Cutest love stories

Today, on the 14th of February, I would like to share the cutest love story that I know of.
Your heart will melt reading about it, let alone witnessing it.

You guessed it, I am talking about the symbiotic relationship! 😉

Symbiosis entails two different species living together in harmony and helping each other out.

If you watch nature shows about the underwater world, you probably have seen a big shark with a few small fish comfortably swimming next to him.
While you think this could be a nice midnight snack, the shark knows better!
These small fish are called the cleaner wrasse. 
And as their name suggest, they are in charge of flossing the shark’s teeth.
At the same time, the shark protects these little fish from other predators!

Shark and cleaner Wrasse

Some of you might know that we have a saltwater aquarium.
And it is such a blessing to be able to observe the symbiotic relationship up close!

We have recently purchased a sea anemone for our clown fish pair.
The anemone looks like a coral, but is actually an animal that can walk on it’s own and has a toxic venom which keeps most fish away.
Except for the clownfish! They are resilient against this toxic.
So, they will nestle down in the anemone who will protect the fish against predators. 
In return, the clownfish will provide food for the anemone and will keep it clean. 
It is so incredibly cute to see the little clownfish snuggle up in the sea anemone! 

Sea anemone and clownfish

And I can’t leave this post without telling you about my two favorite little creatures: the watchman goby fish and the pistol shrimp.

The little shrimp is nearly blind, but is very good at digging and shifting sand.
So, while he builds and maintains a cave, the goby acts like a good watchman and protects the shrimp against predators and makes sure he gets food. 
The shrimp has large antennas which will always be attached to the Goby. 
When there is danger, the Goby will wiggle his tail and they will hide in their cave. 
Where ever the shrimp goes (and he moves a lot), the Goby will follow. 
He won’t leave his friend for even two seconds!
And even when Goby finds a girlfriend, she will be accepted into this partnership and they will share a cave with the 3 of them!

Watchman Goby and Pistol Shrimp

The most interesting part is that, even though we have no predators in our tank, the fish stay true to what they were born to do!

Last weekend we visited the fish store.
It is a small one, but the owner is the kindest person you will ever meet.
The amount of love he feels for the fish warms my heart more than anything. 
In fact, the reefer community is probably one of nicest communities on earth!
Any reefer YouTube video will contain so much happiness and kindness towards these little creature and it is refreshing to see people being nice in the comment section!

J and I have been together for nearly 7 years and of course our relationship has changed from what it was in the first year. 
But our mutual love for fish makes our relationship only stronger.
I just know that he is the Goby to my Shrimp! 😊

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

A few notes:

I know that some people are against keeping fish. 
I completely respect that, but be aware that no animals were meant to be pets. They are all man made. 
But I think if a person has the time, love and financial means to make a pet as comfortable as possible, it is ok. 

I have referred to the fish as “he”.
The truth is that with salt water fish, you cannot determine whether they are male or female (except for one of our clownfish). So we have chosen to refer to all of them as male.
Fun fact: some fish will actually change gender at one point in their life, but that is a story for another time 😉