I noticed something new in the aquarium yesterday.  It was small, pink, had spines on it, and moved quickly.  It was about a millimeter in diameter, and the part I saw was about 10 to 15 millimeters long.  It lives in a tiny hole near the top of one of the live rocks.  I wish I could post a photo of it, but it was only visible for about 30 seconds.  I was so startled to see it, I forgot to grab the camera.

With a quick look around the Internet, I’ve concluded that it’s probably a Bristleworm.  melevsreef.com has some good pictures of Bristleworms.  From what I’ve read, Bristleworms are normally nocturnal, and are good cleaners – very reef safe.  This one is welcome to stay where he is as long as he behaves.

We also purchased more cleaners today.  Mrs Salty Geek has complained that there is still a lot of algae in the aquarium.  It’s only been 2 weeks since the Reef Janitors arrived, so I’m happy enough to let them do their job.  But, I have to admit they could probably use the help.

We happened to be at a local fish store today, looking for small shells.  Since there are about 30 hermit crabs that are eating like pigs in the aquarium, it’s pretty likely that they will get too big for their existing shells.  Since hermit crabs don’t make their own shells, they can’t make them bigger.  Instead, they will switch shells when they get too big.  I understand that they will even kick snails or other hermit crabs out of their shells if they feel like it’s time to upgrade.  So, we wanted to make sure there is a good variety of appropriately sized shells available for growing hermit crabs to move into.

As we were looking around, we noticed an aquarium with 50 or more Margarita Snails in it.  We decided we should buy a few more snails to help out with the cleaning chores.  When we looked a little closer, we also discovered a larger hermit crab, with black and orange legs.  They called this particular hermit a Halloween Hermit Crab.  Since it was reasonably priced, we decided to hire him too.

Jack munches quietly after an exciting day of Shell-Jacking

A few hours after putting the new recruits into the aquarium, I noticed that Jack, the Halloween Hermit Crab, had already taken over a new shell!  We originally named him Jack after the lead character in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack Skellington.  But since he already hijacked a new shell, I think the name suits him well.  My son called it “Shell Jacking”.  I don’t blame Jack, however.  The conch shell he arrived in was pretty beat up, with lots of barnacles on it.  He looks pretty handsome in his new snail shell.

Jack's old beat up shell