I have opted to take a break from seahorses until I have the $$$$$$$$ to build the tank I want, so I have decided to get some harlequin shrimp instead. This lead me to the *feeding* issue (yet again, I dunno wtf it is with me and hard to feed ####). Anywho cutting through the crap, I now have 55 gallons of saltwater real estate that I am devoting to culturing asterina stars. (The harlequins will get their own tank when I get them, but that's like 6 months away).

So 55 gallons of pod's, various macro's(whatever I just bought from you) and cockroaches asterina's.

*YAWN*

I will probably put a fish in, but not anytime soon, and even then it will probably be just one. Something carnivorous I'm sure MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...etc.

I was thinking calico crab. Debated a mantis, but eh they are not terribly exciting either. Had an eel once if he wasn't trying to amputate one of my finger's he was busy finding new and obscure ways kill himself/get out of the tank.

LFS told me to get a nautilus or a tang I don't know why I talk to those people.


Suggestions oh wise and powerful invert gawd?

nautilus.... Speaking of hard to keep stuff I found tons of upside down jellies when I was in the water last night...kind of strange for this time of year, kind of late int heir season. I wish jellies were easier/possible to keep... Well anyway...I think carnivorous crabs are boring as can be. Most are ambush predators, so they will sit in hiding all day until they eat, and then back into hiding they go. I saw this crazy pink colored hitchhiker crab at the LFS today, that is sort of an oddball at least. Still probably boring...Colony of fiddlers? Stone crab? I am not sure the latter is legal to take. I was always told to only take one claw from them, so they are a regenerating catch...(they live in the same places), not sure if that is a law, or just a trick of the trade. It has been awhile since I went for crab claws, law probably changed since that time anyway... Arrow crabs, spiders, (I know some really cool spider crab locations....) If I was going to have a crab tank I would get a giant marine hermit or a long nose decorator.
This guy is the marine hermit:
http://www.athiel.com/lib3/hercrab.gif

This guy is the longnose decorator: ( I call them spider decorators though - friend of mine named them that and I just kind of stuck with it)
http://www.sms.si.edu/IRLFieldGuide/Libini_dubia.htmif you are familiar. They are at least out and about, attractive and pretty smart for a crab.

Add in a pair of coral banded with an arrow crab and that might be an interesting invert tank. Your stars may end up as food though, not sure about that.

Getting away from crabs... How about harder to feed Pipefish? What about porcupine fish? Yeah they will eventually get too big, but the ocean is right around the corner too and I know a guy who takes in fish that are getting too big. Most of those large porcupines/balloon fish go for a pretty penny at the LFS, so donations are easy...Angels are along those lines as well. Let see what else is fun to keep....Sharpnose puffers, some of the non reef safe wrasses...I just had a puddingwife that that was returned. That is a cool fish. Red lizardfish are cool. I am not sure that is their common name, just what I call them. I got one of those that either hitchiked his way in or was hatched, and another one that is in a different tank...Those are all different and exciting.

Calicos, mantis, box crabs...all boring to keep IMO. If you want a mantis though, I could at least track down one of the 7 inch ones. Eh...boring.

Just some thoughts...

Lord I'm dumb, forgot to post my response

The spider decorator looks freaky as heck. I dig it. Are they only in the FP area? The only site I found with anything on 'em was the sms site. I wonder what all I could get it to stick on itself...

(on a side note I have never seen anyone so excited over a weather tower before. Why do people need to know what the weather is like at sms? The radiation and solar output stuff is kinda cool, but really 4 months of dancing around because you got a weather tower upgrade is just overkill, someone needs to send some strippers over there or something 'cuz those people are obviously sittin' around in their little sub too much)

I don't think they have visited weather.com or NOAA, so maybe now they will finally know that it will be hot tomorrow? I am sure really, but the IRL is about 200 miles or so long, so when they say they can be found in the IRL, that is like saying, "they live in the Keys". I am sure they inhabit a large intercoastal environment. They devour any nuisance algae, they are awesome cleaners, but they can be mean too. My friend had one that would clip off the tentacles of his Condy just to do it. They eat an amazing amount of dictyota...really love that stuff. THey like sticking caulerpa prolifera to their "noses", any caulerpa they like when they aren't eating it. Sponges, just about any macro, seagrass (although the grass will die)...they aren't really that picky. Let me see if I can track down a picture of what they do...it is pretty funny...

We have spider crabs native in our bays and inlets. GNARLY looking crab. Me and my friends were drinking beers driving the boat and crabbing I pulled one of these up and I thought I pulled satan from the water.

So your saying the caulerpa on his nose wasn't a turn on?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N871iDTWd50&feature=fvsr

^ OMG

Now I have to have one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL10l3JRoT0...feature=related

Upside down jellyfish + decorator crab

That is a different crab, that is an actual spider crab. I just got into the habit of calling longnose's spider crabs, because that is the local name people give them. They walk like spiders and have long legs. They are still pretty cool though. I think the caulerpa on the nose is a mating thing, but I am not sure. You see them in front of other crabs doing displays with them, but I don't have a degree in longnose spiders...could be a territory thing maybe. The upside down jellies were everywhere again today. Cool critter, but from what I hear just like all jellies they are unfortunately difficult/impossible to keep happy.

Upside down are really freakin' cool. Itchy as a mutha too. I can't fathom what it would take to keep them alive long term in a closed system.

I was looking to see if anyone had done it and I came across this guy
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/jellyfish/aquarium.php

"Keeping Cassiopea jellyfish in captivity is comparatively common and this species is by far the most frequently kept jellyfish species among aquarists"

He makes it sound like no big deal so now I am pondering how one would achieve the upward flow to keep them suspended. It seems the kreisel set-up is the way to go, but wouldn't it have to be pretty massive?



And eh, I like all crabs save the one's that belong to the STD genus. Hermit's work my nerve but that is my own fault for putting them in my display tank. Inverts rock

longspine or fire urchin and zebra crab, done.

Peacock mantis shrimp, they are pretty sweet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock_mantis_shrimp

Or wait until there is a good sale on sexy shrimp and get like 50 of them.

longspine wont work, the tank is only a 55. longspines get to be the size of volleyballs. ditto with fire urchin. zebra crabs are pretty cool

mantis are kind of boring...but they look cool. 50 sexy shrimp would be cool.

by the way uwwmatt - your tank looks awesome.

Lol at the chromis... *NOM NOM NOM*

Thanks, the cleanup crew is from you.




Back on topic, how about a lobster?

I was looking at a Debelius but I'm not certain I would have enough rock for it to have a cave. I want to limit the rock so I don't have to rip everything apart to get at the cockroaches. Plus I thought they needed gravel/crushed coral to burrow in?

How about a teddy bear crab? They look interesting.

Damn John to hell. He has me wanting to see a crab slap a caulerpa pastie on its nose and pole dance.

*Edit* what about a shovel nose lobster? I don't know diddly about them.

-oh cool, glad to hear.

lobsters are cool. i had a florida spiny lobster hatch in one of my tanks, (2 actually), really cool. I kept them for a couple of weeks then returned them to the sea. (I thought it was a weird shrimp at first, but once it started to grow I realized what it was). Way undersized to be legal, and I was worried I might get in trouble. It isn't illegal for them to accidentally hatch, but who would have believed that right?

slipper lobster would be cool. i wonder if that is the name thing as a shovel nose? will have to look into that..

they look similar but i dont thing they are the same



the way the do the pastie suggests they are males trying to show off. i will leave it at that.

on a different note, i almost always see the upside down jellies on the sea floor. at least 8 of 10 on the floor. but then again I am in the water a lot at night. If I ever get a jelly tank it will house comb jellies. I have been stung many times trying to get close to them to see their light show. Their sting doesn't hurt much at all though. like a 2 minute ant bite tops.

you can add a pincushion to this equation....they are pretty cool. They camoflauge themselves, will wear all sorts of stuff, kind of funny.

comb jellie's are so cool. I'm too chicken s**t to get close though so I will just wait for video footage of your jelly tank

Pincushion is a thought. I have always wanted one but have never had a suitable tank. How in the heck to they wear things o.O

Slipper lobster's apparently need a 100g tank

comb jellie's are so cool. I'm too chicken s**t to get close though so I will just wait for video footage of your jelly tank

-their sting is very mild. I checked out the jelliquarium...not going to happen. 15k on a tank, I am not even that nuts. Will be a trip to one of those places yardboy has been way before that.

Pincushion is a thought. I have always wanted one but have never had a suitable tank. How in the heck to they wear things o.O

I forgot the technical name...but they are basically like thousands of little tentacles that are sticky around the spikes, and these tentacles can grab/move things.

Slipper lobster's apparently need a 100g tank
-yeah, but there are no size limits in FL, and you can always return them to the sea. but probably not a good choice...i was just following up on the shovelnose. have you seen the Fl. spiny lobster at Ocean's Below? Awesome.

I'm heading down that way next week I will have to check that spiny lobster out.

I'm hesitant to throw a lobster back in, we are pretty redneck in this area, I could see one of my neighbors trying to eat it (oh how I wish that was just a joke).

After you the one at oceans below you will want to eat it. I tried once, he caught me just as my head was going into the bobbing tank.

I have been striking out so far on something cool for you, but will keep an eye out. it seems you find everythign when you aren't looking for it.

some sweet inverts imo based on looks/personality
arrow crab
pom pom crab
tube anemone

+1 on boxer crabs. They're way fun once you get used to your tanks.

We have a pom pom/boxer in the pico. He is a real douchebag. Every time you look at him he throws his little pom poms out and he is forever knocking the ceriths off the wall to get his SnG's. So yeah he is pretty awesome

Its 55g though. I would need a whole herd of them.


Don't have a light on that tank that would be sufficient for an anemone

tube anemone's like subdued lighting... so weak to moderate would be fine.

they like being fed. I have heard about the subdued lighting, but you almost always find them in nature in the brightest spots, and hardly ever in shaded areas. Probably just coincidence so they can catch food on all sides, jut mentioning it.

I tend to err on the side of caution. I'd hate to murder something because I was too inept to keep it alive

I'm leaning towards a herd of something or other and patiently waiting to see if the invert gawd stumbles upon something cool on one of his trips.

Patience sucks but gotta see the pastie crab

mantis shrimp are not boring very intertaning acttuly


they are one of my favorite fish/ invert ever

i am setting up a new tank for one since my last one died

Decorator crab could be cool with your macros - mine is only 1/2" but a real CUC - after manually removing all the brown algae Dictoya he went around the tank and picked up all the scraps and attached them to himself along with a crown of Halimeda just to let me know who rules the roost.

and did someone say Pastry Crab?

Close, but I imagine it a little more like

Click to view attachment



(I am not going to ponder what that says about my imagination )

decorators are cool little critters, not as cool as pastry crabs though.

on the mantis - to each their own. personally i couldnt watch one for over a minute without losing interest. maybe they might come out to walk a few inches, maybe eat a hermit....eh...i know some people are just amazed at these guys, but I am not one of them. maybe it is because i have a bias against CUC eating critters.

Just found out the least stupid of my LFS' gets long nose and spider decorators in every few weeks



Now to find out if I can push my luck and have more than one in there without or

Maybe get a lil' of goin on but I don't want any of


Please blame nanobuds for my smiley abuse. I have a problem and nano sent me a link to smileys thus enabling my abuse

elbow crabs are awesome

elbow crab?

Edit : http://noolmusic.com/google_videos/elbow_c...harp_island.php

That guy? He's cool as hell, never heard of one before. That crab is not messing around at feeding time either

Ive kept a female once, very low maintenance and hardy. I've never seen it for sale again but it was awesome. Looks just like destroyer from the godzilla series or an angry face.

I couldnt tell if I had one of these two species



but most likely she was of this species


but personally I prefer cute things and segmented things. I want a nice chiton or cowrie

I want some kinda Star Trooper alien/bug crab

I don't think the elbow crab will work because I am an invert freak and it would eat my inverts : /

I love my chitons. I'm not sure why, they don't really do anything. Maybe it's the whole living fossil thing that appeals to me....

the one I had was rather docile and a bit shy, didn't even mess with my snails. Nocturnal though.

Have you considered the ninjastar aestrea snail or a pair of blue head/yellow coral banded shrimps? A lot smaller, prettier than the common coral banded shrimps and very strong bonding behavior in mates. Also, I really enjoy nassarius snails. I know they're pretty common but they're behaviorally very interesting. They're invisible most of the time but as soon as you drop food in, they rise from the sand like zombies

they fight, unless they get along...so this:

[quote]Now to find out if I can push my luck and have more than one in there without or

Maybe get a lil' of [quote]

Damn crabby crabs.

I have a boatload of nass I love those guys. I have 5 or 6 ninja's too. This is sort of a project/live food/macro tank and probably my only shot to have something of the super awesome non reef safe genre.

I haven't had coral banded in a while, and never the blue and yellow. That could be interesting....

I was thinking maybe I would get a "herd" of something but I'm not sure of what. Sexies were suggested, but we have those in the pico and meh. They are neat but 200 of them wouldn't be all that different from 5 or 6. Though with 200 sexies I could make an awesome youtube vid with a shakira song to supply the beat. Maybe throw a pom pom in there and make him wyclef so I can do a "hips don't lie" thing

if you want a mated pair of coral banded i have them in a tank that is slowly being broken down. free of charge. i have had them for about a year, neither likes to clean fish, they are always too busy hanging out, walk around constantly following each other. you can take them along with the grunt and hairy blenny that reside there. neither fish are reef safe, kind of bullies but they are fine together, and with the shrimp for now at least. the grunt will become too large one day and have to be returned to the sea. he is about 5 months old now, they grow pretty quickly - he is about 3 inches. (want to say a 3 line grunt, but that is a fisherman's term?) he was part of an experiment i tried with larval fish...he wasn't supposed to be in there but what can you do? Both fish are extremely hardy, it would take a lot to kill either. would fit in with your tank of trouble. the hairy blenny has the same back story. she is a female though.

Ooooo hmmm, may have to take you up there.

I don't know if I have enough rock to keep the grunt happy though. How much would he need?

rock for the grunt or the blenny? The grunt doesn't care about rock, the blenny likes it, although he perches on the sand and the glass most of the time. She is kind of strange, and sort of sits on the side of the glass looking up.

Build a half water half land tank. Tons of options then. That's what I did when I got bored....

You and weta have caused some stir recently in the "non-reef safe" vivarium/aquarium crab inquiries I get. Noticed a bump in those requests in the last few months.

just an update that my HH deco crab molted out of his Halimeda disguise and into a Botryocladia disguise - might be fun to see what he's next - wearing my fish?

thats pretty cool, he blends right in back there.

Since I'm adding mostly zoas into the 6g to blend in his next molt will need to be zoa's - his next size will need to be ejected to the 29g so I guess it could be a good fragging strategy. I still think a tank of half-dozen deco crabs would be crazy with everything moving around that shouldn't be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSj5BuL1dBM




John - should I worry about him other then picking zoa's in a 29 softy tank?

I am not John, but yes, he will pick at everything. Depends upon the safety he feels. It also goes off of instinct on what there is the most of....



That good?

no, the crab is far cooler than any zoa frag. he seems to know what he is doing with the fragging too...I wouldnt worry at all, and be happy about it. I guess it depends on how you value things, but I think he looks cool.

by the way I vote that orphicdragon posts here again

Whatever happened with this?

hah - i misread that other question - eh decorators will wear anything they can to blend in, but they generally dont kill anything. still got the botryocladia right?

that tank is still being broken down! I can find a home for the hairy blenny. I moved the pair of shrimp over to my 72 a few weeks ago. I think one of them is going to die soon though. They were adult size when I got them about a year or so ago I guess, and it just seems lazy. The other shrimp is still lively and moves about, but the other doesn't follow as much anymore.