DAY 129

I am so sad. I just bought 5 Sexy Shrimps today and released them into my 27 liters tank. Wendy, the Six Line Wrasse, immediately swooped in and grabbed one of the shrimps away into a hidden corner. Then it came out again and attacked the next. I suspected earlier that Wendy might have something to do with the disappearance of the 10 shrimps, and now I confirmed it. The question now is I can only have either Wendy or the Sexy Shrimps in the tank. Which one should I give up? It was really an expensive $10 meal for Wendy.

On another note, I recorded these 2 videos of the pulsing Xenia which has been growing well in the other 56 liters tank. The videos show the Xenia pulsing even though I switched off the wavemaker that was sweeping the currents towards it. I hope it grows into a big clump. Since it is growing so well, I dare not move it at all.

 

DAYS 100-101

I told myself I must post about this before I forget about it.

When I first re-started reefing in January 13, I noticed there was quite a bit of small, white creatures, presumably copepods, that were crawling over my tank. However, I realized that I stopped seeing them altogether recently. I wonder if my current tank parameters are non-conducive for them to survive.

On a different note, I would usually look at the tank inhabitants in tank 1 and count the number of Sexy Shrimps in it to check if all 10 that I bought are still around. I would always heaved a sigh of relief when all of them are accounted for. However, just 2 days ago, I counted only 8 Sexy Shrimps and wondered if the remaining 2 were hiding behind the rock works. Yesterday, I found it very strange to spot only 1 shrimp and this morning even the only one was completely missing. 

I also found the white branched Goniopora either dead or dying. The typical tentacles didn't extend beyond the skeleton but looked as if they have receded almost completely.

While checking out the tank for any trace of the Sexy Shrimps, to my horror I spotted 2 small crabs. I initially thought that something must be eating them and I seriously wonder then if it was these crabs. How else can anyone explain the sudden disappearance of the Sexies after I had all 10 of them with me for 3 months now? I must start to set some traps for these crabs soon before I decide to purchase and add new Sexy Shrimps.

By the way, I added 2 gobies to tank 1 recently but I have not seen the Neon Goby ever since it was introduced. I feared it is dead. At least I could see the Red Spotted Goby hiding behind the rock works but I too am worried if it would be preyed upon by the crabs.

As for tank 2, there were a number of additions. The second seahorse was found to be dead when I came home from work. The Neon and Yellow Gobies got along fine initially when they were sharing the same container but I now noticed the Neon Goby has been chasing the Yellow Goby around.

The red Coco-Worm and the Tridacna maxima clam are simply amazing! The branched Gonipora has not opened up properly yet and I brought back the Chilli Coral and the branched Candy Cane from the office today. Unfortunately the Sympodium in this tank sort of melted away completely.

All in all, it was both a sad yet exciting day that saw the disappearance or death of some but addition of others

 

DAY 26

I got a few additions and when I dumped the 2 Nassarius snails into the tank, they immediately scurried off into the sand and burrowed right into it. What astounded me was I saw Penny next to them and was worried for a second if I crushed her to death.

Fortunately, I saw the real Penny somewhere behind the rock works. So the one I saw earlier was her moult, which was a good decoy.

I know how sensitive shrimps can be, so I took time to acclimatize a bag of 10 dancing Sexy Shrimps, which were about 1 cm in length. Actually, I didn't want to have so many of them and I think I would have to give some away when they grow bigger. The blue and red mushrooms were still adjusting to their new environment. The Coco-worm, which I shall just name Coco Lee Wen, oops I mean Coco, was doing fine too.

After releasing the Sexy Shrimps, it is a joy to watch them gather together and do their butt swaying in the water. It is now a routine for me to fall in all of them every day, at different times of the day, to do a headcount and watch their dancing routine. It's amazing how they love to gather around in their groups in the open, so it's pretty easy to find them. They seemed to be hosting the green mini Zoas and red mushrooms. I just hope they won't start tearing them apart when they go all hungry.