Were do the barnacles go ?

[stevieduk]

Hi all. When diving in about any ocean on the planet, and especially in the tropics you see barnacles, (some quite big in warmer waters) ,on about every surface, from ship bottoms to piers and rocks, so I have often wondered why we never get any on living rock or big lumps of coral, zoas ect.
These would make a great addition to a reef system as the are great filter feeders and are fascinating to watch when they are pulsing
I have seen them on reefs so I know they live there

 

[Sm51498]

My rock is covered in them from Tampa Bay Saltwater. They don't survive well in our tanks though.

 

[reefwiser]

Our aquariums do not have enough food in the water for them to survive.

 

[Labridaedicted]

They may survive in a nps tank with a food drip/dose, but the amount of plankton they need to thrive is typically just not available in a system.