Another log of a Newbie starting out with TBS rock!

Ok, I got a black+white heniochus for the FO and 4 Azure Damsels for the reef. Will post pics Mon. or Tues.
 
More pics!!

More pics!!

I went to North Dallas Aquarium on Saturday and picked up 4 Azure Damsels and 1 Black and White Heniochus (AKA Banner or Wimplefish). I actually wanted around 6 Azura damsels and 2 Henis but alas, I am but a poor school teacher and cannot afford the prices at North Dallas Aquarium.

First, two shots of a sea urchin. I cannot believe how big theese things get, how fast they grow and how fast they breed!!

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Urchin2.jpg


Reef from the side:

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The new little fishies:

Heni1.jpg


Heni2.jpg


damsels.jpg


The damsels will go into the reef on or about May 20th and the Heni goes into the 75. I will probably get another Heni in May to keep him company. I would like to get 2-3 more Azure Damsels right now but at $8.99 a pop for them I cant afford anymore this month and I am afriad that once they get added to the reef I wouldnt be able to add more of them so I guess I am stuck with 4!!
 
cant wait to see them in the tank. those damsels are striking, but im just not too sure i want any in my tank .....:confused:
 
I may go pick up 3 more today. I found a bit of extra money when looking at my budget!!

As far as not having them in the tank, from everything I have read the blue and yellow damsels are not nearly as aggressive as others, especially if kept in groups. A friend of mine has a lone Azure Damsel in his 20 gallon with a clown and gramma and everyone lives out their lives fine!
 
DWculp:
I don't think the urchins are breeding in the tank. I think there are just tons of small ones in the rock when you got it and they are just growing up. I got my rock around the same time you did and had about 30 of them. I keep pulling them out and bringing them to the LFS. I think I have about 4-5 more but I don't see any small ones anymore so I don't think they are breeding.
 
dwculp said:
I may go pick up 3 more today. I found a bit of extra money when looking at my budget!!

As far as not having them in the tank, from everything I have read the blue and yellow damsels are not nearly as aggressive as others, especially if kept in groups. A friend of mine has a lone Azure Damsel in his 20 gallon with a clown and gramma and everyone lives out their lives fine!

I think they all get mean as they mature. In my tank, the yellow ones with the black spot on their dorsal fin were the worst. I had a variety of 9 and ended up removing my LR to get all but one of them out of the tank. The last one was hiding in the rock and I didn't see it until everything was back in place.
 
Relatively speaking, Pajama Cardinals are fairly "inexpensive" (I know, inexpensive is not a word associated with salt). They are a schooling fish and colorful too.
 
Hooked on Salt said:
Relatively speaking, Pajama Cardinals are fairly "inexpensive" (I know, inexpensive is not a word associated with salt). They are a schooling fish and colorful too.

I have never been a fan of cardinals, I dont know, I just dont like em. We shall see how these damsels work out.

By the way, do you fly those helicopters?
 
PICS!!!

PICS!!!

Ok, no, I am not dead, just busy, busy, busy!!

Everything is going great actually, the tank looks good, smells good and all is well. My 4 Azure Damsels REALLY make the tank look good. Wish I had 4 more and I think I may actually buy 4 more soon. I got a Niger Trigger for the FO tank today and put him into QT. Here are a few pics:

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pic2.jpg


pic3.jpg


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pic5.jpg

I really gotta put something in there to make it look less empty!!



pic6.jpg
 
Disaster!!

Disaster!!

Well, had my first real disaster which I made worse!!

I had been in FL for 7 days attending the National Conference on Educational Robotics and National Botball Competition and cam back to the classroom to a disaster.

I knew I was having a bit of an algae outbreak before I left so when I came back I bought 30 astrea snails and 20 micro blue leg hermit crabs to help out along with a lawnmower blenny. I also had bought 35 gallons of distilled water to do some water changes. I entered the classroom and got a shock.

The reef tank was about 6-8 inches low on water and I had saltwater all over the floor!!! My first thought was a tank crack, upon further investigation it was my Bak-Pak skimmer. The outflow had become clogged and it was overspilling!!!! Luckily there was no way for it to drain the tank as it could only go as far as the level of the pump. The tank was algae covered also!!!

I began claening up, I got all the saltwater off the floor, cleaned the lights, pumps, and scraped and siphoned the algae out. I cleaned the heck out of the skimmer and changed 15 gallons of water. I put the tank back together and the skimmer pump was bleeding air out of it, nothing a slight adjustment wouldnt fix. I lifted the full skimmer out, but it was wet and slippery and slipped out of my hands and cracked a piece off!! Grrrrrrrrr, somedays you just cant win!!

Anyways, I think I can fix it. The tank looked great when I left, I will go back on Monday and check on things and do another 10 gallon change.

By the way, we finished the competition as the only middle school in the country to reach the finals, in the top ten overall and the highest ranked middle school in the county.
 
By the way, the local fish store had porcelin crabs today for....are you ready for this......$12.99!!! I had to laugh as I got AT LEAST 20 on my TBS rock!!!
 
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