Tank Update – A month of critters!

The summer is finally here, though with the amount of rain we have had this week you would be forgiven for thinking we had missed it!

It’s been a good month for the tank, I have a couple of new corals, a new fish & most importantly, I have FINALLY BEATEN DINOFLAGELLATES!! I can now say my tank is Dino free, and it is all thanks to the lovely little bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide!

I’m not going to harp on about the Dino’s, they have stolen the spotlight on my tank for long enough now, but I will say this… It feels amazing to finally be free of the damned things!

Whats New?

I have a couple of new bits in my tank. I have a Goniopora (flower pot) coral & a Favia. I also treated myself to another Tang, this time a Sailfin Tang. All the newcomers seem to be settling in well enough, there is minimal Tang aggression & the corals seem to be opening up and eating well.

I will admit now, I am not sure I am ready for the Goniopora, everything I read and watch tells me they are very hard to keep alive and should be left for the more experienced reef keepers, but this was too hard to resist & I was always going to end up with one eventually, so it may as well be now, while everything else is running smoothly with the tank.

My Chalk Goby has decided to move homes this month, he has only moved about 20cm away from his original den, but has decided to make his new one near my Acan, I can’t say my Acan seems too impressed with this. It’s a situation that I am monitoring.

The Orange Shoulder Tang is finally getting his Orange Shoulders, this was very exciting to see. I really can’t wait for him to start changing colours!

Critters in the Tank

I got so caught up in trying to beat Dino’s, that I had totally neglected looking for other life within my tank. Now that I don’t have to worry about the Dino’s, I have really started to notice my tank come to life.

The critters I have found this month include;

• Bristleworms
• Hydroid Jellyfish
• Spirorbid Worms
• Mini Brittle Stars
• Feather Duster Worms
• Pineapple Sponges
• Amphipods & Copepods
• And unfortunately, a Mantis Shrimp

Most of the things I have spotted so far, I am OK with being in the tank. The big one is the Mantis Shrimp. I am 90% sure it is/was in there, I guess I will just have to wait and see to be sure either way (the video explains what I done to get rid of it).

Watching the tank come to life with all these little life-forms has been amazing, it really does seem like every day there is something new to study within the aquarium.