am pretty new to all of this and recently spotted two new friends (?) in my tank. This is my first post on Reefs and I am going to try to post a couple of pics.
The first is coral or anemone and doesn't worry me much. He is quite small (6mm across) and will extend or withdraw his tentacles according to food availability in the column (he extends arms when I squirt a drop of Oyster Feast or other food into the tank). He will withdraw if a crab or starfish disturbs him.
The second has caused me some concern since reading about mantis shrimp on this site. I first spotted this little guy in a 'micro-cave' created where an old snail shell was leaning against the front glass of my tank. The shell formed a 'roof' and there was a small void underneath the shell. I spend a fair amount of time watching my tank through a magnifying glass ( I really enjoy the various 'pods that thrive in the glass/water/substrate junction). Anyway, this tiny cave is where I first saw movement and watched long enough to see this guy, along with another of the same size (and about 6 much smaller specimens) moving about and even moving bits of gravel as if enlarging their home. I caught one of them last night and the second one this evening by siphoning up the gravel around and under the snail shell 'cave'. The picture is not very good but I will try to describe what I can.
a- if he is stretched out, he is about 10mm in overall length,
b- antenna on the front of his head (like a lobster),
c- gills and 'legs' under the abdomen (like a shrimp),
d- two arms held in a 'mantis-like' pose (claws are not clearly visible - arms almost appear to have 'clubs'),
e- swims in a forward direction when hit with light or when trying to escape,
f- holds the tail in a 'curled' position except when moving quickly - stretches out completey when 'swimming' or 'escaping', BTW - they are QUICK,
Now, if these two 10mm critters (and their little brothers) are mantis shrimp, does their presence mean that I have a breeding population of adult MS in my tank? I have never seen a large stranger in my tank but have heard some 'clicking' which I attributed to a yellow tang that sometimes rushes around smacking his tailagainst the glass.
Thanks for such an awesome web site and any feedback will be appreciated.
>Thom
The first is coral or anemone and doesn't worry me much. He is quite small (6mm across) and will extend or withdraw his tentacles according to food availability in the column (he extends arms when I squirt a drop of Oyster Feast or other food into the tank). He will withdraw if a crab or starfish disturbs him.
The second has caused me some concern since reading about mantis shrimp on this site. I first spotted this little guy in a 'micro-cave' created where an old snail shell was leaning against the front glass of my tank. The shell formed a 'roof' and there was a small void underneath the shell. I spend a fair amount of time watching my tank through a magnifying glass ( I really enjoy the various 'pods that thrive in the glass/water/substrate junction). Anyway, this tiny cave is where I first saw movement and watched long enough to see this guy, along with another of the same size (and about 6 much smaller specimens) moving about and even moving bits of gravel as if enlarging their home. I caught one of them last night and the second one this evening by siphoning up the gravel around and under the snail shell 'cave'. The picture is not very good but I will try to describe what I can.
a- if he is stretched out, he is about 10mm in overall length,
b- antenna on the front of his head (like a lobster),
c- gills and 'legs' under the abdomen (like a shrimp),
d- two arms held in a 'mantis-like' pose (claws are not clearly visible - arms almost appear to have 'clubs'),
e- swims in a forward direction when hit with light or when trying to escape,
f- holds the tail in a 'curled' position except when moving quickly - stretches out completey when 'swimming' or 'escaping', BTW - they are QUICK,
Now, if these two 10mm critters (and their little brothers) are mantis shrimp, does their presence mean that I have a breeding population of adult MS in my tank? I have never seen a large stranger in my tank but have heard some 'clicking' which I attributed to a yellow tang that sometimes rushes around smacking his tailagainst the glass.
Thanks for such an awesome web site and any feedback will be appreciated.
>Thom
