Hula ʻauana



They will kill it with FIRE!



Some time back (December 24th of 2010 to be exact) I wrote an open letter to our Hawaiian Lined Fireworm. It turns out we have several of these bristle worms and I have decided they deserve a bit more street cred than they get out there on the Interwebs.

Unlike Aiptasia which you would like to kill with fire but shouldn’t because it will spread the plague through your very reef, the Hawaiian Lined Fireworm shouldn’t be killed with fire because it’s your creepy friend. Yes, I said it, yes I know there are many websites that will tell you differently but they are wrong and these bristle worms are your friend. They’re not your attractive friend you always take clubbing with you to look really slick, they’re your weird friend that lives in the basement and rarely showers but you know always has your back. You also may not want to hug this friend because it stings, but that’s neither here nor there – we all have prickly buddies when we get right down to the nitty-gritty.

Syringes, not just for diabetics and drug addicts!

Doesn’t this look pretty? It’s so gentle and sways so preciously inside of your tank, peeking out like a feather duster, positively radiating elegance. It’s like this delicate creature has popped out of your live rock to wave good morning with glassy tentacles. Then you realize it is infesting your entire reef and hell bent on stinging your precious coral. You come to terms with the fact that it is evil and probably has a criminal record in several countries and Interpol has been hunting it for years. Then what do you do with your Aiptasia?

Kill it with fire!!! Okay, scratch that, killing it with fire would not be the best option in this particular instance. You can kill it with Kalkawasser solution which is pricey, or buy things like Chem Marine, or Stop Aiptasia…but that isn’t fun either. It’s also expensive. Compared to other things you will buy for your tank it isn’t terribly expensive but it isn’t cheap either and if you’re like me you’d rather buy something like coral, or feeder fish, or Jeffery’s, or even…another eel! Not some pricey chemical that could possibly hurt your precious coral, feather dusters, or other interesting creatures – like those Hawaiian Lined Fireworm that patrol your rocks and substrate.

Today, I bring you the rarely referenced solution that will cost you a whole $.25. Gasp, shock, awe, 25 cents!? Impossible!

State of the Tank

Strange week in the tank.  We have some very small critters called copepods that are in the tank, they're about the size of an ant and were crawling over a coral.  It took a bit of searching to find out what they were, but I haven't seen them since.  That's alright though, because they're there and I'm once again proven sane.

The Asterina Return

After not seeing a single tiny starfish since we posted regarding them last night two returned to the glass with much pomp and ceremony.  I'm pretty sure they were plotting with the Jefferys on how best to annoy me.

Alas poor clam, I knew him not at all...

In fact I really am not sure how long the clam survived before succumbing to the temptations of the great beyond.  May he (or she) enjoy the plankton filled sea of the hereafter where there are no crustacean eating creatures and miles of rock to anchor to. 

That's about all I have to say on that matter.  On to the bristle worm; also known as Hawaiian Lined Fireworm:

Dear Sir,

While you're roaming around my live rock, eating things and generally looking a bit creepy could you possibly make an effort to pop out more often?  I mean, is this really that important - the whole hiding and burrowing thing is awesome (just do what you need to do) but you see you've caused a problem in my household the past few days.  You've made Frank think I'm just a little bit more crazy than I already am.  He peers into the tank looking for you at all hours, peeking here and there for just the tiniest sign that I have not hallucinated your presence.  There haven't been any outright accusations and while I am confident he is very excited at the prospect of your habitation in the aquarium those wandering glances aimed in my general direction are becoming uncomfortable.  So...you know...get out and enjoy the water circulation, cruise the rock face for some really hot foodstuffs, party down under the actinic light.  Just let the man see you!

Asterina Anomala

There's always a silver lining.  We went to the fish store to pick up some more live rock and deal with the lights, just ten pounds, so not much.  I wanted a few small decorative pieces so that I could make the tier prettier. 

I of course knocked down the entire column and had to rebuild it four times until it was something that I wanted to look at.  While waiting for the water to clear up so that I could tweak said column and (probably) ruin it again I noticed our first hitchhikers on the glass:  Asterina Anomala's.  Considering they're so fricking cute we're keeping the two and well aware there are probably more.

I also found and frantically showed to Frank, and we can't decide if it's a sponge or an SPS coral that we have hitchhiking behind another piece of rock.  Our only worry is that it's stark white (bleached by the store on accident?) and could be dead.

Either way, I am happy to have destroyed my column to find our first stowaways.

The second I hit post I noticed we also have a tiny clam!  Huzzah!