I have a 100 gal tank for 4.5 years. Tank consist of mainly SPS and some LPS. Running a remote DSB coupled with a refugium of chaeto in the sump. My sand bed is around half inch to an inch Grade 0 sand.

Recently I've been getting brown film algae growth on the sand even when I'm getting almost negligible PO4 and NO3. When I dig into the sand it is all black. I stir it and leave it for a few days and the same thing returns, brown film algae on top and black on the inside as well. It seems that the sand has an anaerobic region and caused H2S to build up. But my sand is only half an inch. Is that possible?

Corals and fish are doing fine. In fact I'm experiencing good growth for my SPS but the brown film algae and the black sand thing is frustrating and that makes the tank very unsightly.

Any remedy or suggestion is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

__________________

Convolutriloba Key

charlesr1958 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:04:34 GMT

Just passing along what I thought is a nice, simple Key

http://macropyga.googlepages.com/identification

Chuck