I bought a new fish a while back who is supposed to eat the detritus off the rocks. I forgot that I bought him until today, when I caught him on a rock, looking like he was snoozing.
He kind of blends in with the rocks so he's hard to see, but today, there he is out in front, taking in the light, I guess.
Today's lesson, from Wikipedia:
There are an extremely large number of detritus feeders in water. After all, a large quantity of material is carried in by water currents. Even if an organism stays in a fixed position, as long as it has a system for filtering water, it will be able to obtain enough food to get by. Many rooted organisms survive in this way, using developed gills or tentacles to filter the water to take in food, a process known as filter feeding.
Another more widely used method of feeding, which also incorporates filter feeding, is a system where an organism secretes mucus to catch the detritus in lumps, and then carries these to its mouth using an area of cilia. This is called mucus feeding.
Many organisms, including sea slugs and serpent's starfish, scoop up the detritus which has settled on the water bed. Bivalves which live inside the water bed do not simply suck in water through their tubes, but also extend them to fish for detritus on the surface of the bed.
I hope this new guy is doing his job. We bought an emerald crab last year that is supposed to eat this slimy green mossy stuff and he didn't do his job. It grew all over the tank. We thought the little crab died because we never saw it again after we put it in the tank, but then a few weeks ago we saw him. He's 4 times the original size, and he's white. It's as if he has become albino because he's been hiding under rocks.
Here's someone else who is supposed to eat the green mossy stuff but doesn't do his job:
He's under the rock around the center of the picture, hanging to the underside of the rock. That's all he does. He just hangs under the rock until I put some fish in the tank, and then he runs out and grabs some to eat. He doesn't eat the green mossy stuff like he's supposed to. He's a moocher.
Here's a very happy coral:
He used to be half that size. It's interesting how he grows. He doesn't attach to the rocks and grow. He divides and gets larger. One arm because two, then four, etc. I'll have to post a picture of what he looks like when he retracts.
Here's a not-so-happy guy:
In the top right corner of the picture, you can see the elegance coral, all closed up and not doing anything. He's usually open and sprawled out, but he's all closed up looking like he has a stomach ache or something. I'm still trying to figure out what's bothering him.
In the left side of the picture, you can see another coral. He was given to me by a client who makes new corals. I forget the name of the process, but basically you slice off a part of the coral and it makes a new coral. The piece he gave to me is doing well.
Since I scrubbed the tank out a few weeks ago, the green stuff hasn't grown back. That's a good thing because I'd hate to see any of these guys have to work for a living.
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