u/Paulzie67

Picking bits of the hair algae off them. Makes the Opae tank look better having them to clean up the stuff that gets out of control

I have added tiny, rice grain sized mussels to my tanks/containers and have typically forgotten about them, unless they move somewhere obvious. They typically seem to move around until they find a spot they like, without supplemental feedings good food flow. But they never seem to stay there.
Each time I’ve rearranged a tank/container or cleaned one out, stones and sand seemed to be “stuck” together and it was because of the strings the mussels produce to attach themselves. They are also usually not even there any more as they’ve moved. When I do find them, they’re often much larger.
I dont believe All survive but at rice grain sized, they’re too small to foul the water.

Those that survive, I see as filters that help keep the container clean and circulating. Even in a small Yankee Candle Jar

As some of you have seen, I added a barnacle. It did fine but, I also had a lot of “plankton” in my tank due to the different “critters” I’ve added and reproduced… snails, algae, isopods, copepods and other planktonic critters that multiplied.
I don’t know how long one would survive in a clean tank with no other plankton to feed on, without supplemental feedings, which can cause algae blooms and foul the water.
But,if you have an established tank, have lots of small, tiny “critters” swimming around, may be worth a try.

Found some of my Isopod videos. Unfortunately, I can only upload one at a time. This first one is an odd one. I believe it’s a type called a “Munnid”?

I’ve had at least one in my tanks/containers for several years now. About the only time they get frantic is if I you drop a food pellet near them. But I’ve never seen one bother any Opae at all!

They eat biofilm like the shrimp.

Iridopagurus reticulatus -
Reticulated Hermit Crab:
*A Rather drab looking Hermit crab
*Can grow up to 0.5 in (1 cm) in size

Here’s some I found last year, just happen to find a bunch that day but it’s not common. The one with the stripes are apparently very similar in appearance to the ones previously uploaded by Darster_DN. If they are the same, I’d guess they were introduced from the west coast to the Gulf as most I find are just plain beige… like the others in the video.

https://alchetron.com/Sphaeroma

Tiny little claws 🦞

It’s Acetabularia is starting its reproductive stage… producing that “wineglass”.
Wondering if I should pick it off the rock and put it on the glass so it breeds with the other on the glass.

Another type of algae that grows well in our brackish tanks. I first saw it in the Petshrimp Forum and after seeing the pics, was determined to find it! And when YOU see these pics, you’ll want it too 😉
After a stem/strand becomes reproductive, I produces spheres that are filled with lots of very tiny spores (zoospores). They eventually grow, if conditions are right. I tried it in several containers and oddly enough, the only one it grew and reproduced in, was a thin olive jar. I removed a pebble and put it in my main tank after a clean out and am keeping my fingers crossed.
So, the great looking tanks filled with it are NOT my pics. Mines the sad looking little stem that I started with in the olive jar, and then the olive jar… first 5 pics. The 5th shows a piece I got with the Acetabularia (Mermaids wineglass). The rest are from Petshrimp

Since someone asked, rather than switching the topic in that post, I’m making a new one.
Acetabularia is an algae that I added to my tank after a friend collected some up the coast. It was growing in a brackish area (Ozello, Fl for those interested). It was growing on some limestone rocks with a few other types of algae.
Pretty sure the type I had was Acetabularia crenulata, aka Mermaid’s Wineglass.

The Wineglass part (cap) is the reproductive part or cysts or zoosporangia or gametangia. Eventually it breaks open and releases little “seeds” or “spores” known as Zoospores that can move and eventually settles somewhere and grows… seen in close up pic. And yes, that’s a hermit crab happily living with the shrimp. It happily pics biofilm too.
Video of the Acetabularia with a verity snail helping to keep it clean, in the next comment, as I can’t seem to post pics And videos in the same post.

This is one of the babies I collected and removed before a big clean out I recently did. It decided to attach to this olive nerite and is the first of the babies to develop color. Now I’m wishing I saved more.
For those wondering, that’s Acetabularia starting on the nerite. It’s popping up all over again.

This is the nurse practitioner defending the mother that killed her children…
Bad camera angle?

Considering it’s a Children’s clinic, it couldn’t POSSIBLY be intentional, right?

for those that were wondering if it’s real 😉

There’s a Children’s Clinic/dental office up the road from me with a big mural on the side of the building. Driving by, I took a look at it and something just looked wrong! Does this look odd or is it me? For those curious, it’s at 19203 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., Lutz, Fl 33548. Check on Google Maps 😉

A couple dear friends passed away and left us everything. This was in their home and I can’t find any information about it or the artist. I tried Ai and Google lens to no avail. I’d love to know if this is a real cathedral somewhere or not. That may help me in discovering the artist
TIA

A couple dear friends passed away and left us everything. This was in their home and I can’t find any information about it or the artist. I tried Ai and Google lens to no avail.
TIA