Friday, December 14, 2007

Bubble Anemone

When I was a kid, probably in high school, our family drove from Chicago to Washington state and Oregon. One of the most memorable parts of that trip was exploring the tide pools along the coast. The tide pools were full of life and full of pink anemones. This was the first time I has seen such a creature and I couldn't get enough of them. It blew me away that these were animals and not plants. Up until that time I thought all animals pretty much had arms legs and eyes, usually in twos no less. This anemone thing was completely alien and it fascinated me. I was touching them in the tide pools and was amazed at how its tentacles would close around my finger. Looking back I know that it was this experience that sowed the seeds of my fascination with coral reefs and the life that inhabits them.

Since that time I always wanted a reef tank. In that tank I always wanted an anemone of my own. That dream has now come true. I am now the proud owner of a green bubble anemone.

I have two Ocellaris clownfish in the tank. I'm hoping that they will host this anemone but I'm not that optimistic. In the wild tomato clowns host this anemone. We'll just have to wait and see.

In other news it's been close to two months since I have had my tank up and running. The coralline algae is still growing and spreading across the tank. Here is a picture of my heater which was purchased new for this tank. As you can see the coralline is spreading like crazy.