Aquarium Update 8

Another long time without a post. A lot has happened to the aquarium and some of what I post here is already outdated, but here goes. My Daisy anemone has buried itself and has not resurfaced but the Red-speckled anemone is growing well. I found the Dahlia anemone I was looking for, but lately it has been pestered by a Purple top shell, which has left a scar on its column, I hope it survives. The most dramatic event was that the Snakelocks anemone managed to kill my Sea scorpion (but not eat it, it was too large). This must have happened when I  removed some of the rocks, startling it and make it swim in the wrong direction:IMG_4963Poor thing (although it had eaten 22 of my mullet so it works both ways I guess…). The good thing was that I could try keeping some other fish again. Using my net, I caught some Two-spotted gobies as well as a Common goby Pomatoschistus microps (I think, there are some very similar species) and a Goldsinny wrasse Ctenolabrus rupestris. The total tally from netting off the Flushing quay is now eleven fish species, not bad. The Goldsinny swims around the tank a lot and does some digging; it seems to be a more interesting fish to watch than the Corkwing:

The Plumose anemones Metridium senile are strange, they can be all shrivelled up for days, be short and squat or all extended. Here three pics of the same individual:Presentation1The Turban top shells Gibbula magus are very nice to watch (the Grey topshell Gibbula cinerarea gives a sense of scale). I found a Sea urchin Psammechinus miliaris and decided to try it out. It spends half its time under the gravel and pops up here and there with shells and pebbles attached to it. Let’s see what it does! Lastly a picture of the tank. I had attached a young Sugar kelp Saccharina latissima to the tunze pump with an elastic band and now it has attached itself to the plastic.IMG_5091

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5 thoughts on “Aquarium Update 8

  1. Fantastic aquarium!

    What are the water values and temperature? It looks like you got almost no algae, except calcerous pink ones. Interesting with all the different snails and crustaceans. I am struggling with brown and slimy algae in my cold water aquarium. I have just started my new tank – look here if you are interested http://www.makvaerk.photo

    • Hi Martin,
      thanks! It looks slightly less nice now, the problem with my coldwater aquarium at least is that it is not that stable (but maybe I am experimenting too much….). I had a problem with green algae lately, that is why I removed some of the affected rocks. I also have an invasive red seaweed (Chrysymenia) that is taking over my tank. My temperature is around 16C I think, I never test for water values (and do not use a sump or skimmer). I’ll make sure to add your blog to the Links page and will be looking out how you will fare. Your setup looks great! cheers Michiel

  2. Hi Michiel,
    The cycle of Life and death in a native marine aquarium can be fairly fast eh? 😉 Very cool to hear the supar kelp has actually reattached! That is good news. Did it create a new foot to attach or did the existing foot reattach. The coldsinny looks very nice indeed, hope to find one too.

    Good Luck and Happy New Year

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