Cleaner Shrimp Spawn and 7-year olds

[TXLewis]

As any hobbyist would, I constantly look for ways to pique my children's interest in aspects of keeping a reef tank beyond such mundane questions as why can't we get another Nemo and why doesn't Dory talk...

So last night when we had a bumper crop of cleaner shrimp hatchlings, I thought it would be a good idea to let my 7 year old daughter see. Of course they were cute. And there were a lot of them. And of course I had to point out how good this was for the tank - with all the corals and how natural food was best for them. I even had to point out the Gonipora capturing them and show her how its tentacles closed up around one whenever it captured one. This was the start of the end.

After 30 minutes of trying to explain that we shouldn't try to save them all, trying to bring Lion King references about the circle of life, and such common sense questions as what would we do with all of them if we could save them, I gave up and turned the situation over to my much more capable wife. After another 30 minutes of my daughter crying herself to sleep over this my wife also gave up. According to my daughter I am not considerate and Mommy needs to leave Daddy and marry an expert on saving Cleaner Shrimp babies. Instead we broke out a bottle of wine.

Just had to share.

 

[j.d.moulder25]

lmao. Thats cute. My children are teenagers now but they still seem to ask questions and want answers to some of the most difficult questions about our tank. I simply tell them I dont know. Heck, Im still learning myself, but telling them I dont know causes them to develop the 'deer in the headlights look' and I can make a quick getaway befor they come to their senses

 

[spawner]

That's classic.

You have a picture of your wife?