Recent content by LeslieH

Corals & fish are all very nice but for real excitement there's nothing like a good worm! ;) I'd be happy to check out corals for micro-critters as long as they can fit under a microscope. Which reminds me - Randy, make sure the microscope is a dissecting scope. The folks at BAR brought in a...

I'm not sure what family...maybe Grapsidae or something similar. Definitely not the zebra crab (Zebrida adamsi) which is an obligate commensal on urchins. Whatever it is it's not one of the few truely reef safe crabs like porcellanids. It will be an opportunistic feeder able to scavenge, eat...

Yes, a sea cucumber & probably in the genus Holothuria. You can clearly see the extended feeding tentacles on the left side of the animal in the second image. Miz Daisy is right - a beneficial addition to your cleaning crew.

It is a xanthid and moving it to your fuge is an excellent idea for the long term health of your tank inhabitants.

It is a Lysmata in the L. wurdemanni species complex. There are several of them from the Caribbean region and it's probable that they all will eat Aiptasia.

It looks like a xanthid or something in a related crab family. They are opportunistic feeders. I wonder... how many people have seen a crab actually catch a healthy fast-moving fish? Or even a sleeping one?

They're a type of hydroid. Essentially harmless. Many people have reported them appearing in tanks only to disappear in a short while. Has anyone had a different experience with them?

Daisy's right on target. Manual control plus a natural predator will do the least amount of harm to your tank. Flatworm exit can also kill off other worms & CUC members & since most of them live hidden away you'll end up with an organic spike.

Do you have bubble algae? It kinda looks like one that's produced spores & died.

I had a great time too! Many thanks to Randy & Josh for inviting me, and to them, Tahl, Christine, Joy, Jeanine, and all the others who made the experience of speaking an extremely enjoyable experience.

Thanks! Was it one of 4 reef-safe crabs on the same slide? The top two were trapeziid crabs which are the acro commensals. The bottom two were the spotted anemone crab Neopetrolisthes maculata (occasionally sold by LFS) and an unknown Petrolisthes which was photographed somewhere in the...

Thanks everyone. Normally when I join a board the first thing I do is head over to the critter id section & start posting answers. This time I'm out of luck - looks like you all have a pretty good handle on the critters you're finding. Good job!

Hi everyone -- Randy D suggested I post here about my new calender. It's 12 months of micro critters like amphipods & polychaetes that show up as hitch-hikers in reef tanks. The live animals were photographed using a microscope so you can really see what they look like. I made the calender to...