Kaizen Media Blog

Our juvenile yellow wrasse buries in the substrate at night and sleeps there until the morning.

Meshell trades up to a snail shell February 2010

Meshell in her new shell 10/18/09

Meshell in her old shell 8/9/09

Kaizen Reef name: Meshell
Common name: Scarlet red legged hermit crab
Scientific name: Paguristes Cadenati

Physical description: Hermit crab in adopted shell with red claws and legs.

Diet: Eats detritus off substrate and rocks, meaty frozen foods like mysis and tiger shrimp as well as Spirulina flake. Also a big fan of fecal matter, especially from the anemone.

Important dates:
7/17/09: Added to the tank
9/15/09: Upgraded to a larger shell (video here)
Feb 2010: Upgraded to a snail’s shell (the snail died, Serps ate it and she took the shell)

Update: Meshell is actually a male specimen. We have seen her produce sperm and she has a mating cycle with the other hermit crab, Barock. Meshell will mount Barock and they will be in that position for hours or sometimes a day or so. Due to our filtration system no hatchings are possible.

Personal notes: We refer to Meshell (not to be confused with first lady Michelle Obama) as a female even though we have not sexed her. She is a very friendly crab that has made friends with all her tankmates. We have seen her communicate with the serpent starfish on several occasions and they seem to be able to share information by just touching one another, for example when the starfish directed her where he had hidden some shrimp. She enjoys quality time with Barock when she is not bullying him around or turning him over on his back.

Barock in January 2010

Kaizen Reef name: Barock
Common name: Scarlet red legged hermit crab
Scientific name: Paguristes Cadenati

Physical description: Hermit crab in adopted shell with red claws and legs.

Diet: Eats detritus off substrate and rocks, meaty frozen foods like mysis and tiger shrimp as well as Spirulina flake.

Important dates:
7/17/09: Added to the tank

Update: Barock is a female specimen. On several occasions when turned over and pulling himself back upright we saw his egg sack. The other hermit crab (Meshell) is actually male and they have a mating cycle. Meshell will mount Barock and they will be in that position for hours or sometimes a day or so. Due to our filtration system no hatchings are possible.

Personal notes: Not to be confused with President Barack Obama, we refer to Barock as male even though we have not sexed him. He is the runt of the tank and gets picked on the most. He has some intimate moments with the other hermit crab. The starfish will push him away if he gets too close and the wrasse will steal his food if he is lucky enough to find something special to eat (like a piece of shrimp or flake food). He works diligently cleaning the tank and has molted once so far since we got him.

Kaizen Reef name: Serps
Common name: Serpent Starfish / Brittle Starfish
Scientific name: Ophiura Ophiura

Physical description: Our specimen is burgundy brownish in colour but they come in many colours. Five serpent like arms (rays) extend from the central disk.

Diet: Meat eating scavenger, lover of eating all things dead. Frozen mysis shrimp, brimeshrimp, tiger shrimp as well as Spirulina flake. To our amazement he also ate our astrea snail when he died… whole in one bite.

Important dates:
7/17/09: Added to the tank

Personal notes: We have not sexed Serps but refer to him as a male specimen. Serps is remarkable and fascinates us immensely. The most enjoyable time is during feeding when he comes out of the rocks and steals the show. We especially enjoy feeding him pieces of shrimp and have used straws to give it to him directly. He uses his rays (arms) to move the food to his mouth (which is under his disc) similar to an elephant’s use of their trunk. He can also pass the food from one ‘foot’ to the next down the length of his arm straight into his mouth. He spends most of his time in the rocks and usually only comes out to switch locations and eat.

Kaizen Reef name: D. Fiddy
Common name: Yellow-tailed blue damselfish
Scientific name: Chromis Xanthurus

Physical description: Beautiful blue body and yellow tail with stunning black line accents on face and through eyes.

Diet: This fish loved Spirulina flake the most and would eat meaty foods like frozen mysis shrimp and tiger shrimp.

Important dates:
7/17/09: Added to the tank
9/14/09: Returned to fish store

Update: Unfortunately when we added our baby clownfish to the tank we realized that we could never condition the aggression out of this stunning fish. The damselfish and wrasse bullied and nipped at the new clownfish continually. We returned them to the fish store as having clownfish has always been our main goal of reef keeping.

Personal notes: We have not sexed him but refer to him as a male specimen. His species is one of the least aggressive in the damselfish family but he is still quite the thug. He tries to bully around the wrasse but mostly they just play and enjoy themselves. He has injured his scales on two occasions so far by playing too rough in the rocks and with his tankmates. He is a very photographic fish and we have been able to take many stunning pictures of him.

Kaizen Reef Name: Me-Wrasse
Common name: Four spot yellow wrasse
Scientific name: Halichoeres Trispilus

Physical description: When juvenile (above photo) they are yellow bodied with three spots on their dorsal fin and a forth spot located on the caudal fin. Adults develop white on their bodies, can grow up to 4′ and lose a lot of their bright yellow they have as juveniles.

Diet: Our wrasse would eat Spurulina flake but really preferred meaty foods like frozen mysis shrimp and tiger shrimp.

Important dates:
7/17/09: Added to the tank
9/14/09: Returned to fish store

Update: We had to return Me-Wrasse to the fish store when we added our baby clownfish. He and the damselfish would not leave the babies alone and continued to bully and nip. Clownfish have always been our primary focus for reef pets, they are much more peaceful with no aggression in a properly selected community tank.

Personal notes: We have not sexed him but refer to him as a male specimen. He was the first fish introduced into our tank and has made friends with the damselfish. They are the only fish in the tank right now and really enjoy playing together. He is a very timid fish hiding in the substrate whenever he is frightened. He sleeps in the substrate every night in the exact same spot (video here). He steals food from the other fishes and during feeding will direct pieces of food into his secret corner so he has food for later.

Here are some inspirational quotes taken from Twitter:

“The only constant in life is change.” via @mrskutcher

“Somebody is in the hospital begging God for the opportunity you have right now. Step into your moment.” -TD Jakes via @tonyrobbins

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” -Peter F. Drucker via @tonyrobbins

“Forgiveness: Think about someone who hurt you and see how they played a part in making you a better, stronger person.” via @yehudaberg

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Our hermit crabs were feeling especially affectionate when we caught them spooning each other on the substrate floor. They are very social with each other and although they spend most of their time individually touring the tank alone they check in on each other often. In the above picture Barock is spooning Meshell.