Invertebrates

Spineless Inhabitants

The diversity potential for invertebrates in an aquarium is simply staggering. Of the million or so animal species on the planet, inverts make up about 98% or so I hear. Well, I don't have 98% of them in my tank, but certainly a few interesting creatures.

Tridacna sp. (Clams!)
Squamosa Tridacna squamosa
[ No Picture ]	A fellow hobbiest had tank issues and needed me to hold on to some stuff. One of the items I'm babysitting is a medium sized Squamosa. It's been doing well, and has even picked up a button polyp and mushroom hitchiker. I gotta say, the scutes sure are an attractor for hair algae though.
Arrived November 18, 2006 Qty 1; from kysmith

Crocea Clam Tridacna maxima
	A fellow hobbiest had tank issues and needed me to hold on to some stuff. One of the items I'm babysitting is this (quite attractive) Maxima. It's been doing well.
Arrived November 18, 2006 Qty 1; from kysmith

Crocea Clam Tridacna crocea
	Without a doubt not the best clam to "start out" with, but here I am starting out with it neverthelesss. This specimen is a particularily bright beautiful blue color. When received, the interior mantle was transparent and over the course of a few days has moved towards translucent. We shall see!
Arrived November 15, 2006 Qty 1; from Fraggle Reef
Shrimp ("shrimp kebabs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried...")
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp Lysmata amboinensis
	Cleaners are great additions to this tank. They've set up shop under an overflow and as a set of three, are able to accomodate all the requests for cleaning that they receive. Plus, they'll gleefully clean my hind whenever I'm working in the tank.
Arrived September 2006 Qty varies	I buy these shrimp once in a while... every so often they seem to disappear. Esp when my tank parameters are crappy. Go figure.

Fire Shrimp Lysmata debelius
[ No Picture ]	My fire shrimp is the most timid fire shrimp I have ever met. He spends every moment hiding somewhere between the cracks in the live rock, only to come out during feeding time -- and then never leaving the shadows. Needless to say, a photograph is asking for a lot.
Arrived July 9 2006 Qty 1; from That Pet Place

Peppermint Shrimp Lysmata wurdemanni
	I have three peppermint shrimp in my main display tank and two in my under-tank refugium. Having these guys in a fuge isn't a great idea for maintaining a pod population, they're opportunistic eaters, but at least they have a pleasant environment in which to breed.
Arrived August 4 2006 Qty varies	I add these shrimp as I need them (for Aptasia control). Their lifespan seems varied.
Sea Slugs/Cucumbers
Lettuce Nudibranch Tridachia/Elysia crispata
	This lettuce Nudibranch is a fantastic algae grazer. I had one just like it that died after about 8 months. Is that good? Is that bad? I don't know. They're not a long lived species. Replaced that one with another one just like it shortly after the original died.
Arrived Spring 2007 Qty varies; from That Pet Place	Note: Original purchased 3/13/2006. I had purchased two from ReefTopia (8/4/2006), but although they ate well, they did not last more than a month. Previous purchased 7/9/2006. Added another in 3/2007 and two more on 5/28/2007 all from That Pet Place -- those seem to do the best and are the best looking in my opinion. Yup, they keep disappearing and from time to time I get more (8/9/2008)

Cucumber Holothuria sp.
[ No Picture ]	This guy is currently restricted to my fuge. Fairly long (eight inches or so) and very unattractive: black and grey and splotchy. When removing it from the 75G tank it refused to let go of a large rock, but I was eventually able to persuade it to do so. While trying to maneuver it into a container with a stick, it shot it's Cuvierian Organs out it's rear end. Quite a sight to behold and rediculously sticky.
Arrived early 2006 Qty 1; from fellow reefer
Anemones
Hot Pink Rose BTA Entacmaea quadricolor
	I have what appears to be a partially bleached hot pink rose BTA sitting on the front glass of my tank, at the top, just under the eurobracing. Half of it is visible from the front. It appears to be slowly regaining color with sporadic feedings and good light. I'm interested to see what happens to this guy. The color is nothing short of amazing.
Arrived July 22 2006 Qty 1; from reefer's ex	Note: I need to take a new picture of this guy. He's huge and much darker now. But still right there, ffront and center on the glass. 8/9/2008.

Starfish
Brittle Stars Ophiothrix sp.
[ No Picture ]	I have two brittle stars in the tank. One is a fairly normal looking dark brown brittle star. The other has "paddles" interspersed with the spikes along the legs (likely Ophiothrix variabilis). Seeing as they spend all their time in rocks, it's difficult to capture a picture.
Arrived 2005 Qty 2; from fellow reefers

Serpent Stars Ophiocoma sp.
[ No Picture ]	I have one serpent star in the tank.
Arrived May 10, 2007 Qty 1; from ReefTopia
Worms
Peanut Worm Sipuncula sp.
	I had seen these weird tubes coming out of rocks under the LED moonlights but didn't know what they could posibly be. All that you could see at night was an opaque tube that could reach out and appear to eat off of rocks and corals. When startled (exposed to light) they would roll in on themselves and retract back into the rock. After breaking a rock apart to separate some Xenia, several of these guys dropped out or crawled back in. Fascinating creatures, and good.
Arrived as hitchhikers Qty unknown
Snails
Turbo Snails Turbo sp.
	These are great algae eaters that can get pretty big, the bigger they are, the more they eat.
Arrived March 13 2007 Qty 10 from That Fish Place	Picked up 4 large ones from fellow reefer in February 2007.

Astrea Snails Astraea tecta
	Astrea snails are, in my opinion, one of the best grazers you can get. They strike the balance between ability to keep nuisance algae at bay and not knocking things over all the time. Got 50 of these originally from ReefTopia on a group buy and have since picked up more in batches of 10 or 20 from Blue Ribbon Koi and That Pet Place.
Arrived August 4 2006 Qty ~100 from Various	35/15 added to Frag Tank / Main Tank (respectively) from ReefTopia on May 10, 2007. 4 "Star Snails" also added to Frag Tank at this time.

Margarita Snails Margarites pupillus
	Margarita snails do a pretty good job with algae, especially as they are able to handle some of the longer, more filamentous types. However, they're prone to bulldoze their way around the tank. They're also completely incompetent when it comes to turning right side back up. It's a wonder the species has survived.
Arrived July 26 2006 Qty ~15; from Aquatic Island

Nassarius Vibex Snails Nassarius vibex
	Handy little sand stirrers and general detritus eaters. Always fun to watch them come out to play when it's feeding time.
Arrived July 26 2006 Qty ~50; from Aquatic Island

Large Nassarius Snails Nassarius distortus
	Now these are some really fascinating creatures. Like nassarius vibex, they're general detritus eaters and stay under the sandbed most of the time with their nose stalks sticking up in the air. With a good number of them, however, feeding time means you get to watch the sand bed BOIL. A sight to behold.
Arrived August 2006 Qty ~30; from Blue Ribbon Koi

Cerith Snails Cerithium sp.
	Cerith Snails are great for one main reason: they aren't completely hopeless when they land upside down. They also lay eggs frequently which is handy as a food source. On the other hand, they really only do a good job eating the finest dust mats of green algae.
Arrived July 26 2006 Qty ~50; from Aquatic Island	48 Florida Ceriths (rougher, encrusted shell) from ReefTopia added May 10, 2007.
Hermit Crabs
Scarlet Reef Hermits Tguristes cadenati
	I managed to acquire a variety of scarlet reef hermits at the same time as my Yellow Tang and two bleached anemones. Since the tank had to be broken down, everything had to find a new home. Great scavengers, very non-hostile. Slightly more expensive than other hermits, but substantially cheaper than the blue knuckles.
Staggered Arrival Qty ~15	~10 obtained from Reefer's ex on July 22, 2006. 9 added to main tank from ReefTopia on May 10, 2007.

Dwarf Red Tip Hermits Clibanarius sp.
	Red tips are decent general scavengers and aren't quite as bloodthirsty as those blue leg hermits that are so popular. Still, they are opportunistic omnivores and when they really need a new house, a snail may need to move out.
Arrived July 26 2006 Qty ~25; from Aquatic Island

Electric Blue Leg Hermits Calcinus elegans
	Sometimes called "blue knuckle" hermits, these guys are very good algae eaters and not as evil as regular blue legs. They are pricey though. Originally purchased 4 from Blue Ribbon Koi. Later purchased another two from Scales Tropical Fish Warehouse. Some losses have been observed.
Arrived August 2006 Qty ~4; from Various
The following inverts have left the building.
Purple LTA Heteractis Crispa
	This anemone has been with me for years upon years. It is in fact the first invertebrate I ever purchased and has survived numerous trips through powerheads, a house move, tank rebuilding and moving, and so on. In 2006, it has released eggs into the water on two separate occasions. Once while it was being moved from my 75G tank into the 180 (while it was in a 2 quart jug) and the 2nd time right in the 180 gallon tank, all over the place.
2001 to 6/7/2007 Qty 1; from The Reef Tank	My anemone disappeared one day. I didn't think too much of it -- it had the capability of completely burying itself in the sand when something was bothering it, but usually resurfaced later in the day. Before going to bed, I was concerned I hadn't seen it. With trepidation I turned over my lower Tunze deco rock. There it was. Its foot mostly sucked through the grating and tentacles on the outside. It was downhill from there.
Tiger Cowrie Cypraea tigris
	For no good reason whatsoever, I have a tiger cowrie. I hadn't been exposed to them so I figured I'd learn something. Very interesting creatures. The guy lived my sump for only 4-5 months before passing away. Insufficient food? Got stuck? I'm not sure.
Aug 2006 - Jan 2007 Qty 1; from fellow reefer