I got this feather duster worm about a month ago and only in the past few days it started emerging for extended periods of time.

I made a previous post about it not coming out and took some of the advice given there. I think what worked was having most of its tube surrounded by and in contact with rocks in addition to anchoring its base. And also feeding phytoplankton helps to encourage it to come out more.

They seem to be doing well. They pull in food as it passes by. Haven’t noticed them reject anything or spit anything out. Even the small baby ones are seemingly doing good. Time will tell though.

Just noticed this, what is it?

Is it rare or common? Paid 15$ for this ocellaris.

It started out with interest. It turned into passion. And very quickly it has become something I’m starting to despise.

It’s fascinating and beautiful and interesting and mysterious in so many ways. It captures the attention of everyone. Once you dip your toes in and realize it’s not all that difficult, it’s hard to escape the lure.

The colors are dazzling. The variety is mesmerizing. The complexity is amazing and at times, incomprehensible.

As a consumer, we may not realize the depth of things. We see something in a store that we like and because it’s for sale in a store, obviously we should buy it. That’s consumerism.

I got enamored with saltwater for the same reasons everyone does. And I decided that was something I wanted to make a living doing. I started out doing independent aquarium maintenance. I quickly learned that rich people don’t give shit. They buy what they want and when it fails, they just buy more.

I then transitioned to a saltwater shop. It’s a well respected shop, the best in our state without a doubt. But the consumerism has hit me hard and I’m left feeling quite the moral dilemma.

Obviously the point of a business is to make money. But when you realize just how much profit is being made at the expense of the consumer and even worse, the living animals that we are selling, it gets hard to stomach.

I wish my employers would have kept their mouths shut. I wish they never told me the profit margins. Because now that I know, it’s absolutely sickening. You’re all getting ripped off.

People are pillaging the oceans so you can have something pretty to look at and buy again in a few months when it dies. Every single day, I have to sell people shit that I know is going to die. I have to sell things I know are going to be neglected. I have to sell things that nobody knows anything about because they’ve never been kept in captivity. I have to sell it all and “keep things simple” so the customer doesn’t ask too many questions and decide against it. All for a profit.

I got into this because it was fascinating and exotic and mysterious. Now that I’m aware of the in depths of the industry and the massive profits that are made, I’m absolutely sick about it and have been seriously reconsidering my career choice and the hobby as a whole.

I don’t think saltwater keeping is entirely unethical. I just hope that people will start educating themselves and make ethical, sustainable choices in this hobby. It’s truly disgusting when you really get down to it. I don’t want it to be that way and there’s ways we can improve.

20 gallon nano with a 6 gal side tank ... I let this thing go into the trash heap the last few years but now I've been back on top of it and it's crazy that all the corals survived the obsurd hair and bubble algae outbreak, and have grown back this much already .. some of the SPS were the size of a pinky nail under the hair algae

I didn't know they had so many.

I have been wondering why my elegance coral hasn't been able to keep all the fish I have been feeding it. Is this hairy crab?

This is my pistol shrimp Roland, my little gunslinger

It looks like he got bonked on the head… why?? Ive had him for 2 months and he’s always looked like this lol

What in the world is snatching food from these little holes?

Lost 80% of my chalice overnight. I know it's worth it, but damn... Just when my hammers were getting as big as the one I lost to brown jelly, this happens.

Quarantine bucket, peroxide treatment, scrubbed off the jelly. Not easy to frag the encrusted part so I let it be. An old frag from this same colony is growing on a rock in the corner of the tank, healthy and untouched.

I think I have some sponges bothering my coral. Should I remove them ?

I apologize for the bad video work, tried to capture best I could.
First ever salt water tank, 15 g. have some new corals and stuff but doesn’t feel complete or right imo
Anything I should add, change, or keep? Any Help appreciated

Around 7-8 months old at this point I'd say, first corals went in less than a month ago. Slowly and patiently seeing how they do and then getting more if the answer is well!

it was attached to a frag and now it just detached itself from the frag.

i’m dropped it in the low flow low light area of my tank. is this good? or should i move it?

Anyone know what it is?

I’ve treated with chemi-clean on two separate occasions to no avail. An extended seemed to eradicate it but a few days after the lights came back on it was back and spreading rapidly. Any advice?