thanks and a couple q's

[hopkinkm]

first of all I got the first half of my package yesterday and was totally impressed by the quality of this rock. If this is the "lesser" stuff I cant wait for the good batch.

The 2 of the 3 boxes were intact and dry the third was a little soggy, unfortunately that was one of the rock boxes which when I opened it, stank of the grave, so I have some extra cure time to do I think.

Unfortunately the first rock I set in the water started clicking...I know what lies ahead, so I have some traps to set. But there were some good hitchikers as well. At least 3 snails I have found, a ton of worms. One of which is reddish orange and has a "cloud of orange" around him/her which are actually little filaments. And a little crab which I cant tell if its a gorilla or not, too small yet.

So my questions...

I found 2 different anenome's one is a translucent white/pearl and the other is brown with white stripes. aptaisia?

There is a colony of orange circular corals (not mushroom, I know what those look like) they look like miniature tubes. I only have 110 watts of VHO over the tank right now, I was not expecting this much life just yet. Do the coral stand a chance of living? the cure process might do them in, but do I have the light to give them a fighting shot?

who wants one, possibly 2 mantis shrimp?


Kory

 

[hdtran]

The translucent anemone is most probably a coral, "Phyllangia." Do a search.

The brown/white stripe anemone most probably has the common name "light bulb anemone," and has not been definitively identified with a latin name. There is speculation that it is of the Bartolomea family, but that's just speculation.

The orange tubular corals are most likely to be Cladacora.

No more definitive ID can be made w/o photos...

110 W of VHO (that's just 1 bulb, right?) over 55g is ok for now. You'll probably want to go to 2 bulbs (or more ) eventually. Your hitchhiking corals will be ok for quite a while.

 

[hopkinkm]

phlyangia & Cladacora, yep thats the stuff, just found a picture them on the florida fish& wildlife site...thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I'll see if I can get my wife's digicam to work so I can photograph the brown& white striped anenome

Actually I have 2 VHO bulbs 1 white 1 actinic 03 110 watts each (sorry my mistake) so I take it the coral will be just fine for the time being?


Thanks for the help, any takers on those mantis....anyone?

Kory

 

[hdtran]

For the brown/white anemone, check this out:

http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id148.htm

Yes, 1 white + 1 actinic VHO at 110W each is more than fine for your tank

 

[hopkinkm]

could be, mine is a tad darker but it could be the photo's lighting.

are lightbulb anenome's aggressive?

Kory

btw. I saw the face of the enemy this afternoon, those mantis's are scary lookin :eek1:

 

[hdtran]

I have not observed any problems w/ my light bulb anemones. No movement, no reproduction.

 

[hopkinkm]

a quick question, I seem to have a fish hitchhiker, it wont stay still long enough to be photographed, its a rather shy fella.

About a half in long (likely juvenile) white to near transparent body, black vertical stripes all along the body, and black eyes. His body is rather elongated and tubular. Thus far he/she has managed to evade my 2 mantis shimps.

Does anyone know of a pictoral book or guide on the web I can try to id it with? Its from TBS of course so its local to florida if that helps. And I tried floridamarine.org and nothing on their charts resembles it.

Thanks again, this place rocks.

Kory

 

[Dazz]

I was using a 50/50 93 watt PC for the first 3 months of my 50 gallon so your VHO will be fine. I did eventually switch to 2 250 watt 10k MH with 2 93 watt PC acintics, love the higher intensity.

Also, your mantis shrimp are most probably smashers so wont actually go for the fish. Not sure what the fish is sorry.

 

[hdtran]

a quick question, I seem to have a fish hitchhiker, it wont stay still long enough to be photographed, its a rather shy fella.

About a half in long (likely juvenile) white to near transparent body, black vertical stripes all along the body, and black eyes. His body is rather elongated and tubular. Thus far he/she has managed to evade my 2 mantis shimps.

Does anyone know of a pictoral book or guide on the web I can try to id it with? Its from TBS of course so its local to florida if that helps. And I tried floridamarine.org and nothing on their charts resembles it.

Thanks again, this place rocks.

Kory

Fish is most probably a tiger goby, which is not an uncommon hitchhiker with TBS live sand (!!).

For a pictorial guide, try Paul Humann/Ned (I think) DeLoach. They have a field guide for identifying Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico critters (aimed at snorkelers & scuba divers, but I'm sure works well for reefers).

 

[hopkinkm]

at long last my nitrites have dropped to zero! Anybody know a good mantis bait? I want to get rid of that punk before i get the second half of the package.

Kory