Inverts in a Reef - Pictures if you got them

[skiwez]

Hi All,

I'm slowly building my reef, but I'm truly fascinated by all the critters that can be found in and around the reef. Anyone out there have reef set-ups where inverts are a big part of the attraction?

My collection is small at the moment and very predictable, cleaner shrimp, blood red shrimp, banded serpent star, pincushion urchin & tuxedo urchin, hermits and snails.

Looking to add pistol shrimp and goby, maybe some other starfish Also open to other suggestions you all have out there.

Tank definitely leans more LPS and soft corals

 

[Jeff4777]

A cleaner shrimp that better hope a blue jaw trigger appreciates his services very soon.



Fromia star. Have some serpents, brittles, and other red fromias too. Their all so cool



A cool colored RBTA I got for a steal!



Putting sexy shrimp and pom pom crabs in my nano at work soon enough!

 

[skiwez]

Awesome how long have you had the fromia?

 

[Jeff4777]

Awesome how long have you had the fromia?

The one in the picture for over a year now.

That star has gone through several tank transfers too lol. Hes a beast.

 

[jerseypete]

not the best picture. But this is my anemone crab. He lives in my acans. I don't think he knows the difference.

 

[skiwez]

Sweet, used to be able to keep acans but something took a liking to them. May have try again especially if I can keep anemone crabs. That guy seems cool

 

[g_langley]

Anyone out there have reef set-ups where inverts are a big part of the attraction?

I do!

A pair of clowns and;

9 x Sexy Shrimps (The best critter ever made)
2 x Porcelain Crabs
1 x Blue Tuxedo Urchin
1 x Pom Pom Crab
1 x Coco Worm

And a load of different snails, 2 hitcher crabs and some worms.

 

[g_langley]

Some pics as requested, 5 in total so may load a bit slow;

<img src="http://www.grahamlangley.co.uk/rc/IMG_0723.jpg"/>
<img src="http://www.grahamlangley.co.uk/rc/IMG_0751.jpg"/>
<img src="http://www.grahamlangley.co.uk/rc/IMG_0753.jpg"/>
<img src="http://www.grahamlangley.co.uk/rc/IMG_0757.jpg"/>
<img src="http://www.grahamlangley.co.uk/rc/IMG_0774.jpg"/>

 

[Ron Reefman]

Anyone out there have reef set-ups where inverts are a big part of the attraction?

I wouldn't say it's a big part of my tank, but I have a lot of local inverts. Dozens and dozens of porcelain crabs, 2 yellow sea cucumbers, pistol shrimp, brittle and serpent stars, fighting conch, clams with 8" long purple gorgonians attached to the shell, warty anemones, rock flower anemones, peppermint shrimp and flame scallop.

My wife and I collected 40 porcelain crabs off the beach that were inside sponges that had been washed up in a storm. Florida State law limits each saltwater fishing license holder to 20 live animals per day. We could easily have collected 3-500 in an hour! I didn't realize until later that they sell for about $15 each! I put most of them in our 180g reef and in 10 seconds they were all in the rocks and I rarely see any of them. The few I released into our 25g frag tank are still alive 8 weeks later in a tank with no rocks and no sand!

 

[skiwez]

Awesome, anything special needs requirements for porcelians? Do they eat corals?

 

[skiwez]

Nice pics g_Langley

 

[g_langley]

Awesome, anything special needs requirements for porcelians? Do they eat corals?

I have mine in BTA's as they are happier with an anemone and one should be provided imo. They can eat solids as well as filter feed so are pretty easy. I can't fully comment on coral eating as I only have a few zoas, which they don't touch.

They are a nice addition, you may get them with a speckled shell, this should turn into something much nicer when they molt, more of an even colour.

 

[donut0079]

I have mine in BTA's as they are happier with an anemone and one should be provided imo. They can eat solids as well as filter feed so are pretty easy. I can't fully comment on coral eating as I only have a few zoas, which they don't touch.



They are a nice addition, you may get them with a speckled shell, this should turn into something much nicer when they molt, more of an even colour.

That is not always the case. Some porcelain crabs are anemone crabs and others prefer rock work. I think the ones that are commonly found in Florida are the purple ones that grow to about 2-3 inches and prefer rocks. They are perfectly reef safe as the large claws are not strong and are only there to shed if a predator is near. They use fan like appendages to filter feed.

 

[donut0079]

this is the kind I am referring to.

 

[Sk8r]

some of my favorites, limpets, stomatella snails, strombus grazer snails, micro brittle stars, sponges, and especially branching sponges. .

 

[Shawn O]

this is the kind I am referring to.

I have am Anemone crab, lives in the rocks without an Anemone. Seems to be doing fine, although I haven't seen him in a few weeks. He's pretty small and can hide well. Will definitely look into ordering some of those rock porcelains. I didn't realize they get that big, a bonus! Ron, are these to ones you collect in Fl? If so, I'll have to talk the mrs into going to Florida on our next vacation.

 

[sam.basye]

Not sure if Florida has that coloration of porcelain/anemone crabs, but there are a lot that look like this one I caught a few years ago. More grayish and blue.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Porcelain crabs in the SW Florida area come in a wide variety of colors. Sam is right that most are blue/gray, tan, brown, etc. But on rare occasions you'll find a brightly colored one.

Personally I like anemones as they tend to be a lot more obvious in the tank than a lot of other inverts. Here are a couple of Rock Flower anemones in my tank.

 

[skiwez]

Nice rock flowers