A night of chromis, pistols and crabs.

[tanzy]

I just had a really weird night. I kinda decided to have a look in my tank after lights out to catch some crabs. I see the sand littered with molted crab shells in the day. I've got a real infestation of crabs since I added new LR.

I nailed 5 of those buggers by removing the rocks they were in. Some dashed into their little nooks and were treated to concentrated buffer solution.

They are real tough! Takes some effort to pry them out.
While returning the rocks to the tank I accidentally dropped one and it broke. Lo and behold... out comes 2 pistol shrimps. I didn't really know what to do with them so I dumped them into a separate tank with the crabs. They were snapping and clicking right away. It turned out that the biggest crab has grabbed one and was pulling the big pincer off!

Next thing I knew, the crab was munching on it like a wiener!

I sure am glad I got rid of some crabs. Don't know what it would do to the corals and fish.
Finally, I turned my attention back to the tank and I saw little dots swimming around. They gathered at the torchlight's beam. It turned out that the chromis eggs have hatched!

I've never seen chromis hatchlings before even though they have been spawning for quite some time. I managed to scoop some out into a bowl but I don't think any one will survive the night.
It saddens me to think that they were hatched into the tank to be condemned to die in the pumps or skimmer. I tried to take a shot of them but what I need is a microscope.
Anyway, sorry about the crap story, what I mean is that everyone should take a look at their tanks in the middle of the night and you never know what you gonna get!

 

[Rick]

tanzy,
I did the same thing one night .And noticed some crabs .I caught 7 over a 2 week span . there might be a couple left but I don't see them anymore .On one of my nightly visits with a flash light I also noticed hundreds of baby maroon clowns .They've been laying eggs for over a year and I've never seen the babies until I went crab catching .
I've seen 3 hatches since .Wish they were as easy to rear as guppies .I don;t think I'll try the rearing until someone comes out with a simple dry food formula .

 

[tanzy]

I've got a ocellaris pair. The eggs hatch about an hour or so after lights off so I don't wait too long to see them. Now, I try to avoid looking at those pitiful buggers. I dom't know whether to scoop them up and let them die in another tank or leave them in there to be coral food and skimmer scum.