Here are some pics of the first shipment of live sand/rock I picked up from the Lexington Bluegrass Airport on Thursday.
The rock on the right seems to have the most life that I have seen probably because it has more nooks and crannies then the other two rocks do. There is either a mantis or pistol shrimp in there clicking away. It was the first rock I added and it started clicking immediately so no question about which rock the clicking is coming from. I have also seen, at least, one small gorilla crab...perhaps two. Assuming it's a gorilla crab because it looked awfully hairy. One small porcelain crab...I could only see a small portion of the crab but I saw it's little fans waving which gave it away as a porcelain crab. Another small crab that I couldn't get an ID on because I only saw a very small portion of it, but it wasn't a gorilla crab (no hair). Maybe another porcelain or a rock crab?
Anyhoo,I have plenty of small sponges, tunicates, some small bi-valves, a couple decent-sized hermits, some snails, some macroalgae, etc. Very nice rock.
I have found a couple whelks...not sure if they are predatory or not. Here are some pics. The first I do think is predatory based partly on color and also that it was found very near a destroyed little bi-valve that had been doing well earlier.
First whelk that I do think is predatory:
A pic of the same whelk before removal from aquarium and next to the scene of the crime...the destroyed bi-valve. The bi-valve which was fine the night before had it's top removed exposing it's insides. The destroyed bi-valve is in the center with the whelk to the left of it.
A pic of the other whelk that I am unsure if it is predatory or not.
Both whelks have been removed and are in isolation pending the outcome of their trials
Anyone know what the red things in this pic are? They cover a portion of my live rock. The thing behind it I'm pretty sure is some type of sponge.
And some macroalgae that I believe is caulperpa racemosa.
And Benson, aka BennyBoy, relaxing on the shelf beneath the tank.
Can't wait to see what the second shipment of this rock looks like! Getting ready to do my first water change. Water is just barely above 1ppm ammonia.