Our Tbs

[BrianPlankis]

I'm still fragging zoas and shrooms. But I'm going to remove several of my best fraggers as I want to concentrate more on stoney corals in my tank and want to reduce the chemical competition going on in there.

I've had 3 of my four montiporas RTN in the last 2 weeks and I can't think of anything else that could be killing them. (They are in medium-high flow, high light, excellent Ca and Alk levels (except the brief drop to 360ppm 2 days ago)).

I'm going to change out my MH bulbs as they are now a year old and the shifting spectrum could be a problem.

Brian

 

[elzool]

Still only getting a .25 ammonia reading!
Boy is this better than the first time around.

Now if I could just figure out how to arrange my rock I'd be set.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

I am at my wits end...

I am at my wits end...

with these two gorilla crabs I still have that are making my tank their home.

My population of hermit crabs seems to be twindling. I find one every now and again sprawled out somewhere in the tank outside it's shell dead. I know it's these two little bastages ambushing my poor hermits in the middle of the night when the lights go out.

Outside of taking my tank apart and removing the rock that these rats are hiding in--(they are very sneaky little guy's) is there any ingenius way to send these bums packing?

I've tried the bait in the jar with the inverted plastic bottle. All I catch are hermits...

Please help or do I have permanent residents.

 

[jharler]

I'm having some issues with algae. I'm getting large clumps of hair algae that the hermits don't seem to be eating. Why would they not be eating this and what can I do to get rid of it? Here's a picture of the algea:

Also, I'm wondering about my shaving brush. It seems to be growing, but now it's grossly mishapen from it's original, clean look. Is this normal:

My water parameters have been pretty consistant. I had no ammonia from my dead anemone. Ammonia and Nitrite are both at 0, and Nitrate is sticking to around 25. I'm beginning to think about getting some fish. Do you experts think it might be too soon? I want to start off with a pair of clown fish. I want a royal gramma too, but I think adding three fish at once might be too much.

Thanks for reading, and any advice or suggestions you can give me are appreciated.

(Also posted in my journal thread)

 

[Grand Wazoo]

what can I do to get rid of it? Here's a picture of the algea:

Use your hands and pull it off. Before you put your hand back in the water though rinse it off with fresh water.

Hand>pick off algae from rock>discard algae>clean hand that just came out of the water with fresh water>REPEAT

That's what I did.

 

[drk70]

Re: I am at my wits end...

Re: I am at my wits end...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7497732#post7497732 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Grand Wazoo
with these two gorilla crabs I still have that are making my tank their home.

My population of hermit crabs seems to be twindling. I find one every now and again sprawled out somewhere in the tank outside it's shell dead. I know it's these two little bastages ambushing my poor hermits in the middle of the night when the lights go out.

Outside of taking my tank apart and removing the rock that these rats are hiding in--(they are very sneaky little guy's) is there any ingenius way to send these bums packing?

I've tried the bait in the jar with the inverted plastic bottle. All I catch are hermits...

Please help or do I have permanent residents.

Just wait and they will eventually make a mistake and you can get them. I still have some in my tank and I almost had one the other day.

Having the hermits disappear isn't all bad.

 

[BrianPlankis]

GW,

It may not be your gorillas attacking your hermits. Do you have any mantis in your tank? They are known more for attacking hermits than the gorillas.

Brian

 

[Safir]

Brian - a thought on catching gorillas - might your "stinky water" method work on them as well? or at least raise the gorilla to hermit ratio of waht we catch?

 

[patsan]

Josh, I'd try and pull whatever hair algae you could. I also had some and got a tang. It was gone in no time...never to come back. They loved it.

Wazoo...it almost sounds more like a mantis than gorillas killing the hermits. It takes forever to rid yourself completely from the gorillas...just keep at it.

 

[BrianPlankis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7500235#post7500235 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Safir
Brian - a thought on catching gorillas - might your "stinky water" method work on them as well? or at least raise the gorilla to hermit ratio of waht we catch?

I've never seen a gorilla remotely interested in the stinky water traps. I've even videotaped a trap for 2 hours to see what was interested in it and the gorillas never came out.

I've also tried the regular cup leaning against the rock with bait in the bottom and my gorillas didn't go anywhere near it.

I have one rock that has a nice hole in the middle and the gorillas like that. I have placed that close to the top of the water and when I see one in the hole I yank the rock out and shake the rock a little and the gorilla drops on the towel. 100% success when I see one in there so far

Brian

 

[elzool]

It took a while but I think I have my rock setup the way I'd like it... for a while anyway.

Left Side

Right Side

I met a guy that was in the area yesterday that picked up a mantis I found in my rock and he gave me this macro:

and this frag in exchange for it.

I also gave him two of these.

Yes, the porcelain went back in the tank.

Now, a few questions about things I've found.

Some sort of sponge?

Is this anemone burying itself normal?

This is a rock that I've buried under the sand, just letting this portion poke up, does it have a name for what it is? We refer to it as 'stubby'.

I've seen this critter before and I think I already asked, but is this a bad thing?

Finally saw my pistol last night at 1am. Fast lil' critter.

Went to a lfs over the weekend and when I told them what I had, they recommended feeding their phyto they get in from a local guy. They sold me 350ml and told me to dump it in. There was a mess of pods and shrimps and other tiny fellers in the bag. Everything seemed to enjoy it.

 

[patsan]

The tank looks great! Get this out of the tank if you can.

It's an Aeolid nudibranch.

Yes, that's a yellow ball sponge in there.
I have to look closer when I have a little more time to see what else I see in there.

 

[BrianPlankis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7503675#post7503675 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elzool

I've seen this critter before and I think I already asked, but is this a bad thing?

Great pictures! I can't really answer many of your questions, but this one I can handle. What you have here is an Aeolid nudibranch. Not sure what species, but definitely an Aeolid. The little white circles in the middle of the creature is an egg mass about to be laid.

Most Aeolids are not desirable, but don't throw it out yet, it could actually be a good guy! But in order to tell good or bad, you'll need to remove it from your tank and put it in a shallow cup or bowl and take pictures from the top down. Please do that and we'll go from there. Fascinating little creatures

Then you can put it in a cup or breeder's net in your sump and do water changes to keep it healthy until we can tell good or bad or unknown.

Brian

 

[elzool]

Well I flushed it before I saw your responce Brian. Oh well, maybe next time. At least if its bad I don't have anything to worry about.

If I have more, how will I know they are there?

 

[BrianPlankis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7503819#post7503819 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elzool
Well I flushed it before I saw your responce Brian. Oh well, maybe next time. At least if its bad I don't have anything to worry about.

If I have more, how will I know they are there?

:sad2: Darn! I should have been faster That could have possibly been a good nudibranch May I suggest next time you find an unknown to put it in a 12-32 oz cup half full of tank water (floating in your sump if you have one and it can't tip over) and take pictures before flushing it. Most hitchhikers will survive fine for a few days in a cup, especially if you do partial water changes.

There is no way to really tell if you have more, just watch your glass and rocks, especially at night. If you get a good nudibranch, many breeders will pay for shipping or sometimes even more depending on the species.

Brian

 

[elzool]

Wow.. silly me. I just figured, hey if it's bad and I know where it is on the glass at that moment, I'd better get it out of the tank right then.

Who knew... shipping a critter that small... I'll keep it in mind. I figure there is another as I have seen two at one time. So I'll just keep my eyes open. Never thought I'd 'trade' a shrimp in my lifetime, I'm learning all sorts of things this year.

Next time I'll just put anything I find into a cup and post and if its good I keep it and bad I yell 'fire in the hole' and flush it.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7500039#post7500039 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CirolanidHunter
GW,

It may not be your gorillas attacking your hermits. Do you have any mantis in your tank? They are known more for attacking hermits than the gorillas.

Brian

Thanks for the response, Brian. I don't have any mantis.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7500316#post7500316 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by patsan
Josh, I'd try and pull whatever hair algae you could. I also had some and got a tang. It was gone in no time...never to come back. They loved it.

Wazoo...it almost sounds more like a mantis than gorillas killing the hermits. It takes forever to rid yourself completely from the gorillas...just keep at it.

Like I told Brian, Pat, I don't have any mantis. I'd like to rid myself of just two--It is next to impossible to get them out of a tank you don't want to disturb, ya know?

 

[phil519]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7503675#post7503675 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elzool
ock that I've buried under the sand, just letting this portion poke up, does it have a name for what it is? We refer to it as 'stubby'.

I'm going to date myself with this post but back in the daaaaaaaaaay when we had a thread called "name that thing on my tbs" I had a very similar rather large rock...back on that thread page 100 odd something (after doing a search) I recall tbs or greenbean telling me that is an occulina species coral. Beyond that I can't help much more as mine didn't prosper in the tank.

 

[Safir]

I have a similar rock, it seems to be doing very well, i think i see a few new polyps on it, but i don't know what it is called

and... it was bound to happen - my condy "got me" about 15 mintues ago... hand feels a little tingly, hope i didn't hurt it when i pulled away from it suddenly.