Our shark tank is full of meat eaters, and they make for good viewing but bad algae control. So we decided to introduce a chiton into the mix. The problem is that it takes animals a while to acclimate to the warmer temperatures in the aquarium, and the chitons would always get ambushed and eaten by the spider crab while they were incapacitated. We made an extra effort to protect this one while he adjusted to the tank, and now he’s happily licking his way around.
Anemones eat small fish and shrimp. Be glad you’re not a little fish stuck in an aquarium with a hungry anemone: each tentacle contains a harpoon-like structure that injects a toxin into the anemone’s prey.
But then again: be glad you’re not an anemone stuck inside a salt-water aquarium devoid of any small fish or shrimp.
A couple of weeks ago the water we added to the tank contained jellyfish larvae, which proceeded to grow into baby jellyfish. They got about a centimeter big and then disappeared. Maybe anemones eat jellyfish?
Here are some of our baby jellies, stuck to the wall of the aquarium:
Yesterday while filming the shuckers we discovered a gunnel hiding in the oyster pile. The little fish was making the most of his situation, and had his mouth stuffed with oyster meat:
We decided to put the plucky gunnel into the aquarium. The aquarium is quite a bit warmer than the canal this time of year, so it takes a while for the creatures to acclimate. Unfortunately, this gunnel never got the chance. One of the bigger spider crabs sensed his disorientation and snatched him away and up into the spider crab liar, aka the top of the pump mechanism, where he was promptly disembowelled.
It’s hard to watch (especially because of all the terrible reflections), but by the time we noticed what was happening the spider crab already had a hole in the gunnel’s abdomen and it was too late to save the poor little fish. We finished the video by filming a live, frisky gunnel swimming around.
Something funny does happen at the very end of the video… if you look closely you’ll notice the reflection of a pink-shirted, multi-tasking Helena scampering into the kitchen after an overboiling crab pot.
This morning the two spider crab were playing tug of war with the gunnel’s head… but we didn’t take a photo.
We started out feeding the aquarium monsters cooked bay shrimp, then we discovered that they go absolutely nutso over raw oysters. So now we feed them oysters every couple of days or so. But the other day as a very special treat we fed them some live shrimp.
Actually we didn’t mean to feed the animals the shrimp… it just worked out that way. We were hoping that everybody could just coexist peacefully in our tank. The shrimp were really cute and diminutive and hopped and skipped through the water.
Unfortunately, they lasted about 5 seconds. The sculpins attacked first, and then the shore crab moved in. It made for some interesting aquarium viewing.
Here’s a sculpin and a shore crab playing keep away:
If this shore crab were a toddler, he’d definitely be the kid who licks all the cookies.
