Introduction

[swigen]

Hi All,

I just finished joining your club and thought it would be appropriate to introduce myself and my reef tank. Myself and my fiance live in Starkville, MS where I've begun my tenure as a graduate research assistant for the MSU fisheries co-op unit. For as long as I can remember I've been fascinated with the natural world and interacting with it through aquaria, vivaria, and keeping pets. Most recently I've begun my first reef tank. It's a 30 gal long with a coralife 96 watt PC light with plenty of liverock and sand. For livestock I have a maroon clownfish, yellow clown goby, neon goby, manderin dragonet, multiple mushroom corals, 6 small hermit crabs, one emerald crab, a serpent star, a handful of snails and infinite pods, small brittle stars, amphipods, spaghetti worms and bristle worms.

I'm sure some of you are wondering why I'm wasting my breath considering starkville is 3? hours away from Memphis. Well, to this point my only source for ANY livestock or supplies is 2 hours away in jackson and so a trip to Memphis for quality livestock and education is not out of the question. It will be tough to make meetings but I hope to contribute to the club anyway I can.

With all that said, I am excited to expand my coral collection through frags. Right now I have a small list of beginner-level corals Im looking for. If anyone has a number of these I could pick up or could ship to me I would love to see if we can work something out.

Wanted: toadstool leather, xenia, ricordia shrooms, star polyps, cheaper zoas and palys, and easy LPS corals such as frogspawn, candy cane, etc

Thanks Yall!

-Sky

 

[bshumake]

Hello there and welcome to the group. Typically we ask our members to begin with, "Hi. My name is (so-and-so) and I'm an addict." But i'll let it slide this time. You sound like your well on your way already! Manderin's are really a delicate fish and should not be introduced to a system under 1 year old. Personally, I wouldn't add one unless you had a 2year old system with a remote hatchery/breeding ground. It's a common mistake that I'm positive most everyone in the club has made at one time or another. But that's one good reason to join a club. You benefit from the experience of other members and can seek advise and help to get you going in the right direction. You may have to pass the goby on to someone else if you begin to notice it's wasting away. often times, they'll simply disappear into the rockwork, never to be seen again.
Feel free to ask questions and seek advice from us. We'll be happy to help.
If you are going to be in the Memphis area anytime soon I'd be happy to give you a frag of my neon green candycane's.
Welcome to the club!
Barrett

 

[ducklabdad]

Welcome aboard, we are glad to have you as a member and we "welcome Mississippi members". It would be great if you could make a trip in this weekend, we are having a meeting and "feed" on Saturday night and have some nice door prizes we are going to give away to start off our new year. Look forward to meeting you whenevery you can make it.

 

[swigen]

Manderin's are really a delicate fish and should not be introduced to a system under 1 year old. Personally, I wouldn't add one unless you had a 2year old system with a remote hatchery/breeding ground. It's a common mistake that I'm positive most everyone in the club has made at one time or another. But that's one good reason to join a club. You benefit from the experience of other members and can seek advise and help to get you going in the right direction. You may have to pass the goby on to someone else if you begin to notice it's wasting away. often times, they'll simply disappear into the rockwork, never to be seen again.

I guess I should clarify a bit. I bought an established tank from a guy moving out of town this fall complete with the fish I have now including the manderin (minus the neon goby). The owner informed me that the manderin was the most recent addition (a few months). Even before I brought the tank home I was aware of the reputation quoted above. Knowing this I located the nearest reputable SW retailer and accepted the fact that I would probably have to find a better home for him. As I researched more about the species online, I found that some people had manderins that had been trained to accept prepared and frozen foods. As luck would have it, this one apparently trained himself at some point because he actively seeks out the frozen mysis, bloodworms, and brine shrimp that I feed the tank. I know that many still do not thrive being fed frozen foods but I assure you if he ever looks ill or malnurished, I will offer him to someone who has a larger, more established, tank. Also, my CPR aquafuge is arriving in the mail tommorow and so I should get some good pod production soon to supplement the tank.

Thanks for the welcome notes! I really wish I could make it to there this weekend for the meeting and swap. If I can't, I certainly look forward to my first trip to the area whenever that will be.

 

[Mako Shark II]

Greetings ya' Noob!
(Std. greeting; take no offense)

 

[grannybj]

Well now you may be in luck...my parents live in West Point so I do make an occasional trip down there. You can possibly use me to ferry supplies when I am headed that way. I also have a friend that makes frequent trips up here from there . You need to make a trip up here just to make the rounds to all the local fish stores so you have a feel for what is available . You are probably right about the trip being 3 hours ...
Glad to have you as a member ..welcome.
BJ

 

[alovely]

well if you make a trip to memphis i have some free eagle eye zoas and xenia for you maybe a few other corals if you would want them.

 

[Mako Shark II]

I'm always good for a 'shroom or two. :wildone:

And I'll give you some mushroom coral too.

 

[swigen]

You need to make a trip up here just to make the rounds to all the local fish stores so you have a feel for what is available . You are probably right about the trip being 3 hours ...
Glad to have you as a member ..welcome.
BJ

There is an outside chance I could make a trip there this weekend if only to check out the local stores. What are the good stores?

well if you make a trip to memphis i have some free eagle eye zoas and xenia for you maybe a few other corals if you would want them.

I'm always good for a 'shroom or two. :wildone:

And I'll give you some mushroom coral too.

If you are going to be in the Memphis area anytime soon I'd be happy to give you a frag of my neon green candycane's.
Welcome to the club!
Barrett

Wow, I'm blown away from the generous offers! I will definitely be in touch if I can get there soon. Thank you!

 

[Reefdiver77]

Our two sponsor LFS are the BESTEST. Kermit's Reef on Macon Rd. in Cordova and Memfish on Quince in Memphis. You will be impressed. Both have been very supportive of the club through the years.