strongorange

Tag: reef tank

  • A new hitchhiker: a Stomatella snail

    A new hitchhiker: a Stomatella snail

    A new hitchhiker turned up while I was looking at the tank after a weekend water change!

    As usual, I was just staring at the tank after the water change when I spotted something big moving near the top.

    Whenever I change the water, I look for small bristle worms and brittle stars and remove them before they get too big. I'd already caught a few little ones that day.

    This one looked like a worm. Had I missed one? I wasn't feeling too happy as I took a closer look, but thankfully, it wasn't a worm.

    Stomatella snail on the tank wall under blue lighting
    Stomatella snail extending its tentacles on the tank wall
    Stomatella snail on the tank wall above the lettering

    That was a relief, though I still wanted to know what it was. As soon as I spotted it, I took some photos and asked GPT, "Hey, what's this?!"

    Korean GPT conversation identifying the photographed animal as most likely a Stomatella snail
    Korean GPT reply describing Stomatella grazing on microalgae without harming corals
    Good.

    I Googled Stomatella and compared the photos. Convinced that was what I'd found, I looked back at the tank to enjoy watching it. In less than a minute, it had hidden somewhere. I couldn't find it at all.

    After reading that it eats algae off the glass and live rock and leaves corals and fish alone, I wanted to watch the little guy without worrying for a bit.

    It probably slipped between the rocks. It still amazes me that there could be creatures in that live rock I know nothing about.

    I've come across all sorts of hitchhikers: crabs, bristle worms, Aiptasia anemones, brittle stars, sponges, and more.

    I've tried hard to remove some of them and spent time looking things up. Whether I like finding them or not, these discoveries have become part of the fun.

    I can't completely control everything living in the tank anyway. I've changed my approach a bit: relax, and just keep things from multiplying too much or getting too big.

    Full view of the reef tank with live rock on the left
    The live rock is on the left.

    What else could be living inside those rocks?

  • I Found Baby Sand-Sifting Starfish in My Reef Tank

    I Found Baby Sand-Sifting Starfish in My Reef Tank

    I had never seen a baby starfish. Until this happened, I had not given much thought to how starfish reproduce either.

    One day, just before feeding my clownfish, I spotted a white speck on the front glass of my reef tank.

    There are random white bits on the glass and in the sump that I still cannot identify. They sometimes look a little like scale, so I assumed this was one of those and left it alone.

    I figured I would clean it off at the next water change. A few hours after feeding, though, it was gone.

    A few days later, I saw a similar speck in nearly the same spot. I looked closer this time and realized it was a tiny starfish.

    A tiny baby sand-sifting starfish on the glass of a reef tank

    There is one sand-sifting starfish in the tank now, although I originally brought home two. One did not settle in, gradually got smaller, and died. The other has been living in the tank for several months.

    Part of me assumed I would need a pair if there were ever going to be babies, so it never occurred to me that I might see one. When I did, I mostly just stared at it. It was tiny, strange, and very cute.

    They are easy to miss and only show up when they happen to be out in the open. That makes it more fun when I do spot one.

    Later, while taking pictures of one, I spotted a second.

    A tiny baby sand-sifting starfish on a temperature-controller sensor cable in a reef tank
    Another tiny baby sand-sifting starfish on a sensor cable in a reef tank

    One was on the front glass, and the other was near the temperature-controller sensor.

    A reef tank with two baby sand-sifting starfish marked by red circles

    My wife and I stood there looking at them for a while. They barely move, but that somehow makes them even cuter in person.

    https://strongorange.net/en/not-a-sand-sifting-starfish-just-a-falling-leaf/

    Before this, the starfish mostly gave me small moments of entertainment by climbing the glass and occasionally falling off. I did not expect a much bigger surprise from it.

    A 45 cm cube is a small tank, but unexpected things still turn up. I have had a crab come out from between the rocks, a huge worm appear, and an anemone suddenly show itself.

    This was a pleasant surprise.