Despite missing the whole first week of the month, we still made some progress with the invert tank. We have watched and examined the goby and the damsel relationship and have learned that the goby is not threatened by it. This was good to learn because earlier in the year the goby jumped out of the tank shortly after two new damsel fish were placed in the tank. We were lead to believe that maybe the goby jumped out of the tank because maybe the damsel fish were trying to get into its burrow, or they were just aggravating the goby. Other than that, something very interesting happened in the tank that we have been waiting and looking for, for the entire year! We moved some more things around in the tank, the most important of these moves was the destruction of the little cave the peppermint shrimp liked to inhabit. This was very important because moving this live rock around and getting rid of a very good place for them to hide, pushed them into the territory with the sexy shrimp. The sexy shrimp are usually pretty tough to spot but they are normally out in the open on a coral or on the sand. Now that the peppermint shrimp have moved into this territory, the sexy shrimp have almost disappeared from view. It is extremely difficult to find them in the tank because they are scared of the peppermint shrimp, their first encounter with a predator that will actually attack them. The sexy shrimp wait until the peppermint shrimp are hiding or asleep so they can sneak out and get food without alerting the predators. We did research this month on the topic of damsel fish and goby relationships because it was very scary when the goby jumped out of the tank. We also plan, with another group, to get some more sexy shrimp and see if they can take back their territory, and what will happen with a larger group of them in the tank.
Tank conditions
The conditions have been pretty consistent throughout the month, although the salinity had some fluctuations dropping to 1.018, but all we needed to do to fix it is add more salt water when necessary. Other than the salinity, the Ph and temperature have stayed consistent. Last month the corals and rocks were moved around causing some of our organisms to move, which we had to keep track of. The organisms were also exposed for a couple of days after the move, but this month, they’ve found new hiding places throughout the tank and nothing has really moved since then. This has made observations a lot easier to do.
New research
Fatherree, James W. “Aquarium Fish: A Look at the Gobies.” Advanced Aquarist, Jan. 2011. Web. 22 July 2014.
These sources were able to explain how relationships between gobies and damsel fish may be controversial or may work in harmony. They also told us a little bit more in depth about relationships between the snapping shrimp and the goby that burrow together. Once this bond is made and they are in a symbiotic relationship, they tend to look out for each other and protect from predators that might get either one of them.
Questions
1)Is there a reason why the urchins are the most mobile out of the rest of the organisms?
2)Is there a certain time of week or day that the conch likes to come out to feed?
Maybe for this, we could look at the specific time the conch was feeding last and do our observations at that same time everyday and see if it comes out regularly
3)What type of corals or rock do the peppermint shrimp prefer?
Future plans
This month, we focused on the damselfishes interaction with the goby and previous months we have focused on relationships between the organisms. Next month we should refocus our project goals and observe the organism's specific territory. To do this, we should mark where the organisms are in the tank and see if these areas stay consistent with their own specific organisms. We haven’t made any current changes to our research other than the effect of the rearranging of the corals and rocks last month. I think we should start doing our daily observations around the same time everyday to see if time of day effect on the behavior of all of the organisms. This would be a good idea because for the past couple of months we have been coming at different times of the day and we have had a range of behaviors in all of our organisms day by day.
Progress made over the last month
Despite missing the whole first week of the month, we still made some progress with the invert tank. We have watched and examined the goby and the damsel relationship and have learned that the goby is not threatened by it. This was good to learn because earlier in the year the goby jumped out of the tank shortly after two new damsel fish were placed in the tank. We were lead to believe that maybe the goby jumped out of the tank because maybe the damsel fish were trying to get into its burrow, or they were just aggravating the goby. Other than that, something very interesting happened in the tank that we have been waiting and looking for, for the entire year! We moved some more things around in the tank, the most important of these moves was the destruction of the little cave the peppermint shrimp liked to inhabit. This was very important because moving this live rock around and getting rid of a very good place for them to hide, pushed them into the territory with the sexy shrimp. The sexy shrimp are usually pretty tough to spot but they are normally out in the open on a coral or on the sand. Now that the peppermint shrimp have moved into this territory, the sexy shrimp have almost disappeared from view. It is extremely difficult to find them in the tank because they are scared of the peppermint shrimp, their first encounter with a predator that will actually attack them. The sexy shrimp wait until the peppermint shrimp are hiding or asleep so they can sneak out and get food without alerting the predators. We did research this month on the topic of damsel fish and goby relationships because it was very scary when the goby jumped out of the tank. We also plan, with another group, to get some more sexy shrimp and see if they can take back their territory, and what will happen with a larger group of them in the tank.
Tank conditions
The conditions have been pretty consistent throughout the month, although the salinity had some fluctuations dropping to 1.018, but all we needed to do to fix it is add more salt water when necessary. Other than the salinity, the Ph and temperature have stayed consistent. Last month the corals and rocks were moved around causing some of our organisms to move, which we had to keep track of. The organisms were also exposed for a couple of days after the move, but this month, they’ve found new hiding places throughout the tank and nothing has really moved since then. This has made observations a lot easier to do.
New research
Fatherree, James W. “Aquarium Fish: A Look at the Gobies.” Advanced Aquarist, Jan. 2011. Web. 22 July 2014.
<http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/1/fish#section-6>.
Wolfenden, Dave. “Special Relationships: Keeping Pistol Shrimps and Gobies.” Practical Fishkeeping, 12 Sept. 2012. Web. 22 July 2014.
<http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=5250>.
"A Strange Pairing: Gobies and Pistol Shrimp." Absolutely Fish RSS. N.p., 23 July 2014. Web. 01 Apr. 2015. __http://absolutelyfish.com/a-strange-pairing/__
These sources were able to explain how relationships between gobies and damsel fish may be controversial or may work in harmony. They also told us a little bit more in depth about relationships between the snapping shrimp and the goby that burrow together. Once this bond is made and they are in a symbiotic relationship, they tend to look out for each other and protect from predators that might get either one of them.
Questions
1)Is there a reason why the urchins are the most mobile out of the rest of the organisms?
2)Is there a certain time of week or day that the conch likes to come out to feed?
Maybe for this, we could look at the specific time the conch was feeding last and do our observations at that same time everyday and see if it comes out regularly
3)What type of corals or rock do the peppermint shrimp prefer?
Future plans
This month, we focused on the damselfishes interaction with the goby and previous months we have focused on relationships between the organisms. Next month we should refocus our project goals and observe the organism's specific territory. To do this, we should mark where the organisms are in the tank and see if these areas stay consistent with their own specific organisms. We haven’t made any current changes to our research other than the effect of the rearranging of the corals and rocks last month. I think we should start doing our daily observations around the same time everyday to see if time of day effect on the behavior of all of the organisms. This would be a good idea because for the past couple of months we have been coming at different times of the day and we have had a range of behaviors in all of our organisms day by day.