stage five cont.....

Welcome back to stage five there is so much more to share, that we needed to make another blog so lets get started. From the last blog we displayed some beautiful fish and coral as we will do so today.

capnella

This little beauty was a Malteseputter choice, it is a soft coral that branches out like a tree. It has a nice copper color that stands out in jewel reef. When it is closed it looks like a pine cone. The size at full growth is still unknown to us, but we think he is going to get huge. We named him Merlot, for you wine lovers you know that Campanella is a popular wine that comes in a Merlot.

coral banded serpent starfish

So far this is the only time we've seen this little guy out front and center, and this was the day that we purchased him. He is a bottom feeder that moves more like an octopus than a starfish. How he eats is unknown because he stays well hidden in the reef, so given time we may have more of an insight for you later on. We named him McKay.

fox glove coral

This bubbly guy was Sweets choice, he is a soft coral that feeds off of photosynthesis (light). Under the light which is hard to see in this picture, he actually has iridescent coloring like a saltwater pearl. This guy earned the nickname Bubbles.

cleaner shrimp

Ah the cleaner shrimp! These guys like to hang upside down most of the time patiently waiting for a fish to swim by to make a pit stop for a little makeover. These shrimp actually attach themselves to fish to remove parasites and other undesireables and the fish really don't mind the cleaner shrimp doing just that, which makes them an essential part of the reef system. Oh, and they're cool! They are nicknamed The Peppermint Twins.

white star polyp (yellow)

This pretty little thing was Luckylavender's choice. It's just like the white star polyp (green) only it is a brilliant yellow with a pale pink underside, which makes this coral a very colorful and calming addition to jewel reef. It's fun to watch it retract when you brush against it, to only watch it bloom once again. His name is Sunny.

green brittle starfish

This alien-looking starfish was the choice of Brother Bates. This starfish is the most active one that we have, he's usually in the back chilling and as soon as we put food in the reef, in a matter of 10 seconds he's out and trying to grab at every piece of food particles that he can get his octopus tentacles on. The cool part is when he finally catches a food particle at the tip of his tentacle, because he rolls it up until it gets within close reach of his mouth (underside of his body) like an octopus and then meals away. We nicknamed him Spike.

koko worm

The KoKo worm is beautiful to look at unless he's hiding, but to watch him come back to life is the most amazing thing to see because it's like watching a flower bloom except for it's not petals, but feather-like pom poms. The slightest disruption in the reef will make him retract into his worm extremely fast. We're guessing that he's light and motion sensitive due to the fact that there's no eyes, but somehow he knows when to duck and cover. His nickname is CoCo Chanel.

two emerald crabs with a turbo snail

These small true crabs are probably our most amusing reef mates yet. Why? you might ask...because they're very bold to be so small. One day while enjoying the reef tank, we noticed the angelfish getting a little too close to one of the emeralds, and the next thing we knew the emerald decided to protect his space by putting up his dukes ready to fight, and mind you the angelfish is much much bigger, but the emerald crab didn't care not one bit about size and almost got ahold of the angelfish, and this is how they got the nickname The Fighting Celtics, but the angelfish kept moving on about his daily routine as if nothing had happened. These guys are another source of janitorial services within the reef tank that cleans up algae and debris left over from those pesky little things we call fish. The turbo snail in the photo was nicknamed Lucky due to the fact that when we purchased our live rock he was a hitchhiker within the live rock and continued to thrive even though he was out of water for awhile.

maxima clam

Bet you've never seen a clam this beautiful before HUH??? His mantle is a velvet purple color that feeds off of the light, but the muscle inside is the actual filter feeder. He helps to keep the water clean so he's not only beautiful but a beneficial addition to our peaceful reef tank, and soon he'll have similar individuals to compete with. Because of his coloring he earned the nickname Crown Royal...anyone got a glass and some coke?!?

blue and green chromis

These guys were Malteseputter and Jewel's choice due to the fact that they were one of the few fish that we could have a school of in this sized reef tank. They are really pretty because they change colors from blue to green to yellow depending on the angle and light. They stick together and are very social and sometimes you get a glimpse of two sharing food, but it looks like they're kissing. We couldn't possibly name all individually so we named them The Marlins.