Serpentman's 300g upgrade

Beautiful as always... So whats the concensus about astrenia stars? Good? Bad? I am starting to have an issue with many of them in my tank but havent seen any reason that they are nothing but algae grazers. I know its a subject of debate, just wanted to see what your thoughts and the readers of this thread thoughts are, or are you just trying to raises the pair of harlequins? They are beautiful!

-Chris
 
Thanks Chris. I've heard mixed reviews on aterinas, some claiming certain species attack corals. Personally, I've never seen anything that would indicate this. I think they get a bad rap because they will aggregate on a dead or dying coral, most likely scavenging on dead tissue or the resulting algae that grows on a dead coral skeleton.

However, with that being said, I was becoming overrun with them and felt they were starting to detract from the look of the tank. That, and I've always wanted a pair of harlequins, prompted the decision to go with them. If they can decimate the population (which I have my doubts given the amount and tank size) I plan to keep them going with chocolate chip stars.
 
I doubt, with the size of your tank, that they could extinguish the stars in your tank. They constantly reproduce and there has to be times where the stars will stay where the shrimp cannot eat them. But who knows, we will find out.

On another note, you dont have any "bad feeling" about feeding them chocolate starfish? I think its much more "humane" to actually feed them the whole star rather than clip a leg off and let them recover in the sump. What a life to live. There are tang police but Im sure if you go that route you will hear from the "star police" lol.

-Chris
 
I agree. They are in my overflows, sump, axillary tank and frag tank galore. Worst case, I'll move the shrimp tank to tank.

I think having your feet eaten alive is probably a pretty rough way to go. However, since starfish only have a neural ring and lack a brain of sorts, my guess is they are not consciously aware of pain in the traditional sense and more or less reflexively sense damage and try to evade predation. Even then, ironically, each leg operates independently as their nerve function isn't even advanced enough to coordinate them.

By nature, starfish have adapted the ability to sustain significant damage and replace lost "limbs", most likely to compensate for their inability to "think". Therefore, by slicing off a leg, you can easily bisect them and create two fully functional stars. So taking a leg now and again doesn't strike me as overly inhumane.
 
Got a package today! Added 25 peppermint shrimp to deal with some of my aptasia issues. Also added a porcelain crab, a couple mithrax crabs and a few more snails.

Also recently did some work on my frag tank. I wasn't happy with the way I had my T5 spread out. Although they are consolidated to a slightly smaller area, I feel I actually have more space with high light to grow the stuff I like ;) Total bulbs are 7 x 48' Blue Plus bulbs and 1 Figi purple.

DSCF1141.jpg


Pics don't due the colors justice..

DSCF1145.jpg


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holy cow.

so your bulb combo is 7x b+ and 1x FP?

That is one hell of a frag tank! Plan on starting a business any time soon? Lol
 
Lyfey said:
holy cow.

so your bulb combo is 7x b+ and 1x FP?

That is one hell of a frag tank! Plan on starting a business any time soon? Lol
Click to expand...


Yeah, with that bulb combo I am able to generate ~350-400 PAR across the entire frag rack.

No plans to start a business. Actually, I only sell coral about 1x a year at our local fragswap. I keep frags of everything in the main display as a back up. Also, I grow out frags to mini colonies before mounting them in the display so things are constantly changing.
 
OK, confession time. For those who have seen my tank in person, you know the outside of the tank has a lot to be desired. For those of you that have not seen it, I've been cropping photos to hide the embarassment.

For the past year and a half the outside of the tank has been unfinished and quite frankly, a bit ghetto. I had a piece of styrofoam wedged up top to keep heat and humidity in the fishroom and block light. Well, its been long enough so I decided to finish things up. Now to finish the rest of the basement.....

Here's the ghetto rig, lol.
DSCF1151.jpg


Here's the progress I made. Everything is complete and awaits painting later this week. The front panel completely flips up for access.

DSCF1159.jpg


DSCF1158.jpg
 
Jeff, looks great. Love the way you are finishing it off. There are times I wish I could access mine from the front too ;-)
 
Thanks murf. For the longest time I wasn't sure how I was going to make it work. In hindsite, I would have built the wall a little different. However, I'm pleased with how it came out. Now the un-fun part of painting it which I want to do ASAP before the humidity gets to it.
 
Clean :D

Can you post a pic of what the faux rocks behind the blue acrylic look like? I really like the effect of the backlit background...
 
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