Krusty McKrabster=2, Anemones=0 (aka "Mother Nature's Wrath" - Round II)

Okay, if you're just joining this post, start here... 'Cuz this is Chapter II, k?

So I woke-up around zero-dark-hundred this morning...  Tank lights are on a timer so I couldn't really investigate the situation until the sun started to rise...  So I went about my Early-Morning-Business of banging into walls, firing up my laptops, and trying to remember my name!!!

(Besides, who *really* wants to face Death-And-Destruction FIRST THING in the morning, right?!)

Well, after a few hours, the living room brightened-up a bit and I could clearly see that Anemone #2 was no longer on the glass, out of harm's way.  I *could* see Krusty - up in the front corner - and something sort-of unidentifiable and "blobbish" in the same space...  Hmmmmm...

This is what I had YESTERDAY afternoon:

 Rose Anemone on the glass...

Ain't it pretty???

Yeah, well....  Quiver as you stare into the Face of Destruction!

"Killer" Krusty McKrabster

Yes, Krusty has earned a new name.  :::sigh:::

Apparently Rose Anemone #2 (larger than Krusty) had mistakenly attempted to relocate to a sunnier happier spot, but was met with the Killer Klaws of Krusty-Death!!!

By the time I discovered it, the anemone was roughly half the size of my pinkie finger (he was originally appx 2" in diameter).  "Killer" Krusty was guarding the corpse but, evidently, had eaten his fill at that point because he wasn't eating anymore...

:::sigh:::

I texted Jeff and advised him that there wasn't much point in sending anyone out to "rescue" his last anemone.  

Super-Sad-Face :-((((((((

So anyway, in the meantime, I decided that maybe I'd better try to figure out what the hell I HAD living in my Tank o' Death...

I think that "Killer" Krusty McKrabster is a Dardanus megistos.  Jeff *just* confirmed it.  Also known as a "Red Hairy Hermit Crab" that normally eats worms and other inverts (which I take to mean "soft-corals" - in other words NOT reef-safe!).  I did do a bit of Googling and found this interesting tidbit: "Dardanus megistos shares a symbiotic relationship with anemones by hiding in their stinging tentacles."

I never thought that "symbiotic" could also mean "Dinner!"  Damn!

I also learned that Dardanus megistos is "aggressive" (Gee, ya think?!) and can grow as big as 8" - Holy sh*t!!!

Final Lesson Learned:  Don't buy reef/livestock from Petco.  Even if you DO tell them what kind of tank you have, they'll try to sell you something that's entirely unsuitable.  :::sigh:::  There is NO WAY that an 8" crab will be able to live happily in a 14 gallon aquarium - ahem!

So anyway...  Jeff continually "circulates" stock around the tanks of his clients, so he has offered to take Killer/Krusty off my hands (and then we can go back to trying to introduce a Rose Anemone into my tank).

Right now I'm "on the fence" b/c Krusty is probably the most entertaining thing I've got in my tank (Death & Destruction notwithstanding).  

I actually have a second 5-gallon tank (which is full of stagnant water and algae at the moment) so I'm trying to get a rough idea of what it would cost to get that switched-over and up-and-running, as a salt-water fish-only aquarium.  If it's not insanely expensive, I might consider moving Krusty to his *own* tank (with a couple of other inhabitants that *wouldn't* get eaten!) - at least until he totally outgrows it...

We shall see!

Dayum!!!