Inverts Inverts Inverts

[rossv]

I love the little things they are so amusing to watch... I have this one little persistant hermit crab that tries over and over and over again to crawl up the sealent (sp?) on the corner of my tank. I see him doing it probably every day =) Maybe one day he will get all the way up.

anyways... any of u know a lot about inverts? ive become more and more interested in them and have some questions....

- what are some of the coolest inverts or other little critters you guys have? I wanna get some more =)

- invert reproduction... um, do they multiply much? I have seen some baby snails in my tank but thats about it. what are some kinds that reproduce a lot?

-could you give me a few types of them that will take care of the most common types of algae and other unwantables so that i can get a well rounded selection.


hmm... thats all i can think of right now. Any other cool info or stories would be much appreciated!!!

Ross

[rossv]

just thought of another question hehe... all my blue leg hermits are very small... do they grow to be big like some of the ones ive seen in my [acronym:fc95627fef="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:fc95627fef] or do they stay that size? also are big hermits bad? they look like they could do some damage.

thx again

[sokhamik]

ooooooooooooo.... the next thing i'm going to get is a pair of harlequin shrimps.. i saw them on the discovery channel, "The Blue Planet," and i've want them ever since... my plan is to put them in the 10g tank that i have and make that a species tank... they don't really help you much towards tank cleaning... they eat starfish only... it's like the most beautiful shrimp i have ever seen... anyway, that's my plan..!!! sounds like something fun to watch with your crab there.. hehe..

[sokhamik]

oh yeah.. that's a picture of it in my avatar... PRETTY!!!!

[ReefLady]

I love inverts -- & there are a couple great books out there on them. I'll definitley post back a bit later; got to run to work right now.

[rossv]

oh cool ty muchly! i would love to read a good book on them.

[ReefLady]

Okay - back. Let's see. The coolest invert I could say I own is my gorgeous Blue Linckia starfish. Extremely tough to acclimate, and usually fare much better in large established tanks with lots of [acronym:bf143186c9="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:bf143186c9]. I also love my Conchs (both Fighting & Queen). My 2 "Sea-Monsters" (my huge black brittle stars) have been with us 4+ years, and are very cool, but nocturnal.

Take a quick look at my --> Inverts page on my site. It could probably stand a little updating, but there are a few pictures there.

invert reproduction... um, do they multiply much? I have seen some baby snails in my tank but thats about it. what are some kinds that reproduce a lot?

Some will produce in captivity, many snails & other inverts have a planktonic stage will will either be filtered, skimmed, or quickly gobbled up by other fish & inverts. Even if the eggs don't survive, they make great food for the other tank inhabitants. I'll post a few different snail egg photos later in this thread.

could you give me a few types of them that will take care of the most common types of algae and other unwantables so that i can get a well rounded selection.

Well, the best algae control is nutrient control (not overfeeding, using [acronym:bf143186c9="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:bf143186c9]/[acronym:bf143186c9="Deionization"]DI[/acronym:bf143186c9], etc.). A good cleanup crew should be able to stop most algae before it takes a foothold. My most common recommendation is to get a good mix of snails. Each seem to prefer a different type of algae, and some work the rocks, where some tend to stick more to the glass/sand. Nassarius & Cerith are great for [acronym:bf143186c9="Deep Sand Bed"]DSB[/acronym:bf143186c9]'s. Trochus are one of the most hard-working snails. Abalone can be great algae-eaters. I love Brittle or Serpent stars to scavenge leftover food and to eat detritus. The conchs are also great for a [acronym:bf143186c9="Deep Sand Bed"]DSB[/acronym:bf143186c9], but require a fairly large tank. Cleaner shrimp are excellent at keeping your fish parasite-free. Peppermint shrimp will devour aiptasia. If you have a Valonia (Green Bubble Algae) problem, Emerald crabs can be very useful.
Hermit crabs will also eat different types of algae. I'd keep the numbers of hermits very small (they tend to get predatory/destructive, [acronym:bf143186c9="In My Experience"]IME[/acronym:bf143186c9]), and I'd avoid the blue-legged altogether. If you do have blues, keep extra shells in there - as they grow, they will kill snails for their shells.

Big hermits - yes - some get very clumsy (will knock things over). All crabs, [acronym:bf143186c9="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:bf143186c9]/[acronym:bf143186c9="In My Experience"]IME[/acronym:bf143186c9] are opportunistic predators. The bigger they get, the hungrier they get, and they will search out food. I'm not a big fan of "claws" in my tank. I keep about 15 scarlet-legged hermits in our 180g.

Okay, books. One of the best out there is brand new. It is this one:

"Reef Invertebrates" by Robert Fenner (author of WetWebMedia.com and "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist"), and Anthony Calfo (author of "The Book of Coral Propagation").

This is a relatively comprehensive and well-written book - I'd definitely recommend it. It was just published a couple months ago.


That's it for now (snail egg pics to come) - if you have any questions, let me know.

[ReefLady]

Okay - snail egg photos. These pics were all taken in my tank.

Egg sac (containing eggs) of a Strombus maculatus snail:



Nassarius snail with egg sacs:



Nerite snail eggs:



Cerith snail with eggs:



[acronym:175777eaf8="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:175777eaf8]!

[toddwess]

Originally Posted by rossv

just thought of another question hehe... all my blue leg hermits are very small... do they grow to be big like some of the ones ive seen in my [acronym:e36d194492="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:e36d194492] or do they stay that size? also are big hermits bad? they look like they could do some damage.

thx again

I was totally surprised at how small my blue leg hermits were, too. I have a picture of one of mine on my pictures page here. Or you can view it here . . .

http://www.toddwess.com/pics/hermit.jpg

Mine crawl up the sealant between the glass too!

Todd

[rossv]

awesome... thanks for all the info fellas! nice web sites too =)