There is nothing more rewarding that recreating nature in every detailed aspect in a home aquarium, or at least to the extent that it can or should be done. It is an extremely exciting experience, witnessing something twenty years ago was thought to be impossible: the symbiotic relationship of various marine organisms. While this could be said about captive breeding, certain fish, or any number of marine topics, I am referring to Symbiotic Relationships. I have had the privilege to be the witness of two completely different symbiotic relationships in my Nano Reef tank.
I never anticipated that such a relationship could occur in such a small tank with such different inhabitants. For awhile in my tank I had two clownfish, arguably the most popular saltwater fish living happily in my tank. While they were introduced after the addition of coral, it wasn’t until about a month after that I introduced two heads of hammer coral into the tank. It was about the same time that I was taking high school biology, and learned about symbiotic relationships. While I found the subject interesting, I never thought I would be able to recreate what I saw in those videos, in my aquarium without the addition of an anemone (An animal I wanted to avoid in such a small system).
It was after that I noticed an absence of my 'clowns' at the top of the tank, where they had been since I got them. To my surprise, the two clownfish, were each hosting a head of hammer coral. At first I wasn’t sure, I only confirmed it when I saw true tell signs of a symbiotic relationship. The clownfish would dart away from the Hammer coral to collect a floating piece of food. It would then promptly return and spit the food into the arms of the hammer coral. This absolutely fascinated me, and made me research other means of symbiosis in the aquarium, and the next pair of organisms I would keep, to me, were even more interesting!
Don't forget to check out part two: pistol shrimp and their symbiotic relationship with govies!
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