Those who follow my Facebook Page already know, but in mid-December I bought some new baby seahorses to join my bachelor male, Ghillie, on the reef. The babies arrived two weeks before Christmas. One had a little trouble with the end of his tail (he couldn’t use it properly) After 14 days in the hospital, the two strongest babies were ready to enter the reef… The babies met Ghillie a few hours later–he was afraid of them at first, but quickly realized they didn’t mean him any harm. He even showed them how to use a feeding bowl: The other
Read moreseahorses
Seahorse Date Night
Many people don’t realize that seahorses mate for life, or that mated pairs show affection toward one another. Ghillie and Ceti spend much of the day in separate parts of the tank. Ghillie is timid and likes to hide, while Ceti likes to explore and hunt for little crustaceans in the rocks. In the evenings, however, they often spend time together, “holding tails” or swimming side by side. They also come together at meal times, and not only because of the food. They seem to enjoy one another’s company–and Ghillie becomes less shy in Ceti’s presence, both because of his urge
Read moreReef Retrospective: August 2014
August was an interesting month on my little reef. I created “algae cages” to grow red macro-algae (think “seaweed”) for my abalone, Oscar. Oscar would ordinarily eat the entire plant at once, but the cages protect the plants while allowing Oscar to nibble on the parts that grow through the mesh. I acquired a new species of sea fan: …and lost a fish. Sadly, Tai the dragonet leaped from the tank and I didn’t learn about it until too late. (Stay tuned for an update on his replacement.) Ghillie continued his habit of offering lovely poses to photograph, and Ceti continued hunting for
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 moreReef Retrospective, May 2014
Since today is the first Tuesday in June, I’m taking a look back at the best images from last month on the reef: Little Tai the dragonet is growing and eating well, and proving a frisky addition to the tank: The emerald crabs feed mostly at night (or before the lights come on) so capturing one in the open can be a challenge: Ghillie has started sitting among the anthelia at night again – and peeking up periodically to see what everyone else on the reef is up to: And, last but not least, a photobomb of imperial proportions: Have
Read moreThe Curious Nature of Seahorses
After three years as a seahorse-keeper, I still never tire of watching these odd little creatures explore their environment. Seahorses are curious creatures by nature, a fact that can get them in trouble on the reef. Like small children, they “explore” the world around them as much through touching and tasting as with their eyes. Everything is either grabbed: Or tasted … or both. Many times, I look over and see a seahorse with its snout pressed up against the rocks, examining something inside a hole. They love to feed on the little live gammarus (small crustaceans) that live in the
Read moreSeahorses and Pipes – Cousins of the Reef
Most people see pipefish as odd-looking, snake-like creatures with tiny mouths and wiggly bodies, but to most people’s eyes, the pipe hardly looks like much of a threat–especially to something as large as a seahorse. However, sometimes the greatest threat in mixing species doesn’t come from a physical attack. I’m a fan of pipefish, in all their forms. I kept a pair of brackish pipes for years, and when I set up the reef tank in December of 2010, I knew I wanted pipes. Unfortunately, pipefish aren’t normally good tank mates for seahorses. Seahorses and pipefish both belong to
Read moreSee Horse, Indeed
Most people don’t realize that seahorses can change color, like chameleons (though without quite as wide a color range), or that these awkward predators survive in the wild largely through camouflage. Some seahorses like to sit in the open, but many spend their days quietly lurking in a corner of the tank. They’re masters of using geography to their advantage. We named our male seahorse “Ghillie” because, as a baby, he had protrusions (called cirri) which made him look as if he was wearing a ghillie suit. As he grew, he lost them, though smaller versions have returned since he
Read moreA Merry Christmas … On the Reef
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the reef Every creature was swimming, with fervent belief That an afternoon feeding would surely appear, Every seahorse was on Santa’s “good list” this year. Emo the clown nestled snug in his host, An Anthelia coral grown larger than most. The fish on the reef called a Christmas-Eve truce, and made Wilson the urchin the “Christmas-tree” spruce. From the back of the tank there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the desk to see what was the matter. I flew to the tank, started looking around, To determine what made such
Read moreRipley … Believe it or Not!
Last week I brought home another porcelain crab for my little reef. Although larger than the other two, the new addition looks almost identical to the existing porcelain crabs, Face and Hugger. I’d originally named her “Hold” but after discovering that the new crab was both female and gravid (egg bearing, aka “pregnant”) my son persuaded me that she needed a name more in line with the “Alien” theme of the other two. We’ve named her Ripley. After completing her acclimatization hold, I released Ripley into the tank. She swam immediately into a large cluster of blue-green palythoas, where she
Read more