Top of the World

While the tank lights were out, I noticed small snail attached to big snail, with big snail's foot fully extended, on the highest rock in the tank. I guess they like the current up there at night.

Summary video of the (over) ambitious goals of Obama

Indecision	An Indecision Exclusive!
JibJab - Obama to the Rescue
http://www.indecisionforever.com/
Funny Political Video Political Games Joe Biden Jokes

"Pleasure Map"

A regular Pool Hall & Darts Bar, with an interesting name on the directory map.

Japanese Beer Branding

Got to love the Beer Brand names in Japan

Unidentified volcano-looking sponge

This thing moves around the Live Rock, with no apparent mouth or eyes... but it's survived for months...

Clown at home

Survey says....he likes it!

How to get a clownfish to take residence in an anemone...

I bought a purple-tipped sebae anemone, about 2 weeks ago. Nevermind the fact that the LFS (local fish store) sold me a "bleached" one, which are by definition not healthy (I only found out after the fact) and may not survive that long.

The reason I bought this was to make my Gold Stripe Maroon Clown happier. Clownfish have a symbiotic relationship with Anemones, where they take care of it, and it protects them (with their poisonous tentacles, to which Clownfish are immune to).

Unfortunately, the clownfish didn't take to the anemone during the 2 weeks. It seemed comfortable in its original home of the fishtank's heater. First I removed the heater, and left the rack (has 2 suction cups). Clownfish still stayed there.

Today, I removed the rack and moved it in front of the anemone. After a few hours, he started to check out the anemone, and finally, he began to take residence! All in a few hours! He's doing the tail wag to the anemone's body, swimming in it's tentacles, etc. I guess I got lucky!
The plastic rack is still next to the anemone but I think I can probably remove it soon enough.

Mantis Shrimp / Shako (蝦蛄) / Lai Liu Ha (攋尿蝦)

Since I don't have a quarantine tank, I drop my Live Rock directly into my tank, after drip acclimation. The LFS in Tokyo I go to told me that that was fine. So far it hasn't been too much of an issue, in terms of zero deaths-caused-by-LR-nitrate-stank-pollution. However, I have had a couple of interesting hitchhikers.

This one here is a Mantis Shrimp, about an inch long. I didn't know what these were til I did some research... weeks after I bought my LR, I noticed some googly things moving in the dark. The reason why it was so compelling was probably because of this:

• "Mantis shrimp possess hyperspectral colour vision, allowing up to 12 colour channels extending in the ultraviolet[10]. Their eyes (both mounted on mobile stalks and constantly moving about independently of each other) are similarly variably coloured, and are considered to be the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom.[11][12]"
  (Source: see below) The independent eye movement was definitely interesting, and weird.

I couldn't get a pic, but this sucker was peeping out of his hideout in the LR. After id'g it on this out online, at TalkingReef, I quickly found that this species is a deadly one, which kills other things in your tank. What sealed the deal for me was this video, of a pet Mantis Shrimp (a huge one), killing a crab.

Nicknames: Thumb Splitters, Sea Locusts, Prawn Killers



Also interesting, is that Japanese eat this as Sashimi (Shako 蝦蛄), and the Cantonese eat this stir fried (affectionately called, Lai-Liu-Ha, "pissing shrimp" (攋尿蝦) due to the fact that they spray water when taken out of the tanks live). I remember the stir fry, these suckers have sharp shells, and can easily cut your fingers.

(Right: This is what I call "Mantis-Style")

(Left: Mantis-Style 2. Right: Playing Dead - these critters are smart. I think it was doing that so it could bolt if I gave it a chance).

How to catch a Mantis Shrimp:
I grabbed the Live Rock it was in, put it in the sink, and used a hypodermic-type thing I bought in the 100 Yen shop (in the makeup section) to spray room-temperature water at the hole. It slithered out, like a millipede, into another hole. Sprayed again, and it fell onto the sink. That was it.

The fish store agreed to take it back (no credit of course :)). They were like, "Shakko...!"

Source: Wikipedia

Chitons

Check out these Chitons. I didn't know what these were either, until I posted the photos to an aquarium message board. These critters are supposedly harmless, and graze on algae. However, they have multiplied quickly, so I may need to do a bit of "cleansing". I'm also paranoid that they will one day crawl out of the tank, crawl into my ear and latch onto my brain stem. You can understand my fear when you see these prehistoric badboys upfront. Check out this research publication with different species of Chitons. Definitely gives me the heebie jeebies... *Brrrrrr*

If you've had any experience with Chitons, let me know...

In honor of Tiananmen, June 4th, 1989

In honor of the fallen, the jailed, and the forever-traumatized at the oppression by its own government, I'm posting just 2 photos of a DVD documentary on Chinese History I watched ("China, A Century of Revolution. The Definitive Six-Hour History of China”).
I wonder if this innocuous posting will be one of the 100's of 1000's which Beijing is currently blocking from its citizens?