More critters!

Since I last blogged, I have acquired a few more things. First of all I have, I have noticed another bristle worm living in the second rock. There is also an asterina star fish on the rock. I saw it like the second day after I got the rock. I have not seen it since but it is amazing how well things can hide in the crevices of the rocks. I went to a fish store a couple of days ago, I was in shock at how unhealthy all of their corals looked. This used to be THE store for corals, now everything appeared to be dying. Very sad, I am not sure if it is under new management or if the owners just quit caring. I debated about whether I wanted to do business with them, and decided I would risk it and buy a snail and a hermit crab. The problem is, there are only two stores somewhat close to me that carries saltwater animals. The other store is a much better store, prices are cheaper as well. But his selection of snails is not so great. I really wanted a nerite snail, so I got one here and also got a scarlet hermit. The hermit shed today, and has not been very active. Hopefully the shed will make him more active, if it does not then I will be worried about him. The nerite is pretty cool, he eats a lot of diatoms. The nerite is very active. He has polished a lot of the coraline patches on the rock, so there are some really purple areas showing again. I was concerned that the diatoms were going to smother the coraline before it had a chance to grow.

I found an incredible website today also, www.reefstewardshipfoundation.org , it is devoted to promoting the breeding of reef invertebrates for the hobby. The great thing about it is, most of the breeders are willing to let go of some of there captive bred invertebrates for very little to other breeders. This is something that I am very interested in, so I have been trying to get a group of snails from them to breed. I am also trying to get a breeding pair of banghai cardinals. These will be bred, and passed on to other breeders, and possibly sold or traded at a fish store for store credit to get other critters or equipment. Hopefully doing things like this will help to keep the cost down some.

Tank parameters are looking good.

Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates all at 0. PH 8.3, specific gravity 1.024, temo right around 80.
This has been pretty stable, so it is time to start slowly adding more critters. Anyway, this is my update, not much happening, I will get pictures posted soon.