The populations of ‘pods (iso-, cope-, but not so much amphipods) have been growing astonishingly.  As mentioned below, I am becoming concerned that the isopods may be eating eggs and larvae of the slugs.  I muttered to myself “What species of small fish could I add to eat some of the little bugs?” A species that stays small, but has an appetite for small, moving creatures?  Seahorses, of course.

More specifically, dwarf seahorses (Hippocampus zosterae).  They stay tiny, and a small group should be sustained indefinitely on the mounds of live food growing in the Box of Slugs.  There is a nice little outfit called Seahorse Corral that breeds the little guys, plus H. erectus, so I ordered two males and three females to give my idea a try.

Although Fedex mangled the address here, the guy who runs the loading dock at the institute next door was able to call Beth at Seahorse Corral and figure out where I was, and I got my delivery.  They seem to be settling in well, and doing what seahorses do best, mostly sitting in one place and waiting for food to swim by.

Here is one of the little males, looking pretty.  He is one of the more adventurous, having traveled from one end of the tank to the other.

Male Hippocampus zosterae 10/21/14

This little female is the real daredevil, having zoomed all over the tank.

Female H. zosterae. Little, green, and fearless.

So far so good.  We’ll see what they are doing tomorrow morning.