u/Detonatress

Probably nothing much alive in here except maybe microscopic lifeforms. But I always wanted to make one of these beach jars and have a strong light shine upon it. Though I hope I can find a round jar with no distortions or decor on it so I can move these over. Also, I'm missing a tritia snail shell. Haven't seen any of those lately. I think the diogenes crabs took them all so none washed up on the beach.

I kind of want to go to the beach one more time this September, but I doubt the winds will slow down. It's what disappointed me during the latest visit. I wanted to swim, not fight the waves. Also, I visited an allergist to find a solution for my hives reaction to the sun and cold wind/AC of the bus, going to try better antihistamines and mineral sunscreen next time.

He was just a few weeks away from achieving 1 year in captivity.
Also, I found out that one of the barnacles from the newer ones has died 2 days ago. It was the one on the shell in the middle that has that big barnacle waving. He wasn't too active, always had trouble with his legs, and the narrow area he was attached to on the snail shell caused his shell to deform. He died pretty stealthily, as I saw no worms or excess cyano on him, just the beak parts falling out of the shell after I cleaned it.

There are 6 barnacles in there now. The one on the left shell, the big one on the middle snail shell, and the 4 ones on the right snail shell (biggest one rarely comes out, so I didn't catch him in this vid).

This is the barnacle nursery tank, it currently wasn't in use (hence the not clean glass). I put the water I got from the sea in there, in hopes I could observe some microfauna. The sea was so turbulent that I could barely see the bottom of it near the shore. It brought lots of cool algae to the edge though, so I collected some.

Those two jumpy critters might be barnacle larvae in the cyprid stage. They are attracted to the light, are somewhat oval with what seem to be legs behind them, and jump around a lot. Though looking back at my homebred cyprids in this vid https://youtu.be/aCf8zYWJ1VM?t=38, the legs behind these critters I found seem too long so either different barnacle species or some other critter.

There's also some kind of mosquito larvae, but I've never seen white ones like it. Usually they are pretty dark. Also a few detritus worms.
As for copepods, I have more cope than pods. Maybe the jumpy ones are some kind of copepods but idk.

Though he is so sluggish he'll probably not make it to next September. He's the longest-living barnacle I've had so far.
The June 2026 eggies are more active than he is, though some (right one on the duo on a snail shell, and the tiniest one that's out in this vid) tend to sleep more than others. There is another one behind the big one on the right shell, didn't show up for the vid, but his legs always look wonky. The smaller one near him is always active and waving toward the right.

I might need to invest in a chiller or something, the red algae does not appreciate the extreme heat of the summer. Not even the air conditioner seems to be enough sometimes. I'm hoping the algae can return during autumn. That's around when I see all kinds of stuff grow in there.

Last night he was barely opening and not being able to extend his legs. This morning I found him covered in detritus worms. He was probably 1.5 or 2 years old, since he was pretty big when I got him.
The other September barnacle is still around, but doesn't come out as often as the June Eggies on the left.

It seems the red algae does not like high temperatures. It might return during autumn though.

Also, I noticed the eggy on that snail shell with 2 barnacles prefers that spot next to the big September one that's on the mussel shell with red algae. He stretches his legs properly only if placed there.

I managed to successfully spread the red algae to the mussel shell that doesn't have barnacles. Maybe I can spread it to other stuff too by putting that shell next to rocks / other shells.

Though the rightmost new one that is positioned weirdly on that snail shell tip keeps his legs curled up at their ends. I wonder if it's a molt problem or there's something odd happening with him. Guess I'll have to wait until the next molt.

I moved the snail shell ones closer so they can interact.

It's in my barnacle tank and behaves like a cyprid by jumping around, but it kind of seems to have a tail. Unless it's the legs.
I added some new sea sand so whatever it was, must have been in there.

Whatever it is, I hope it survives so I can see what it is when it grows.

The September barnacles have adapted to fast currents from the filters, so they have short legs and rarely flap.
The June barnacles seem to be used to the calm waters of the shore, where there barely were any waves. So they flap a lot and have big legs.

Also, two of the smaller ones were mating near the end. Usually, when two of them mate, it starts a chain reaction where they all start to mate. Might be something in the water that triggers it, or they trigger it with pheromones. So far it was only those two at the moment.

I'm hoping to find more barnacles, maybe a few strands of dasya to add variation in the genetics of it, maybe some ceramium pieces or ulva intestinallis, and a few more rocks that hopefully contain a colony of copepods.
Would be neat if I can find some chitons or tritia snails.

I will attempt to barter with the Diogenes crabs. They get bigger, clean shells that they would not have found otherwise, I get smaller shells with barnacles on them.

I'm hoping the algae will form a new spaghetti monster.

Look at that one stuffing his face with hair algae.

It's the barnacle that was on the back of the shell that had the little captive-born barnacle. But I haven't seen the other September eggy come out today so far. I hope he's still ok after recently molting.

His cirri are curled up, but he's still very active. He should molt soon, but not sure if he can successfully do it. I'm about 2 weeks away from my next visit to the sea, maybe I'll bring in a new generation of barnacles and see how they do in this larger tank.

The last September eggy seems to be happy with the flow being directed more toward him.
His claws are kind of curled, but that seems to be a normal thing when they're old. He's also close to molting, because the claws are bright white. Hopefully he'll have better luck than Egglet, who died this morning after a possible failed molt.