Science experiments anyone?

[johnmaloney]

I have been interested in Cerithiopsidae species lately, as well as other micro snails. Anyone else interested in these creatures? 

 

I have questions like - do these creatures get regularly eaten by (the types of animals we keep in aquaria)? Are they irritants to corals? Do they keep in captivity? Do they breed in captivity? Etc.. I wish I had the time and amount of experiment tanks to really do more research on these guys, but I do not. they are so small and must be watched so closely. On the other hand, if you share my interest, I can collect species that eat various types of nuisance epiphytic algae, and perhaps bryozoans and encrusting sponges that grow on algae (my particular area of current interest) for you. Not much is known about a lot of these species, they number in the billions, and you can probably have a shot at legitimately advancing some scientific knowledge about the species.  All you really need is an experiment tank, and some time to post. A jeweler's loupe or something like that couldn't hurt either. 

[HarryPotter]

I would be too nervous to try anything unknown, especially invertebrates, in my tank. But definitely following with interest! 

[johnmaloney]

7 hours ago, HarryPotter said:

I would be too nervous to try anything unknown, especially invertebrates, in my tank. But definitely following with interest! 

I understand that, experiment tank would be best. You probably have them already. Everyone in the hobby with liverock must have housed a few of these. They are that common in the ocean. Like amphipods. You probably just don't see them, most are smaller than gammarind amphipods. I haven't found a rock with crevices yet that didn't have them.

[OPtasia]

My High School Biology project for the Science Fair was the effects of tobacco on artemia nauplii. If you think counting snails is hard, just try getting juvenile sea monkies to smoke.