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 moreturbo snail
Life at a (Turbocharged) Snail’s Pace
Many people consider snails a pest, but in the reefkeeping world snails fill a vital role. I have many different species of snails in my aquarium, each of which has a different “job” with regard to cleaning up the reef. In combination, this slow but efficient “clean up crew” will eat almost every kind of detritus and algae. Unfortunately, they don’t always get along well with the other inhabitants of the tank. The seahorses mostly ignore the snails (except for the occasional harmless hitch on a passing shell) but I cannot say the same for the shrimp and crabs. Escargot
Read more