It's been almost 8 months since I added the Christmas tree worm rock so time for a proper update. I think things are going pretty well but I don't have a 100% success rate. A few of the worms have vanished (a total of 7 since introduction) for reasons unknown to me. Probably food related but I don't know for sure. The remaining worms (approx 33 of them) seem to be fine, in fact some are bigger and have extended their calcareous tubes quite considerably. Hopefully this is a good sign. I still have all 4 Paguritta crabs (tentatively identified as Paguritta morgani) and the tiny barnacles, spionid worms etc. Sadly I think I have lost the tunicate recently, it was being overgrown by the Cyphastrea and repeatedly covered by sand thanks to a Tigertail cucumber who has taken up residence underneath the rock. I regret not acting sooner to deal with the cucumber/sand situation. The Cyphastrea is growing really well, it has completely covered all the free space on the rock except for one small area which I always found strange. Then, when recording this update, I finally discovered the reason why, there are two teeny tiny gall crabs living in that location. It's only taken me 8 months to discover them, lol (they measure just 2mm wide so are easily missed). As luck would have it one of them shed that very night leaving the empty exoskeleton right by the entrance to his hole so my identification was confirmed. I find them pretty cool but then I find most things reef related fascinating. Since they don't appear to be doing too much damage so I'm going to leave them be. Another short clip of the Paguritta crabs because they are just so cool! Also.... what's that? There's something moving in that hole! My surprising discovery of the gall crab(s?). The video is not the best quality (a bit of an understatement there) but the tiny gall crab can be seen in the area of rock not covered by coral (right of centre). I think there is a second one in another hole above and to the right of the first one. A few macro photos of the gall crab shed exoskeleton that only the most dedicated of reefing nerds are probably interested in, lol. The details are quite hard to make out. Underside: Topside, the carapace looks reddish but that's just algae growth, the new skeleton is whitish is colouration. Side view: View of the crab in her hole the morning after shedding.
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...and hopefully I can keep celebrating it for many years to come.
Back in November a couple of days before my birthday I spotted something awesome for sale online. Something I have always wanted to keep, my holy grail of livestock so to speak. A series of messages passed back and forth between myself and the shop. First I checked the size, then I checked price and then I checked if it was still available. I didn't think I had any space left in the tank but where there's a will there's a way right! My lovely husband said "birthday present, let's go!' So we did and once I saw the item in question I knew I couldn't leave the shop without it. I traded in some zoanthids in order to make room, well, who needs zoas anyway?! So that's how Christmas arrived for me in November, a Christmas tree worm rock! In addition to the worms and the Cyphastrea coral host, there is also one really Hench Vermatid snail (I can hear many reefers screaming right now), lots of teeny tiny barnacles, a rather gorgeous Tunicate and four super awesome Paguritta crabs. At the time of writing this post (I'm behind on my updates once again) the rock has been with me for just over two months. I lost a couple of the worms early on (during week 3 & week 5), they were both close to each other so I hope they were already doomed rather than unhappy with my tank conditions/feeding. I haven't lost any more since then, there are at least 35 worms remaining. The host coral appears to be doing really well so far. To begin with it was quite brown but has since turned a lovely shade of fluorescent green it's also spreading over the bare parts of the rock too, I'm extremely happy about that. Articles online say that if the host coral dies then the worms will too, I don't know about that but I'd rather not have to find out. Needless to say I've taken a LOT of photos of the life on this rock, everything about it fascinates me. I'm not going to post them all in this post but they can be found on the livestock page (click here.) When one of my hermit crabs decided to upgrade his shell, I gave his old home a prime position in the tank front and centre next to the glass. Why did I feel the need to feature an empty shell? Well, this particular shell is home to an abundance of neat hitchhikers. Aside from the purple coralline algae there are the the bumpy pink blobs, these are a colonial foraminifera called Homotrema rubrum. These forams feed on tiny particulate matter, bacteria etc that they catch using fine filamentous protoplasmic strands that poke out of the pink shell. Apparently the pink colouration is due to an iron salt that is incorporated into the shell. Pretty cool huh! Then there are the teeny tiny barnacles. There are at least a dozen scattered over the surface of the shell. I love watching them extend their feather like cirri in and out sifting for food. I fully expected them to starve quite quickly in my tank but they must be finding enough food as they are still doing their thing. Additionally in the photo above you can just about see a pair of dark/transluscent coloured things (no idea what that is) top left and another pair of whitish siphons just to the right of them, a tunicate or sponge maybe? There are also some small chaetopterid worms and vermetid snails too (they get everywhere). Last but not least a baby sun coral has decided to join the party too. So much life on one small snail shell and that's not even counting the amphipods and mini brittlestars that are taking shelter inside and underneath it. Too cool!
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AuthorHi, my name is Lisa and I live in Derby, UK. I am a self-confessed reefaholic! Archives
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