pistol shrimp saying hello to my finger.

[k0mpresd]

i wasnt sure where to put this since its not "ceph" related. but this is my pistol shrimp. this little guy used to be terrified of people/movement. and now he will come right over and try to snap my finger off ! he seems really curious now. however, it runs a very tight ship in its tank. it moves anything you put in the tank to the back right corner. lots of personality for just being a shrimp. my camera sucks and it didnt pick up the audio very well. thought id post anyways.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6n6M2-f7cM

 

[Animal Mother]

Cool. Very brave little shrimp. Ours will occasionally come out in the open and check us out, but never sticks around long. We see it about once every month. We hear it daily though and see the construction efforts all over the tank.

 

[DWhatley]

We have a banded that rules the reef. I was afraid Harvey would be consumed by the Trigger we added (I didn't think about him at the time of purchase and only thought to check on the Trigger after he was in the tank - I knew everything else was fine). There was no way to remove him (tank is 3' deep 140 gallons and full of LR) so I kept my fingers crossed. A week or so after introduction, Harvey was fine but the Trigger developed parasites around its eyes. It seems Harvey was delighted and went to work. Winchester is not always pleased with the attention but stays free of the plague and Harvey struts like King Kong. I never imagined a shrimp could be so entertaining.

 

[k0mpresd]

I never imagined a shrimp could be so entertaining.

exactly !

 

[DWhatley]

On the other hand, I have the cutest little bright red shrimp that looks like a lobster. I am not sure what species they are but they live under rocks in the Caribbean and stay less than an inch in body length. The ONLY time I EVER see it is when I clean his pico and then not every week. I pretty much have to remove everything to check on him (usually required for cleaning this tank weekly anyway and still miss him sometimes).

 

[k0mpresd]

this is way off topic, but i just thought about it. ive been noticing these pop up lately. theres several on the back glass and one on the front and side. best way i can describe it is it looks kind of hairy, sponge like almost, solid white, with a clear tube in the middle. i first noticed it on this hermit shell but now they are on the glass. any idea what it is?

 

[L8 2 RISE]

I can't really tell from that picture, but it looks like it may be a sponge, and that's how you discribe it, how long has your tank been up? These usually grow in very mature tanks... Nothing bad if it is...

 

[k0mpresd]

tank has been up since march i think. i have no problem believing its a sponge. except for the clear tube/spout in the middle of said "sponge".

 

[DWhatley]

Odd for sponge to grow on the glass though, I only see them grow under and around the rocks. Does the colony stay together and spread randomly (as it looks in the picture) or does it have a distinct shape? Does it stay in one place or move?

 

[k0mpresd]

seems to have spread randomly. i noticed "it" on the hermit shell, forgot about it for a couple weeks, then noticed them on the glass today. edit: they seem to stay in one place. as in once attached, it stays in that spot.

im intrigued by them because of the clear tube in the middle. its alive, whatever it is. at least im assuming so. but why a hollow tube?

 

[DWhatley]

but why a hollow tube?

For feeding and waste removal

 

[k0mpresd]

i was thinking for filter feeding. but not about waste removal. it was really surprising to me because the tank has been set up for a while with no signs of these things., then 1, then 10 or however many they are. same with those round, white, feather duster, things that take over the glass. they exploded, stopped, and now they are slowly coming back. its crazy what happens with life in such a small space.

 

[DWhatley]

Everything that eats eliminates waste and is the reason there are groups of aquarists that do not keep clean-up crews. Having gone through multiple attempts at keeping a saltwater aquarium using the pre-liverock, serile method vs the multiple long-term successes I have had with encouraging nature's critters to help biodegrade what I don't or can't remove, I'll keep my clean-up crews.

I have several tanks over 4 years old and I rarely put aged or live substrate (like LR, I do actually change out the bottom substrate every few years but with dead sand) in them but I still see new things growing. What I don't get is much propagation of the mobile critters (like urchins) and hope to study more on husbandry ... eventually.

 

[k0mpresd]

sorry. the wasnt directed towards you. more towards myself. maybe i should have put it after the part about the waste. :)

 

[Animal Mother]

Commonly called "Q-tip" sponges.

For a while we had some nice bright yellow sponge growing on our back glass in the tank the cuttles are in. There is a very large transparent white sponge in Kalypso's tank. It looks very much like octopus skin with a big syphon sticking out of it.

 

[DWhatley]

sorry. the wasnt directed towards you. more towards myself. maybe i should have put it after the part about the waste. :)

Oh, I understood

 

[k0mpresd]

Commonly called "Q-tip" sponges.

thats exactly it. thanks.