Mystery Solved

For anyone that has been following my blog, you would have read that we had a scare regarding Herbie (our reg legged hermit crab). I am happy to state that he was indeed moulting. While showing a mate the tank at night, we saw a little red glow on the rocks. I quickly put on the lights and there he was, happily grazing on the rocks. I haven't seen much of him since then, so who knows what will yet happen with the recluse Herbie. I wonder if he and Hitch(the mithrax crab that came with the live rock) have found a cosy spot in the tank and spend their days swapping crab stories where no prying eyes can find them...

Sherman Tank!

The tank is doing really well. The diatoms are in check and I am slowly seeing some green algae. Le-Mon is doing well and picking at the rocks left, right and centre. We are also seeing some plant growth on the rocks. I am not sure what algae this is, but Le-Mon is not to keen on this stuff. So, we took another trip to Birchwood aquatics today - to get RO water and nothing else.

Lies! We found ourselves what can only be described as a tank. A large green, fighting machine. An emerald crab whom we named Popeye. I think its very appropriate as Popeye is a herbivore. He has HUGE pinchers that are perfect for flower picking. I am hoping that this guys can keep the grass nicely trimmed in the tank while providing us with another interesting crustacean to watch.

In addition to Popeye, we got ourselves some snails. I usually stay away from these guys - if you saw me with my freshwater tank you  would have learnt that much of me. However these guys are good and wont procreate like rabbits in the tank. They do a very good job by shifting bucket loads of the substrate. I would have uploaded a picture of these guys, but they burrowed into the sand within seconds of being introduced to the tank. They are called Nasser snails and the only thing you see of them is what is best described as a periscope. They will occasionally come out of hiding and when they do, I hope to get a pic of them for the blog.

Oh, did I mention that I got some water too?

Day 5: The Hitchhiker

Hello little fellow, where did you come from?

Welcome to England. I am afraid that it may be drier in the tank than outside!

Apparently this little guy really enjoys the taste of live rock and corals. Not good news if I want to make this a reef coral tank. Also, the aquascaped rocks aren't the most stable around, so he may cause a rockslide. I think we will need to figure out what to do with him very shortly.

Crab for dinner?