MerlotAndFamily
Community Member
(For those not fond of novels the questions are listed in bullets at the bottom)
So I have had some less-than-delightful experiences with Peppermint Shrimp in the past. I can't remember what they did in my first tank, all I remember is that I was left with a lasting distaste for them.
I recently started up a new nano tank, a Fluval Evo 13.5. I had a few aiptasia in there and I thought, "Well, maybe I got the rare exception last time, because everyone seems to love these guys," and so I bought another one. Her name was Alex.
Alex was pretty cool. She ate some aiptasia. She made herself a home in a super cool cave I built. She'd crawl, upside down, wriggling as she went, looking like she'd just crawled out of the gates of hell, stare you down, then slink back into her cave giving glares of warning. All-in-all, Alex was pretty chill.
Then I bought this rock. It was the coolest freaking rock. It had some red Mushroom corals on it, countless brittle stars living inside, several spaghetti worms, a terrifying mystery worm, and so many gorgeous and massive feather duster worms all over it. I had never been so lucky in my saltwater life before!
Then comes Alex, wiggling and skittering her way over to the rock like some terrifying spider trying to look like a leaf in an ocean current. She marches right up to the new rock, looking very confident in her swagger today, and proceeds to start tearing up my feather dusters! Or at least, I'm fairly certain that's what she was doing. She tore something out of the rock, something black and worm-shaped, and started chowing down so fast I couldn't ID the meal. Then she starts jabbing her little pinchers into the tube of one of the larger, purple worms. She gave up trying to fit both pinchers down at once so then she starts pinching and wiggling the tube about a third of the way up, sort of like someone trying to tear off a piece of a Nerds rope or like someone trying to fold a piece of paper forward and back, forward and back, so that they could tear the page in half seamlessly.
Needless to say, Alex was transported safely back to the pet store because my anxiety for my dusters couldn't take it.
Still reading? Wow! Well, now we're getting into the question part.
So yesterday I got home from work and had a bunch of things waiting for me in boxes so I could start setting up my new mini refugium. After my work was completed, I stepped back to look at my beautiful tank only to find Brian, my beautiful and most bestest friend in the whole world, Brian the Skunk Cleaner, staggering and looking listless. I placed him in the sump in case it was some kind of shock that would wear off. He was still alive when I checked him this morning, but I can't image that will be the case when I get home from work today.
My heart is shattered by the loss of such a dear friend. I have no idea who is going to clean my fingers now when they get dirty. No idea who is going to go digging around in between my knuckles to remove all that dead skin that I never even knew was there. My manicurist and I will deeply mourn his loss.
Anyway, I am not even going to pretend that I know what killed Brian. I am beginning to accept that it could have been anything and may have been something that was already in motion before the building of my refugium, or maybe it was my fault and I've done something unforeseeably careless. I've come to terms with what's happened and I forgive myself, though I will strive to never allow such a barbarous thing to happen again. I didn't feel this way all night while getting no sleep, but by this point today, I'm feeling much more resigned to the acceptance then I am to the guilt.
I want to get another Skunk, but if I kill another Brian I don't think I'll be able to live with myself. I already have a hard enough time as it is looking in mirrors. So I thought maybe I'd try with a peppermint first to see if I've fixed the problem that led to the downfall of my beautiful, beautiful Brian. If the peppermint lives, my heart would be free to love again. If the peppermint doesn't live... well, that would be unfortunate, wouldn't it?
But if that Peppermint eats my feather dusters, I swear to god I will drop him in a bucket with a handful of pennies (not really, but I can't say the thought doesn't bring me a sick level of joy).
So now, the only real questions in this whole novel:
And also
Did Alex eat my sea squirts? Because someone ate my sea squirts overnight, and I want justice!
So I have had some less-than-delightful experiences with Peppermint Shrimp in the past. I can't remember what they did in my first tank, all I remember is that I was left with a lasting distaste for them.
I recently started up a new nano tank, a Fluval Evo 13.5. I had a few aiptasia in there and I thought, "Well, maybe I got the rare exception last time, because everyone seems to love these guys," and so I bought another one. Her name was Alex.
Alex was pretty cool. She ate some aiptasia. She made herself a home in a super cool cave I built. She'd crawl, upside down, wriggling as she went, looking like she'd just crawled out of the gates of hell, stare you down, then slink back into her cave giving glares of warning. All-in-all, Alex was pretty chill.
Then I bought this rock. It was the coolest freaking rock. It had some red Mushroom corals on it, countless brittle stars living inside, several spaghetti worms, a terrifying mystery worm, and so many gorgeous and massive feather duster worms all over it. I had never been so lucky in my saltwater life before!
Then comes Alex, wiggling and skittering her way over to the rock like some terrifying spider trying to look like a leaf in an ocean current. She marches right up to the new rock, looking very confident in her swagger today, and proceeds to start tearing up my feather dusters! Or at least, I'm fairly certain that's what she was doing. She tore something out of the rock, something black and worm-shaped, and started chowing down so fast I couldn't ID the meal. Then she starts jabbing her little pinchers into the tube of one of the larger, purple worms. She gave up trying to fit both pinchers down at once so then she starts pinching and wiggling the tube about a third of the way up, sort of like someone trying to tear off a piece of a Nerds rope or like someone trying to fold a piece of paper forward and back, forward and back, so that they could tear the page in half seamlessly.
Needless to say, Alex was transported safely back to the pet store because my anxiety for my dusters couldn't take it.
Still reading? Wow! Well, now we're getting into the question part.
So yesterday I got home from work and had a bunch of things waiting for me in boxes so I could start setting up my new mini refugium. After my work was completed, I stepped back to look at my beautiful tank only to find Brian, my beautiful and most bestest friend in the whole world, Brian the Skunk Cleaner, staggering and looking listless. I placed him in the sump in case it was some kind of shock that would wear off. He was still alive when I checked him this morning, but I can't image that will be the case when I get home from work today.
My heart is shattered by the loss of such a dear friend. I have no idea who is going to clean my fingers now when they get dirty. No idea who is going to go digging around in between my knuckles to remove all that dead skin that I never even knew was there. My manicurist and I will deeply mourn his loss.
Anyway, I am not even going to pretend that I know what killed Brian. I am beginning to accept that it could have been anything and may have been something that was already in motion before the building of my refugium, or maybe it was my fault and I've done something unforeseeably careless. I've come to terms with what's happened and I forgive myself, though I will strive to never allow such a barbarous thing to happen again. I didn't feel this way all night while getting no sleep, but by this point today, I'm feeling much more resigned to the acceptance then I am to the guilt.
I want to get another Skunk, but if I kill another Brian I don't think I'll be able to live with myself. I already have a hard enough time as it is looking in mirrors. So I thought maybe I'd try with a peppermint first to see if I've fixed the problem that led to the downfall of my beautiful, beautiful Brian. If the peppermint lives, my heart would be free to love again. If the peppermint doesn't live... well, that would be unfortunate, wouldn't it?
But if that Peppermint eats my feather dusters, I swear to god I will drop him in a bucket with a handful of pennies (not really, but I can't say the thought doesn't bring me a sick level of joy).
So now, the only real questions in this whole novel:
- Is it normal for Peppermints to attack feather duster worms?
- Was it a fluke?
- Are there other beneficial things they attack that I'd want to keep?
- How about the tiny white sea stars that I love so much that everyone else labels a nuisance? Will he keep his paws off those?
And also
Did Alex eat my sea squirts? Because someone ate my sea squirts overnight, and I want justice!
