Despite having added only live rock and snails, the 5 gallon hex tank is showing an amazing amount of macro biodiversity.  This is a short post to document what is growing in there!

A multitude of dwarf cerith snails

These guys are the workhorse of the algae fighting army.  There are many of them, in many shapes and a variety of sizes.  They like to crawl up and down the sides of the tank, and will occasionally congregate there.  Sometimes they hitch a ride on the back of larger snails!

This big guy is a florida cerith!

If I had to pick the coolest looking species of snail in the tank, it would be the Florida cerith.  Between their green coloration and rippled shell, they are hard to beat!  Not to mention these snails can self-right themselves!  These are are the largest snails in the tank.

This is the nassarius snail, in the middle. it looks like he is hitching a ride on a Florida cerith

If you zoom in you can tell this is a nassarius on a florida cerith snail.  The nassarius is easily distinguished by its single long stalk that probes for algae.  These guys are speedy!

Heres a nerite snail

My nerites are identifiable by the deep grooves that run along their round shells.  they have two long feelers, unlike the nassarius.  These guys are also very speedy.  Here, the nerite is harassing a dwarf cerith.

This is a featherduster

This guy was quite the find! It came as a hitchhiker on some live rock I bought.  It seems to have grown some since the rock was introduced, and it certainly is less skittish now.  there is another one on the same rock with a green/purple coloration, but it is hard to get a picture of that one because it is shy and very well hidden.

Cyanobacteria!

I thought this stuff was algae, but I was wrong!  It turns out to be purple cyanobacteria.  Its HUGE, and the snails seem to nibble at it from time to time.  I really don’t mind it, although it is considered a pest.

Thats all for now!  Maybe I will notice more stuff as time goes on.