Gorgok
New member
Hello, its my first tank and first post here. This learning process is a different kind all together but i finally think i am on the right track considering how the tank is performing.
The tank is 70 gallons pentagon (2'x2'x30") with a built in sump (i would get a blank the next time around... newbie mistake) but i have since drilled the sump (after the wet/dry) and built a custom 7 sided sump tank (getting a shape that would use as much room as i could and still fit under the tank was fun). Setup is pretty simple still, with a Reef Octopus BH-1000 hanging on the sump (more water volume that way), a NextReef SMR1 and its own pump, a pair of modded Tunze 6025 powerheads, plus return pump and heater.
Life wise i have a cleaner pack and 2 clowns (though i am unsure if they are really Percula clowns or Ocellaris). Invert wise there are 4 types of snails, of which one is breeding like crazy, one most likely breeding, though they seem to do it out of water at the top of the tank, and one of which there are only 2, but i saw one of them spawning today (male snail by the looks of it, but i didn't see the other today). Not sure if he has any hope of getting little ones with only the 2 of them (and being unsure if the other is even female)... I suppose i don't have a question here.
There is also a cucumber, which is brings me to my first actual question in the post. Do cucumbers split in half for some reason? I know the pack only had one, and a few weeks ago i saw it on top of a flat rock but then a couple of minutes later i saw it on the bottom. I looked back and the one on the rock was still there. They looked identical to the point where i started to try and see if it had been cut in half by a crab or something (unlikely considering how much fatter it was compared to the crab claws). I never saw a smaller cucumber to suggest it grew to that size, but then again i rarely see it...
A few feather dusters hitchhiked with the pack as well. The only problem with a couple of them is that they are stuck to a piece of plastic. Is there a way to move these things without hurting them? How far deep do they go in their tubes? I think these are multiplying as well, as i find what look like little tiny spirals with a tiny tiny duster at random spots on the tank walls (and what look like the same on some rocks, but i cannot see the dusters that small without visual aids =D).
Some brittle starfish also are in the tank, though how many there are is tricky to determine. Surprising them at night with a flashlight is the best way to see them, but even then they hide pretty quick. During the day i can see some legs here and there, but that only shows the front/top sides of the rocks, and there could be lots more. No questions here either.
And then there are now definitely worms too (and not just the dusters). Though i did not intend to get any, they came none the less (and i knew at least one did come, but there are lots). Not really worried, they are so small and don't look like the bad sort of bristle worm that hurt and eat fish. But an ID on them would be nice none the less. But they do look like bristle worms of some sort. Best i could do is a picture with my iPhone, but its a special iPhone =D. To give some perspective, that is probably about 7-8mm long, of which only about 1/2 or 3/4 is in the picture. I hope i picked the right end as its head... I am not actually sure they are all of this sort, as the ones on the rocks (instead of against the walls like this one in a crevice) are quite a bit farther away and hard to see as clearly.
There there are some zebra legged hermit crabs (the small kind). But they seem so straight forward compared to the more strange creatures of the tank so i don't really have anything to say or ask about them.
Also there are hundreds, if not thousands, of amphipods. I don't know where they are breeding... i have no macro or anything for them, but they swarm all over the substrate (coral gravel) and the rocks. Nothing to ask about them either.
The amount of life in a tank with only 2 fish is amazing really. I actually think its more interesting to watch the tank at night right now as well. Hopefully they don't mind the occasional flashlight intrusion.
If you get to here and it makes no sense, don't worry, i may be crazy. I hope i actually did ask some questions in there instead of just rambling on....
PS i can get more special pictures (or video, though not quite as close up) of snails (mainly) and some of those tiny dusters if desired, with the phone. Anything else that cooperates and plasters themselves on the walls too. Snails eating is fun to watch that close up.
The tank is 70 gallons pentagon (2'x2'x30") with a built in sump (i would get a blank the next time around... newbie mistake) but i have since drilled the sump (after the wet/dry) and built a custom 7 sided sump tank (getting a shape that would use as much room as i could and still fit under the tank was fun). Setup is pretty simple still, with a Reef Octopus BH-1000 hanging on the sump (more water volume that way), a NextReef SMR1 and its own pump, a pair of modded Tunze 6025 powerheads, plus return pump and heater.
Life wise i have a cleaner pack and 2 clowns (though i am unsure if they are really Percula clowns or Ocellaris). Invert wise there are 4 types of snails, of which one is breeding like crazy, one most likely breeding, though they seem to do it out of water at the top of the tank, and one of which there are only 2, but i saw one of them spawning today (male snail by the looks of it, but i didn't see the other today). Not sure if he has any hope of getting little ones with only the 2 of them (and being unsure if the other is even female)... I suppose i don't have a question here.
There is also a cucumber, which is brings me to my first actual question in the post. Do cucumbers split in half for some reason? I know the pack only had one, and a few weeks ago i saw it on top of a flat rock but then a couple of minutes later i saw it on the bottom. I looked back and the one on the rock was still there. They looked identical to the point where i started to try and see if it had been cut in half by a crab or something (unlikely considering how much fatter it was compared to the crab claws). I never saw a smaller cucumber to suggest it grew to that size, but then again i rarely see it...
A few feather dusters hitchhiked with the pack as well. The only problem with a couple of them is that they are stuck to a piece of plastic. Is there a way to move these things without hurting them? How far deep do they go in their tubes? I think these are multiplying as well, as i find what look like little tiny spirals with a tiny tiny duster at random spots on the tank walls (and what look like the same on some rocks, but i cannot see the dusters that small without visual aids =D).
Some brittle starfish also are in the tank, though how many there are is tricky to determine. Surprising them at night with a flashlight is the best way to see them, but even then they hide pretty quick. During the day i can see some legs here and there, but that only shows the front/top sides of the rocks, and there could be lots more. No questions here either.
And then there are now definitely worms too (and not just the dusters). Though i did not intend to get any, they came none the less (and i knew at least one did come, but there are lots). Not really worried, they are so small and don't look like the bad sort of bristle worm that hurt and eat fish. But an ID on them would be nice none the less. But they do look like bristle worms of some sort. Best i could do is a picture with my iPhone, but its a special iPhone =D. To give some perspective, that is probably about 7-8mm long, of which only about 1/2 or 3/4 is in the picture. I hope i picked the right end as its head... I am not actually sure they are all of this sort, as the ones on the rocks (instead of against the walls like this one in a crevice) are quite a bit farther away and hard to see as clearly.
There there are some zebra legged hermit crabs (the small kind). But they seem so straight forward compared to the more strange creatures of the tank so i don't really have anything to say or ask about them.
Also there are hundreds, if not thousands, of amphipods. I don't know where they are breeding... i have no macro or anything for them, but they swarm all over the substrate (coral gravel) and the rocks. Nothing to ask about them either.
The amount of life in a tank with only 2 fish is amazing really. I actually think its more interesting to watch the tank at night right now as well. Hopefully they don't mind the occasional flashlight intrusion.
If you get to here and it makes no sense, don't worry, i may be crazy. I hope i actually did ask some questions in there instead of just rambling on....
PS i can get more special pictures (or video, though not quite as close up) of snails (mainly) and some of those tiny dusters if desired, with the phone. Anything else that cooperates and plasters themselves on the walls too. Snails eating is fun to watch that close up.
