Our Tbs

[elzool]

Thanks for the info Phil, it's nice to be able to call it something semi-intelligient instead of something we made up.


Safir, didn't Mother always tell you to glove up *before* putting your hands in the water?

Mine also made me wear a belt... Mother was a little off.

Well, the lights have been off an hour... time to go see what may have crawled out from the dark.

 

[jmait769]

elzool â€"œ Your tank looks great!

Brian â€"œ read your article on Cirolanids and now I really have the red flashlight out! I’m sure you have heard this before but that was a well written article. I think before I buy a fish I will try the stinky water trap and at least see what I get. My fingers are crossed for none!!

Update on my tank switch â€"œ I built a new stand (not quit finished yet) for the 55 gallon tank and made the switch this weekend. Went well as far as moving everything and managed to get a few gorillas. I really like working in this tank versus the tall tank and you can see all of the rock. Let me know if I should move anything!

I will build a new canopy for the lights. I ordered a new light fixture. A Nova Extreme T-5 Fixture w/Lunar Lights 48" - 216 watts and should be here on Thursday. I hope that is a good choice as that hit the limit I was allowed to spend!!

Here is a few picture of my flower anemone. I’m not sure if it is stuck or what. Does not seem to be in any distress and eats well. This is a branch rock in the shape of an upside down triangle I got at the LFS. He has been attached to this rock since Richard sent him. Should I be concerned? I think I can break the rock but would be a delicate operation. What do you think?

Side View:

Back View:

Front View:

Is this a bad snail? Has a long snout. One small snail like it smeared the glass with what looked like eggs maybe?

Thanks!!

Jay

 

[BrianPlankis]

jmait769,

Thanks for the complement about the article Always good to hear people think my articles are well written. Come to think of it, I can't remember when I didn't like complements

Jay, that might be whelk (bad) or a nassarius (good), but you will need to take a picture of it out of the tank with the snail withdrawn to be sure.

elzool,

Yes, getting TBS will cause you to learn a LOT of things. I've become particularly good at cursing out the eunicid worm that is picking on my TBS brain corals. It is about 3" long now and getting bolder. I'm afraid I'll be taking that rock out soon and squirting MgCl into the holes to expel the worms.

Brian

 

[jezzeaepi]

pics

pics

Heres some pictures I took yesterday. The tank has been set up for 2 months now with only the TBS package in their. Nothing else has been added.

Here is the anemone Richard through in for free:

As you can see, he has positioned himself directly under my powerhead. Every day I have to shut it off so he can get his tentacles out of it. And HE is the one who moved there. =\ Don't know what to do with him.

Here is my urchin. He is on top of a mollusk/bivalve/clam thingie. The shelled creature has its mouth open in the picture.

Heres one of my porcelain crabs:

I have 5 of these that hitch hiked their way. They range from about a half inch to 2 inches.

One of the encrusting corals that came on my rocks:

This one is one of my favorites because of its shape and green tint on the polyps.

Different corals:

I've seen the bigger of the two pictured in the last two pages of this thread. As you can see parts of it have bleached. I'm not sure why. The one on the left I have not seen here before.

Close up of the left one:

I have two other colonies of the same type of coral but they are smaller, brown, and without the green tint that this one has.

(cont)

 

[jezzeaepi]

Heres some more pics of various tube coral colonies. I estimate there are about 35 small to large tube coral colonies in all. Notice that there is random damage and white spots on a lot of them:

I'm not sure what causes the coral to show part of its white skeleton, or to retreat completely into their tubes. It appears to happen at random to completely healthy corals. Can anyone give me some pointers, or things to look for? I want to help them look their best.

Clear cups:

Id say I probably have about 20 of these cup corals scattered around the tank. Some of them are over an inch wide when they are extended looking for food.

Key hole limpet:

I have found 3 keyholes that look like the one in the pictures. There is at least one black one as well. Nice little additions to the tank. Like flat snails with pretty shells. These are reef safe right?

Still battling some algae as you can see in some of the pictures. My first shipment included a lot of sponges, but the second shipment had hardly any. The ones that did survive seemed to die after a distasteful day last month when the tank went from 77.2 to 79.2 the first hot day we had. I was at work and had no way of turning the tank fan on =\ About 75% of my sponges died in the following 2 -3 days.
There are still about 5 gorilla crabs in their by my estimates. I've tried bating them, stabbing them, grabbing them, etc. Don't know how I'm going to get the punks.


Take it easy all,
Jesse

 

[bobt2]

jesse, some say the keyholes have to go. i've had 2 for over a year and i can't see any damage. they just sit on the rock and eat algea.i also have a fleshy orange one that seams ok

 

[jmait769]

Brian â€"œ caught this tonight. Sorry that my picture is pretty pathetic. I wish I could get a clear picture like elzool but this was the best of three!! Kind of twists as it swims. Pretty easy to catch. Thanks

Jay

 

[BrianPlankis]

Jay,

Unfortunately I can't tell you what that is, the picture is just too blurry. Good attempt though, aquarium photography is a very difficult task. I think I can rule out an Aeolid nudibranch and it appears to be some kind of worm, but beyond that I can't help.

Brian

 

[Red_Six]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7503675#post7503675 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elzool
I also gave him two of these.

Yes, the porcelain went back in the tank.

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

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

Any ideas on what type of crab is on the right? I have one of those.

I saw the same nudibranch on my front glass. I almost ran the magnetic glass cleaner over it because it was so small.

It is too bad that mantis are not reef safe. I sure like to watch mine.

 

[jezzeaepi]

The crab on the right is the infamous stone crab of destruction. Get rid of it now if you have the chance.

 

[BrianPlankis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7513111#post7513111 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Red_Six

I saw the same nudibranch on my front glass. I almost ran the magnetic glass cleaner over it because it was so small.

Let me know if you see it again and try to get it into a cup if you can.

Thanks,

Brian

 

[jmait769]

Brian - Thanks for the look. I did put this in a small tank I have set-up so will "practice" some more on my photography!

Hey, any ideas on my flower anemone and its position in that rock? Take a look at the photos on page 34. I have moved it around to see if that would cause him to disengage from the rock. No luck so far.

Thanks for looking,

Jay

 

[BrianPlankis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7515630#post7515630 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmait769
Brian - Thanks for the look. I did put this in a small tank I have set-up so will "practice" some more on my photography!

Hey, any ideas on my flower anemone and its position in that rock? Take a look at the photos on page 34. I have moved it around to see if that would cause him to disengage from the rock. No luck so far.

Thanks for looking,

Jay

Jay,

That anemone does look a bit "choked", but as long as the oral disc on it is fully expanded, then I would just let it be. Now if it starts to look unhealthy then you may need to take more drastic measures.

Brian

 

[Red_Six]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7513976#post7513976 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CirolanidHunter
Let me know if you see it again and try to get it into a cup if you can.

Thanks,

Brian

I will be sure to keep an eye out for it. When I first saw it I compared it to the one in your article and figured since it was different you would not be interested. Hopefully I see it again.

Also I would like to add that your articles have all been really enjoyable to read. Keep up the good work.

 

[elzool]

If I plan on not adding any fish for the next two months and the 2nd part of my package has been in the tank for a week, what and how often should I feed?
I'm thinking I'll try the stinky water trap just in case this next week, just in case.

 

[drk70]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7509935#post7509935 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jezzeaepi
My first shipment included a lot of sponges, but the second shipment had hardly any. The ones that did survive seemed to die after a distasteful day last month when the tank went from 77.2 to 79.2 the first hot day we had. I was at work and had no way of turning the tank fan on =\ About 75% of my sponges died in the following 2 -3 days.

That small temperature swing shouldn't hurt anything. My tank goes from 77 to 80 on a normal day and in the summer sometimes up around 83.

 

[jezzeaepi]

Strange, must have just been coincidental then. Its too bad, they seemed to be doing perfectly fine, then all the sudden they were dieing and being eaten by my pods. The white ones survived, but the pretty orange and burgandy ones didnt =\

 

[bobt2]

the sponges will come and go.

 

[jmait769]

Brian â€"œ Managed to catch the same creature elzool caught. I have it in a holding tank. His picture is below. I could not get a good picture of mine.

Some pictures from today.

This snail is depositing something?

Cup Coral:

Still trying to catch a very large gorilla crab who grows larger by the day and my camera skills are improving if I say so myself!!

Thanks,

Jay

 

[BrianPlankis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7531617#post7531617 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmait769
Brian â€"œ Managed to catch the same creature elzool caught. I have it in a holding tank. His picture is below. I could not get a good picture of mine.

Jay,

Well, some Aeolids can look very similar, go to this thread here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=860016

Does yours look similar from the top, or look like the pictures in this article?
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/ac/feature/index.php

If so you might have a Berghia verrucicornis or Aeolidiella stephanieae, both of which eat Aiptasia anemones. They are a specialized predator and considered a good guy, especially by people that have Aiptasia problems

To verify it is either of the above nudibranchs, you'll need to get a hold of some Aiptasia anemones. Do you have a local club? If so, post a message saying you might have a Berghia or "GIVE ME YOUR AIPTASIA" and you should get a fast response from people needing one. People will usually pay for them or trade for something you want.

You'll need to do this pretty fast as nudibranchs starve quickly with no food source, sometimes in two weeks or less. Please report back in this thread if you get some Aiptasia and witness it actually eating it. It is a pretty fascinating process to watch them devour them

Brian