thebkramer
New member
:lol: Even with your help, I STILL Can't See him!!! DUH!!! :hammer:
What to do with a 55gal?
- Thread starter jenjen
- Start date
jason2459
Well-known member
thebkramer
New member
:lmao:
Thanks....I swear, uhhh, yea...
Thanks....I swear, uhhh, yea...
jenjen
New member
Ha, you spotted him! He's stealth - has a zillion little hide outs in the tank.
A most interesting development since Mrs started hosting in the toadstool. Not sure if it's because of the proximity of the toadstool to the blenny's hide out, but every time Mrs swims away from it the blenny swims in and sits in the toadstool. Just perches there looking around. He chases Mrs away, which upsets her to no end. Eventually he gets bored and leaves, so she races over. Funny little game they have going on.
Water change day. I'll try to post some pics once I get the tank cleaned up and pretty.
A most interesting development since Mrs started hosting in the toadstool. Not sure if it's because of the proximity of the toadstool to the blenny's hide out, but every time Mrs swims away from it the blenny swims in and sits in the toadstool. Just perches there looking around. He chases Mrs away, which upsets her to no end. Eventually he gets bored and leaves, so she races over. Funny little game they have going on.
Water change day. I'll try to post some pics once I get the tank cleaned up and pretty.
jenjen
New member
Two weeks with running the filter, and the red slime is finally backing off. There's a bit left on the sand under the toadstool, but it's only a thin layer now. It's not on any of the rocks anymore.
I'm still doing twice a week water changes, and I'm changing one carbon cartridge a week (there's two in the filter).
I still have hair algae on the left rock, but nowhere else. The snails & hermits pick away at it but don't seem to be putting much of a dent in it. I'm going to leave it as long as it stays contained to the one rock. I don't really mind the look of it on the one rock, but I don't want a tank over-run with it.
Mrs is in the toadstool almost full-time during the day now. She still won't let Mr in there, and keeps him pushed to the far right of the tank. She sleeps over there with him at night though. The toadstool itself has gotten larger, and is open more since it's been hosting her. Interesting - I had thought she might irritate it, but apparently not so.
The banggai's seem content to keep to their side of the tank. I've never seen them behave agressively but no other fish ever ventures into the left third of the tank, so they must have made themselves clear somehow. They're sticking very close together, and the one I think is male has started doing a shaking/twitching sort of dance. I'm really hopeful that they are actually male/female and will pair.
With the algae receeding at least a little and the fishes starting to behave as though they're comfortable in the tank, I'm feeling pretty good about the progress we're making. The tank is just past 7 months.
I'm still doing twice a week water changes, and I'm changing one carbon cartridge a week (there's two in the filter).
I still have hair algae on the left rock, but nowhere else. The snails & hermits pick away at it but don't seem to be putting much of a dent in it. I'm going to leave it as long as it stays contained to the one rock. I don't really mind the look of it on the one rock, but I don't want a tank over-run with it.
Mrs is in the toadstool almost full-time during the day now. She still won't let Mr in there, and keeps him pushed to the far right of the tank. She sleeps over there with him at night though. The toadstool itself has gotten larger, and is open more since it's been hosting her. Interesting - I had thought she might irritate it, but apparently not so.
The banggai's seem content to keep to their side of the tank. I've never seen them behave agressively but no other fish ever ventures into the left third of the tank, so they must have made themselves clear somehow. They're sticking very close together, and the one I think is male has started doing a shaking/twitching sort of dance. I'm really hopeful that they are actually male/female and will pair.
With the algae receeding at least a little and the fishes starting to behave as though they're comfortable in the tank, I'm feeling pretty good about the progress we're making. The tank is just past 7 months.
jenjen
New member
BABIES ON THE WAY!!!!!!!
My Banggai's are gonna be parents! :beer:
Well, I should qualify that by saying I don't intend to try and raise the babies, so they're going to be parents somewhat briefly until they or someone else gobble up the poor little un-suspecting babies. :eek1:
So just to refresh, I purchased my Banggai pair on March 7th, as juvenile CB Banggai's. The LFS employee said she can sex them correctly around 80% of the time, and said I could return one or both if they didn't pair. She said my male looked 'very male' and my female was questionable but she though it was probably female.
Since then I clearly mixed them up, because I've had them backwards the whole time. It was as it turns out, my female who was doing the shake&twitch dance this past week, which after some reading up turns out to be normal.
They are sticking VERY close together and staying to a quiet corner of the tank, and the male while he did eat this morning will not accept food this evening.
Enough of my chatter. Here's a couple of pics. Please excuse the quality, I'll take better ones in the next day or two... I just don't want to disrupt them too much today.
Facing forward, male on the bottom/left:
Side by side, male to the back/left:
Over the weekend I decided to move the toadstool over toward the right side of the tank, because since Mrs Clarkii has been hosting in it she has moved her territory quite a bit into the Banggai territory. She seems unhappy, but is sticking more to the right side of the tank as I had hoped. Maybe she'll leave them alone a little more, and let them keep to themselves.
My Banggai's are gonna be parents! :beer:
Well, I should qualify that by saying I don't intend to try and raise the babies, so they're going to be parents somewhat briefly until they or someone else gobble up the poor little un-suspecting babies. :eek1:
So just to refresh, I purchased my Banggai pair on March 7th, as juvenile CB Banggai's. The LFS employee said she can sex them correctly around 80% of the time, and said I could return one or both if they didn't pair. She said my male looked 'very male' and my female was questionable but she though it was probably female.
Since then I clearly mixed them up, because I've had them backwards the whole time. It was as it turns out, my female who was doing the shake&twitch dance this past week, which after some reading up turns out to be normal.
They are sticking VERY close together and staying to a quiet corner of the tank, and the male while he did eat this morning will not accept food this evening.
Enough of my chatter. Here's a couple of pics. Please excuse the quality, I'll take better ones in the next day or two... I just don't want to disrupt them too much today.
Facing forward, male on the bottom/left:
Side by side, male to the back/left:
Over the weekend I decided to move the toadstool over toward the right side of the tank, because since Mrs Clarkii has been hosting in it she has moved her territory quite a bit into the Banggai territory. She seems unhappy, but is sticking more to the right side of the tank as I had hoped. Maybe she'll leave them alone a little more, and let them keep to themselves.
jenjen
New member
Well, we're on day 3 with a mouth full of babies and things seem to be going well. Daddy B is still not eating, and is sticking pretty much in one place. Momma B eats like a horse... no "trying not to make him feel" bad goin' on here! She seems to go between defending their space, swimming all cozy & close, or picking at him and generally seeming to annoy him.
I had moved the leather, but since it was on the sand, Pistol has taken to tunneling under it and last night managed to flip it so it was on it's head this morning. So I attached it to the rock structure.
Here's what a very sad toadstool looks like:
I'm going to place a couple of zoa colonies in the area to grow over the epoxy, though I find this pink stuff blends in pretty well within a couple of weeks.
Here's a FTS from today. Excuse the dirty back wall - I'm not going to clean it until the babies arrive, since it really upsets everyone when I scrape it.
I had moved the leather, but since it was on the sand, Pistol has taken to tunneling under it and last night managed to flip it so it was on it's head this morning. So I attached it to the rock structure.
Here's what a very sad toadstool looks like:
I'm going to place a couple of zoa colonies in the area to grow over the epoxy, though I find this pink stuff blends in pretty well within a couple of weeks.
Here's a FTS from today. Excuse the dirty back wall - I'm not going to clean it until the babies arrive, since it really upsets everyone when I scrape it.
jenjen
New member
Day 5 of Banggai babies on the way. Daddy B was all 'marbles in the mouth' this morning when I left for work, but this afternoon looks less so. I put a bit of food in and he is not eating, but he does not have the same look as he's had. My husband has been renovating an adjoining room in our house, so it's possible some loud noise startled him. I'll keep observing this evening and tomorrow morning and hopefully either the babies are still in there or he starts eating again. It's unnerving watching a fish not eat for days!!!
The poor toadstool is still on it's side as pictured above, but it's open and Mrs is hosting in it again. He really doesn't look up to hosting anyone, but is being a good sport. I'll try and find something to prop him up with if he still looks like that by tomorrow.
The Pistol shrimp has started wandering up on the rocks in the past couple of days. He's always been out & about, but never off the sand before that I've seen. The YWG seems quite beside himself over it all. They've created a pile of sand in the back right corner which is approaching 8"... pretty sure they're trying to put all the sand from the tank into that one pile.
I'm not sure I'm ready to say it out loud yet, but aside from the back wall, the tank appears to be CYANO FREE. I do still have HA on the left-most rock, but otherwise the tank is looking wonderful finally. Patience... apparently it DOES work.
The poor toadstool is still on it's side as pictured above, but it's open and Mrs is hosting in it again. He really doesn't look up to hosting anyone, but is being a good sport. I'll try and find something to prop him up with if he still looks like that by tomorrow.
The Pistol shrimp has started wandering up on the rocks in the past couple of days. He's always been out & about, but never off the sand before that I've seen. The YWG seems quite beside himself over it all. They've created a pile of sand in the back right corner which is approaching 8"... pretty sure they're trying to put all the sand from the tank into that one pile.
I'm not sure I'm ready to say it out loud yet, but aside from the back wall, the tank appears to be CYANO FREE. I do still have HA on the left-most rock, but otherwise the tank is looking wonderful finally. Patience... apparently it DOES work.
jenjen
New member
Well, Daddy B. is back to eating as of this morning. He lasted 5 days with the babies in tow. Can't say I blame him... who wants to go 3 weeks without eating???
I'll be scraping the back wall again today and doing a good size water change. I'm out of town for the week, so this will be the first full week without a WC and with the family responsible for feeding. Fingers crossed we don't have an algae setback while I'm gone!
I'll be scraping the back wall again today and doing a good size water change. I'm out of town for the week, so this will be the first full week without a WC and with the family responsible for feeding. Fingers crossed we don't have an algae setback while I'm gone!
jenjen
New member
Just got back in town from my business trip. Happy to say both tanks survived just fine. The only issue is that the water level is a little low, but I topped 'er up and all looks good. The toadstool is wide open and while not standing back up, it doesn't seem to be leaning quite as much. Also, it looks to me like both Clarkii's are being hosted in the toadstool... I'll have to check them out again later to be sure. Thankfully the algae is still gone.
So all in all, things are looking good. Pics to follow, this weekend.
So all in all, things are looking good. Pics to follow, this weekend.
jenjen
New member
Both Clarkii's are most definitely living in the toadstool, though Mr seems to stay the closest while Mrs roams & then returns.
Momma B is doing the mating dance again. I'm going to track it from today on & try to record the timelines between each stage. At some point I would love to be able to raise these sweet little babies.
Momma B is doing the mating dance again. I'm going to track it from today on & try to record the timelines between each stage. At some point I would love to be able to raise these sweet little babies.
jenjen
New member
Yesterday was a busy day... we hit all the LFS's and got a couple of goodies. I'm going to be switching salts to try and raise the Calcium in my other tank, so that was the main focus of the trip along with a couple of other little supplies. And I added an RBTA to the 180g, and an Urchin to this tank.
Long Spine Urchin (aprox. 1/2" body, 2" spine spread):
The toadstool is open and appears happy, but is still laying on it's side and is detaching from it's rock. Not quite sure what I'm going to do about it yet.
Here's a pic:
Post water change pics to come later today.
Long Spine Urchin (aprox. 1/2" body, 2" spine spread):
The toadstool is open and appears happy, but is still laying on it's side and is detaching from it's rock. Not quite sure what I'm going to do about it yet.
Here's a pic:
Post water change pics to come later today.
jenjen
New member
May 5 - I came home from work early and saw Momma B doing a weird 'shudder' right up close beside Daddy B. She kept doing it over and over, and I assumed it was something to do with transferring the eggs.
May 6 - Daddy B is not eating, and looks like he has a mouth full of marbles again.
So 7 days from the first dancing to eggs-in-mouth. He's held them one day so far. Hopefully he breaks his 5 day record this time.
May 6 - Daddy B is not eating, and looks like he has a mouth full of marbles again.
So 7 days from the first dancing to eggs-in-mouth. He's held them one day so far. Hopefully he breaks his 5 day record this time.
jenjen
New member
The toadstool finally decided to let go from it's rock and landed itself head-first in the sand. I did a little re-arranging and found a nice little hole for it to plant its foot into. So far it's staying put, but I expect I'll need some super-glue gel to keep it in there until it attaches. Both Clarkii's are swimming circles around it like sharks, just waiting for it to open up.
Water change day is tomorrow... pics will follow.
Water change day is tomorrow... pics will follow.
jenjen
New member
Thanks for the feedback regardless! I am infact done for fish in this tank, and every time I feel the urge to get more fish I just buy more corals for my other tank. So far so good, resisting the urge, and the coral collection is coming along nicely in the other tank.
jenjen
New member
My female Bangaii died today. 
Not sure why.. she was fine last night, eating etc., and was dead this morning. They spawned recently. They've been in my tank 2.5 months. The male is looking fine, as are the other fish and all the inverts. I'll give it a while before I replace her, just to make sure things are ok in the tank. One of the LFS has some tank bred Bangaii's in stock, so I may put a female in QT if they can pick one out for me.
Otherwise, the tank is doing well. The urchin is making a dent in the hair algae and everything is looking healthy and happy.
Not sure why.. she was fine last night, eating etc., and was dead this morning. They spawned recently. They've been in my tank 2.5 months. The male is looking fine, as are the other fish and all the inverts. I'll give it a while before I replace her, just to make sure things are ok in the tank. One of the LFS has some tank bred Bangaii's in stock, so I may put a female in QT if they can pick one out for me.Otherwise, the tank is doing well. The urchin is making a dent in the hair algae and everything is looking healthy and happy.
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