Draco Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 RIP CandyMint, the Cleaner Shrimp. You were fondly named by my nieces. I guess my Brittle Star was hungry enough to grab and drag you under the rock and you weren't strong enough. Poor thing, it was a horrid thing to watch. Somber moment over. While it was sad to lose such a critter, it was also fascinating to watch, to see how critters behave in the tank, to show their true nature. I couldn't interfere (it was too late by the time I noticed anyway). I've also witnessed my hermit crab change shells in my old tank years ago. I wonder if I still have the video I took of it anywhere still.. Anyone else have something interesting they've witnessed that they'd like to share? something unusual or fascinating? any photos/videos? Watching the reef tank is never a dull moment for sure! Link to comment
Learn It Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I have had 2 hermits since the start of my tank, 6 months ago, that are now quite large. They have never caused any trouble and are hilarious to watch, so I recently got one more that is much smaller. I watched one of my larger ones shoot across the tank (passing food) just to get to the little one, hop on his back and try to pull him out by slamming him up against his shell until I split them up. He spent some time in the penalty box (overflow) after that so the little guy could adapt for a few days... Link to comment
evanski Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 My favorite was showing some friends my tank for the first time. One of my larger emerald crabs (they were key in my GHA eradication effort) marched out from underneath the rockwork with a peppermint shrimp in his claws, and proudly SHREDDED it front of everyone. Is was brutal and hysterical all at the same time. Link to comment
smeagol108 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Had an anglerfish try to eat a Niger trigger. Niger was in the anglers mouth headfirst for like two hours. Angler finally spit him out and the Niger lived to see another day. Insane. Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Fun thread! Sorry about your shrimp. For odd behavior, I say you can't beat a good crab stackin'. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Watched a scoly extend it's mesenterial filaments and dissolve a neighboring coral - I wasn't even mad it was cool to watch (not continually - took a while). It's pretty common for a hermit to hitch a ride on a snail, but I've also seen snails hitch rides on a hermit shell too Had a bacterial bloom when I started my current tank - it was a thick, dense "snow storm" inside the tank. It was really quite amazing because even a high powered flashlight could hardly penetrate the water. It lasted a few days then suddenly it cleared up almost completely. Link to comment
Weasel Baron Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Used to work with cone snails in undergrad (research/thesis), seeing those dudes hunt and dispatch a fish was amazing Link to comment
Draco Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 I love crab stacking. Its too cute! Really Weasel? That sounds fun! Keep the stories coming. It never cease to amaze me in what these critters show us! Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I have a Decorator Hermit crab that ALWAYS just crawls through my Zoa colonies and sticks the occasional polyp on his shell. They actually grow! Link to comment
appak Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Crabs are jerks. and clowns are nosy. Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Forgot to post the picture of the annoying hermit crab and the mysterious Zoas! Link to comment
D Z Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Used to work with cone snails in undergrad (research/thesis), seeing those dudes hunt and dispatch a fish was amazing WOW, had never heard of cone snails. Just watched this video.....wild.... Link to comment
lkoechle Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I haven't witnessed anything "awesome" but I just enjoy watching the interactions and how the tank inhabitants actually acknowledge each other. I do think it's really cool to have my fire shrimp clean my hand or watch him clean the fish. I also like watching LPS and other corals eat. The first time I watched a ricordea eat a giant piece of shrimp, I was like "woah!" and my husband was like "woah" and then we were like "dude." It was crazy lol Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Here's some really old pics I dug up from my old rubbermade frag tank. Hawaiian Ding Dang PE eating a whole mysis shrimp: And here, a baby yuma tried to eat a HUGE asterina. In the end it failed, but it was still a lot of fun to watch: Link to comment
Weasel Baron Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 WOW, had never heard of cone snails. yeah they are an amazing group of snails; the toxins from C. geographus are currently being utilized to make a super effective pain killer, something along the order of 1000 times as powerful as morphine and completely non-addictive I know the video says it uses its siphon to smell out prey, but we actually found that its only partially responsible for prey detection; most of the actual detection comes from tiny ciliated structures found at the tip of the proboscis. The snails are basically blind, so when they first detect a prey item their proboscis extends and starts waving around all crazy trying to find it. figured you guys might get a kick out of some of the pics we got from our studies this is a SEM of the proboscis of a C. catus, a fish hunter closer, note the cilia at the tip of the sensory structures TEM of the sensory structure, so many cilia (just at the tip, the sides are actually a microvillar layer) standard 9:2 structure of the cilia confocal of a section of the proboscis; see all the various nerve tracts leading to the sensory structures Draco, sorry for derailing your thread with a bunch of pictures of dick like structures Link to comment
Draco Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 thanks for sharing the photos, Weasel.. Those are awesome. I've never seen them either Link to comment
brandon429 Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 thats jeffrey from MIB III above Link to comment
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