Saw the first amphipod in a while in the mini-reef. Glad they’re making a comeback so I don’t have to reintroduce them from the picoreef. Did the weekly water change. Kyo is not a happy camper. I’d skipped cleaning the sponges last week. But I did them today. The sponge for the protein skimmer is right above Kyo’s “spot”. Oh, boy. He hid in the sparse algae in his usual spot, went completely still. Then decided it wasn’t safe enough, so he buried himself further in. I pulled and cleaned the other sponge. When I went to put it back, no Kyo. I mean he really wasn’t there. Looked up under ledge rock and he was under there hiding behind Kalimba near the back.

The sponge rinsing and water change was done as quickly as I could; from the time I took the top off the tank until I replaced couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes, tops. Fast and easy. No inside glass cleaning, no algae ripping. Replaced 1 gal off the top, put the top back on the tank and by the time I got back with vinegar on a paper towel to clean the outside glass, Kyo was back in his spot, shimmying agitatedly. I fancied he looked at me reproachfully.

He’s flirting with me now, but hasn’t entirely forgiven me for messing around so close to his home. He first ignored a food pellet peace offering, then at the last minute snatched it and spit it out. So far his temperment regarding me sticking my hand in the tank seems to be fear followed by petulance (which is better than nipping at me)!

Interestingly Elle stayed out for the the whole thing — or if she retreated it couldn’t have been for more than seconds, because she was out feeding on the debris loosened from the sponges as I removed them. It’s good to see her out more. I smoked her with microvert again this morning. She’s still a little more skittish than she used to be, but she’s out most of the time since I got that big piece of Halimeda out of her face.