Sunday, November 15, 2015

Post-move inventory

My critters and I have been in Campbell River a month now, so yesterday, when I changed the water and cleaned the tank, I did a quick inventory to see how well they have coped with the stress of the move.

"Doing just fine, thanks!"

I moved with 20 hermits, from two pinhead-sized ones to several large grainy hand and hairy hermits. Yesterday, I counted 20, but the tiniest have moved into larger shells; they're growing up. Good!

(As usual, I moved the hermits to a bowl while I cleaned the tank. I forgot to feed them their shrimp pellet treats until I was almost ready to return them, so I fed them, waited about 5 minutes, and then, impatient to be finished with the job, moved them one by one back to the tank. And each one came with his hands full, carrying his goodie bag back home. Even the tiniest, about the same size as the pellets, held onto their haul all the way.) 

The two small shrimp, one red, one blue (he was black, but now he's blue), are fine.

The two big anemones are still thriving. The baby proliferating anemones have disappeared, and so have all but one of the tiny orange-striped anemones. Stress, change of water, or just the season? I don't know.

Of the worms, there's a 4-inch polychaete, umpteen tiny two-tentacled worms, and one scale worm, who was about half an inch long when we moved; now he's at least an inch. Doing fine!

The sand dollar is still active, and maybe growing slightly. So is the one clam, and the green shore crab.

There seem to be fewer Nassa snails, but the rest are as plentiful as ever. So are the limpets. The three leafy hornmouth snails have even laid eggs since the move. All is well there.

I could only find three live barnacles. The leafy hornmouth snails and one small whelk eat them, so I'll have to go "shopping" for more.

I'm pleased.


3 comments:

  1. He looks like a curmudgeon. Such personality!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Curmudgeon, eh? You're right, he does!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's good to hear. Moving that many water-based critters must have been a challenge. - Margy

    ReplyDelete

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