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Homeless Shrimp, Squatters and Monster Anemone


George Monnat Jr

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On April 16th, I purchased a large Maxi-Mini Carpet Anemone (MMCA; Stichodactlya tapetum) and a Peacock-Tail or White Spot Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis). They bonded immediately and the shrimp (with a little goading) jumped on the MMCA in my DT. You can see a Sexy Shrimp (Thor amboinensis) checking it out.

Aquarium_NewMMCAandAnemoneShrimpTogether_17APR2012.jpg

The MMCA must not have liked its location, because two mornings later, April 18th, it had crawled down into the rocks. At first the White Spot stuck with it.

Aquarium_WhiteSpotOnMMCA_SexyNear1_18APR2012.jpg

Meanwhile, a group of about a half-dozen Sexy Shrimp were loving the giant Yellow Bubble Tip Anemone (YBTA; Entacmaea quadricolor).

Aquarium_SexiesOnYellowBTA_18APR2012.jpg

I still worry that the YBTA should be a green BTA and may be bleached, but I've been nursing it for weeks. It's roughly doubled in size and gotten a little darker, but it still looks more yellow than green (just a few green highlights).

The next day, April 19th, I noticed two things had changed:

1) the White Spot had given up on the MMCA (guess it didn't like being stuck down in the rocks) and had taken over my YBTA and

2) the YBTA had moved right about 1/2 a foot.

Aquarium_YellowBTAandWhiteSpot2_20APR2012.jpg

Aquarium_WhiteSpotOnYellowBTAb_19APR2012.jpg

The poor Sexies had been kicked to the curb and stood around homeless and exposed.

Aquarium_HomelessSexies_20APR2012.jpg

One Sexy Shrimp took advantage of the host swap.

Aquarium_SexyInMiddleOfNewMMCA_19APR2012.jpg

That bummed me out, mainly because the new MMCA and original host to the White Spot was still mostly hidden between rocks (even worse than the picture above) while most of the Sexies just stood around.

I called my wife from Camp Swift really late Saturday night and asked her what the pH monitor read (knowing if it was on then so were the critical components on the same power supply). It read pretty good, but she was worriedly excited about how the big the YBTA had become. It now dominates my 125g DT, as you can kind of see here.

Aquarium_RightSideDT_22APR2012.jpg

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After I got home yesterday, April 22nd, I noticed that the YBTA had moved again. It moved up and right. That wouldn't bother me, except it walked right over a poor Pink/Purple Feather Duster (Bispira sp.), that had been doing great, now has a hard time getting open due to the giant monster squatting on it.

Aquarium_YBTAandFDout_22APR2012.jpg

Aquarium_YBTAandFDin1_22APR2012.jpg

You can see that the White Spot is still riding the monster and Sexies are still trying to sneak back into their old home.

Aquarium_YBTAandWhiteSpotAndSexy1_22APR2012.jpg

I don't know if the White Spot passively or aggresively scares off the Sexy Shrimp, but they don't stay on their old BTA for long.

Aquarium_YBTAandWhiteSpotAndSexy3_22APR2012.jpg

Lately the only thing I can count on is that the Randall's/Orange Stripe Shrimp/Prawn Goby (Amblyeleotris randalli) will be watching it all.

Aquarium_Charlie_22APR2012.jpg

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The Carpet will come around in time....

You predicted correctly. Yesterday when I got home from work, it had crawled out onto the top of a rock.

Aquarium_NewMMCAout_23APR2012.jpg

I fed it, along with the tank, by squirting some Piscine Energetics (PE) Mysis Shrimp & Cyclop-Eeze into it. I don't think it liked all the homeless Sexy Shrimp running over it grabbing the food, because a short while later it was crawling back into the rocks to the consternation of the Sexies.

Aquarium_NewMMCAbackIn_23APR2012.jpg

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