Our Tbs
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
i was sitting around looking at the tanks saturday morning and realizing how much i,ve invested in reefing over the last 20 months, and decieded to make the last plunge to protect it all. i am now equipt with a generator just in case! here on long island all our power cables are above ground and subject to the weather. no more worries about blackouts.
dwculp
New member
OUCH!!
OUCH!!
About 5:30 yesterday, after my robotics class a few students and I went to look at the tank and lo and behold, there in a hole in the rock up front is a BIG, HAIRY Gorilla crab. Just hanging out like nothing is wrong.
The kids are of course excited by this find.
I am not.
The crab is quite large, 3-4 inches across (including legs) and looks mean.
I figured it wouldnt work but I would just stick my hand in and try and catch him. I have rarely caught a crab this way as they scurry into the rock work.
This guy didnt scurry into the rock work. He rushed out and clamped onto my fingers!!! What an aggressive crab this was. He wouldnt let go, clamped down harder and started pulling me into his hole.
I couldnt believe the power of this little guy. Anyways, he got away and scurried into the rock work. He lived to fight another day.
I got a fighting conch for the tank and the kids are enjoying watching it slowly work the sand. I have to admit it is a pretty interesting creature.
OUCH!!
About 5:30 yesterday, after my robotics class a few students and I went to look at the tank and lo and behold, there in a hole in the rock up front is a BIG, HAIRY Gorilla crab. Just hanging out like nothing is wrong.
The kids are of course excited by this find.
I am not.
The crab is quite large, 3-4 inches across (including legs) and looks mean.
I figured it wouldnt work but I would just stick my hand in and try and catch him. I have rarely caught a crab this way as they scurry into the rock work.
This guy didnt scurry into the rock work. He rushed out and clamped onto my fingers!!! What an aggressive crab this was. He wouldnt let go, clamped down harder and started pulling me into his hole.
I couldnt believe the power of this little guy. Anyways, he got away and scurried into the rock work. He lived to fight another day.
I got a fighting conch for the tank and the kids are enjoying watching it slowly work the sand. I have to admit it is a pretty interesting creature.
BrianPlankis
Premium Member
Re: OUCH!!
Re: OUCH!!
I had a large gorilla crab in my reef up until two weeks ago. I've seen it eating my hair worms on occasion and it always evaded capture. Then one night I caught it on the top of my rock work and instead of retreating it just put out its claws in a "bring it on" stance. So I brought it a chopstick and the predator has been removed.
I agree, conchs are awesome animals if you have the sandbed to support them.
Brian
PS. My new article series has started with Reefkeeping if anyone is bored with nothing to read
Re: OUCH!!
I had a large gorilla crab in my reef up until two weeks ago. I've seen it eating my hair worms on occasion and it always evaded capture. Then one night I caught it on the top of my rock work and instead of retreating it just put out its claws in a "bring it on" stance. So I brought it a chopstick and the predator has been removed.
I agree, conchs are awesome animals if you have the sandbed to support them.
Brian
PS. My new article series has started with Reefkeeping if anyone is bored with nothing to read
dwculp
New member
Some days all the trouble is worth it....
Three days ago my tank looked ghetto. I was frustrated, the tank looked like total garbage. I have seen sewers look better.
On top of that I had broken my huge, beautiful, star of the tank hammer coral in half. I had decided to move my devils hand coral and cant get the &*(!@#! thing to stick to a rock, no matter how hard a try and now I am at my wits end with it and I might just super glue it down! In addition, one side of one of my brand new actinic PC bulbs blew out.
Anyways, I put a new background on the tank last night, did some cleaning and a water change on Sunday and today the tank glows. Holy crap I cant believe how good it looks today. In fact, kids come in the room and comment on it.
In addition, I have had about 70-80 strombus eggs hatch over the last couple of weeks and today for the first time I saw a cluster of about 5 babies working a rock! I figure 80%-90% of them hatch and dont make it because they become food for something.
Today, it is all worth it.
Three days ago my tank looked ghetto. I was frustrated, the tank looked like total garbage. I have seen sewers look better.
On top of that I had broken my huge, beautiful, star of the tank hammer coral in half. I had decided to move my devils hand coral and cant get the &*(!@#! thing to stick to a rock, no matter how hard a try and now I am at my wits end with it and I might just super glue it down! In addition, one side of one of my brand new actinic PC bulbs blew out.
Anyways, I put a new background on the tank last night, did some cleaning and a water change on Sunday and today the tank glows. Holy crap I cant believe how good it looks today. In fact, kids come in the room and comment on it.
In addition, I have had about 70-80 strombus eggs hatch over the last couple of weeks and today for the first time I saw a cluster of about 5 babies working a rock! I figure 80%-90% of them hatch and dont make it because they become food for something.
Today, it is all worth it.
techreef
Premium Member
That's so true, dwculp. I just bought my first non-hitchhiker corals last week and mounted them, (pics to come shortly!) and did a water change two nights before that. And there are some authors who support giving your tank a large rearrangement/disturbing event, kind of like simulating the effects of a hurricane in nature, in an effort to stimulate not hurt your corals. Perhaps your tank perked up from the attention that you gave it?
BrianPlankis
Premium Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8735819#post8735819 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drk70
I could probalby use about 50 of them then.
Just in case anyone reads this, it is recommended to have 4 square feet of open sandbed per fighting conch in order for it to get enough food. I know you were just joking around Dennis, but a new person might not. Of course, who is going to spend $500 on conchs?
dwculp, I've tried placing mine on a rock a couple of times, but it quickly retreats to the sandbed. One thing you can try is putting the rock on the sandbed and the conch will feed as far up as it can with its trunk, cool to see!
Brian
drk70
Premium Member
Well I'm getting close to the point of breaking the whole thing down and doing away with it.
Algae just wont give me a break and the darn red slime algae just sucks to no end.
I'm going to TFP this weekend to get some hermits because that is the only thing I have found to eat the algae. It is against my better judgement because I really don't care to have the hermits but that is the only thing that is different in my tank than from the beginning and that is the lack of hermits. I was down to only about 1 or 2. I got about 20 or 30 a few weeks ago and can see that they are eating it but it is just too overwhelming for that few hermits so I think I will go for about 50 or so more.
Algae just wont give me a break and the darn red slime algae just sucks to no end.
I'm going to TFP this weekend to get some hermits because that is the only thing I have found to eat the algae. It is against my better judgement because I really don't care to have the hermits but that is the only thing that is different in my tank than from the beginning and that is the lack of hermits. I was down to only about 1 or 2. I got about 20 or 30 a few weeks ago and can see that they are eating it but it is just too overwhelming for that few hermits so I think I will go for about 50 or so more.
dwculp
New member
Actually, what I think happened was it took a small downturn because I have been adjusting some parameters for the eventual betterment of the tank over the last few weeks. It just took awhile to rebound is all.
First, I switched salt brands, from plain IO to IO Reef Crystals for the added calcium and alk. My alk and CA are always way low.
Next, I started adding C-Balance to keep the Alk and CA up where they need to be.
Finally, I upped the temp a few degrees, winter is here or at least coming in and I wanted to up the temp a bit to 26C for a little added protection against the cold.
dwculp
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8735928#post8735928 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BrianPlankis
Just in case anyone reads this, it is recommended to have 4 square feet of open sandbed per fighting conch in order for it to get enough food. I know you were just joking around Dennis, but a new person might not. Of course, who is going to spend $500 on conchs?
dwculp, I've tried placing mine on a rock a couple of times, but it quickly retreats to the sandbed. One thing you can try is putting the rock on the sandbed and the conch will feed as far up as it can with its trunk, cool to see!
Brian
You are kidding?? You mean I have to return the other 49 I bought??
BrianPlankis
Premium Member
Kudos to you for ISOLATING and IDENTIFYING
Very cool to see people doing that.Yours is a type of filter feeding cucumber. I have several of them in my tank and am beginning to wonder if they are reproducing or just becoming more bold. Here is the best picture I have of one so far:
Brian
