Aquastyle 35 at a snails pace

Then


Now



6 months have passed. This is after a thorough glass cleaning and rescaping. The majority of my live rock is covered by the dark sand.
I've been through a nasty bout with black slime, and GHA that has mostly subsided. The remaining GHA is pruned every two weeks for nutrient export. Slowly I'm winning the GHA battle. My Chaeto ball has grown from a piece the size of a dime, to softball sized, attacked by black slime to near non existence. It if finally back to several pieces the biggest neat tennis ball size.

 

I'm looking for a small fish that digs in the sand. My sand bed is about 4" deep and is riddled with live rock.

 

Nubcake I do not see snails?

Astraea, Turbo, Cerith will assist you with the GHA. Some urchins will mow down GHA as well, but you might have to supplement feed and make sure all frags are secured. Same with abalone.

Any burrowing goby will work. Add a pistol shrimp and you might have more sand bed movement than you want.

I would stay away from Sand Sifting Star fish and the Sleeper Gobies, neither will last long term in that size of a tank.

 

I have 2 ceriths and one Astraea snail in the tank at the moment. I have another tank with another dozen if I need more. I also have a handfull of hermits I can move over if I need.
There was never a thought of a sand sifting star or any of the larger gobys. Just not enough room. I have a large population of pods of various types. A few small and one larger bristle worms. A few spaghetti worms. A few pineapple sponge and another sponge that is growing pretty nicely.
Since the move I've found a neat little 8 legged creature with tentacles and a bell like a jellyfish but smaller than a match head and it moves about on the glass.

 

5x magnification from the side


10x from opposite side of the glass.

Any ideas?

 

After digging a little it appears to be a hydroid.

 

I believe you are correct.

 

I picked up some various macros as well as some watermelon zoas, and a Kenya tree.





Taken under whites lights only.

Had a couple hitch hikers with my macro. No pics yet but I have a quarter sized brittle star, and a couple tiny white snails.

Also not pictured is the goby/pistol pair who've been newly homed. They are busy at work excavating under the rock work. One poor hermit lost a claw while tangling with the 2" pistol shrimp. He'll forever be known as "Lefty".

 

Action shot of the primary excavator.



Having a hard time ID'n this guy.