Reefkeeping poses many challenges, chief among them the need to integrate species that live in different natural environments–sometimes thousands of miles apart–and although good reef keepers know to stock only compatable species within a single tank, sometimes even compatable fish and corals need to learn how to get along. Some corals are photosynthetic, others eat plankton, and others eat larger, meaty foods (including fish — another reason to be careful what you stock in your captive reef). Since corals lack eyes, brains, and complex nervous systems, they react to the environment immediately and without considering consequences. Some sting, while others produce
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Purple Leather Rescue on the Reef
About 6 weeks ago, I returned from the fish store with a coral that wasn’t supposed to survive. Toadstool leathers (Sarcophyton sp.) are soft corals of the family Alcyoniidae, and generally good corals for beginners. Although they do engage in “chemical warfare”–releasing toxins that can harm other corals (including other leathers) if placed too close together, leathers have amazing regenerative powers, and can recover from fairly serious injuries, given time and the right conditions. Despite this, the local reef store owner was having trouble persuading a heavily damaged toadstool leather to recover in his tanks. (This is highly unusual, because he farms many
Read moreReturn to the Reef!
In all the excitement of launching the second Shinobi Mystery, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI, I may have forgotten a couple of Tuesday Reefs… I’ve still been taking pictures, however, so fortunately there’s something to share today. Here’s a photo-status-update of the reef! Ghillie the seahorse likes to sit under the new sun coral – to reference a favorite book from my childhood, he’s a regular Ferdinand: My abalone, Oscar, spends his days consuming algae. Unfortunately, he’s nearsighted, and can’t always tell the difference between an algae-covered rock and a seahorse: When he does find his way to the algae, however,
Read moreNovember on the Reef
I’ve been less than perfect about my reef posts for the last couple of weeks – but I promise we’re back on schedule now. And since it’s the first week in December, it’s time for a November retrospective on the reef: I caught Ripley the porcelain crab at the end of a successful moult, with the old shell still clinging to her legs: And the zoanthid and daisy polyp corals enjoying the evening lights: Max spent lots of time hanging out in his cave: And enforcing the “no shenanigans” rule when Emo got out of hand. Finally, near the end
Read moreJuly 2013: Reef Retrospective
As always, the first week of the month gives me the pleasure of sharing the “best of the reef in photos.” Here’s what I saw in July. Seahorses will hitch to anything that offers a good enough grip, as this Mexican turbo snail discovered the hard way: Sun corals rarely extend their tentacles fully, due to the danger of getting nipped by a passing predator. Once in a while, though, I have the pleasure of seeing these lovely corals at their photogenic best: Snail races. Brought to you by “dinnertime on the reef”: And another one from the snail files
Read moreBest of the Week
Instead of a unified post this week, I thought I’d share a few of the very best moments from this week’s reefing: Cygnus perched in a sea fan: Wilson the tuxedo urchin “cleaning up” algae around the sun corals: Life with brittle stars means you never know where a set of wiggling legs might come from: And, last but not least, Ghillie the seahorse hanging out with Wilson and Phobos the cleaner shrimp: I’ll have another tank-related story post next week, but for today, I hope you enjoy the random moments! If you had to pick a “shot of the
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