Those Bongo Shrimps are Beast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I like your goby/shrimp pair

Ok, so I haven't done an update for a while but I will do one hopefully on tuesday when I recieve the latest additions. Two barrel (tube) sponges and an assortment of caribbean single stemmed plants! Plus I am waiting to get a BASKET star as well for my reef!

This is what the tube sponges will look like:
http://i47.tinypic.com/k0mrl1.jpg

I like those sponges! Exotic!

I can't wait to see the basket star!

Just got my tube sponge and plants!

New pics:






Shows how big the sponge is; bad shot because it was at an angle to the glass:

what a cool, intriguing tank.

Thanks!!!!!

That thing is pretty weird!

The tank is looking good! About how many sponges do you have?

What's the current fish list?

Right now, the is a big tube sponge, a purple monti like sponge,a blue sponge, and a little tiny bit of a finger sponge that died while I was on vacation. I'll be getting more sponges soon.

Fish:
x1 Reidi Seahorse (ORA)
x1 Banded Pipefish
x1 Yashia Goby

Inverts:
x4 (maybe 3, not 100% yet) Bongo Shrimp
x1 Randall's Pistol Shrimp
x1 Sand Sifting Starfish
x6 Plants

Looks like you've had a few fish losses

Are planning on getting more fish soon?

bongo im so sorry to hear about the loses youve had latly. but it looks lie the tank is recovering.

Yeah I lost a few things when I accidentally raised the pH too quickly. I tried to add another pipefish but the one I already have tried to kill it. I'll be adding more fish soon.

I don't mean to seem like a downer, but how do you plan on keeping all those sponges and filter feeding animals alive? It seems more like you are valuing more their novelty than their feasibility of survival in aquaria. You're asking for stuff to start dying and your aquarium to crash.

That's just my opinion, and I don't mean to be rude, but I think it's kind of irresponsible.

Well until I had a power outage all was good. Everything was fine and even growing. The large tube sponge died of unknown causes but a friend of mine got the same type and it is fine. I load the system with DTs and other small foods. That tank was designed around keeping sponges alive and that's what it does. And it does it pretty well. I have two sponges right now that survived the power outage and are going on to be over a year old!

By the way, I know about the requirements of the sponges and I am feeding to suit them. You can only get the novelty part after you successfully learn how to keep them alive.

I'm just a little bit more skeptical of your ability to keep these organisms than it seems many users of NR care to be. Filter feeding organisms can take a very long time to starve to death in aquaria. Scientists and researchers with their Ph.D's in marine biology have a very difficult time keeping crinoids and sponges alive with their resources and you think your tiny little nano reefs are going to cut it in the long run?

Get real.

Ok, so there are two of us on here that have been able to keep crinoids alive for over 2yrs. I've had one of mine for almost 3yrs. I think it depends on the type you are able to get your hands on. You have all the evidence you need in front of you. See it, and get real.

So maybe I'm lucky and have figured out how to keep them alive. Is there a problem with that?

Just folllwd this whle convrstion CGNANO needs to ease up, Bongo shrimp already said he done his homewrk on keepin sponges and crinoids, and the tank waz desingd round thur needs, on top of that he has his crinoids n things for bout three years! CGNANO its cool to be concerned bout the long term needs of peeps livestock, but Bongo Shrimp got his stuff on now just sounds like u wanna sound smart not tryin to sound rude or nything

BONGO SHRIMPS A G

I have no problem with someone who is successfully keeping their organisms thriving. However, what I do have a problem with is someone like you who has a couple bucks to throw at their tank so you buy every unique organism you can and throw it in your tank. Meanwhile you have organism after organism dying, which you attribute to 'power outages' and 'too much buffer', and yet you continue to add more and more. Sounds a lot like something a responsible, sensible hobbyist would do, doesn't it?

I wouldn't be nearly as irritated if you were a beginner starting out and you had a couple of chromis die. The organisms you are killing are directly adversely affected by the saltwater aquarium trade and people like you who buy organisms that are doomed to death are only further fueling the flame. That's why I get irritated about this, not because you are under the delusion that you are successfully keeping that many filter feeding organisms in a tank the size of a small tide pool.

By the way,



Any other NR members want to chime in on how many times they've heard this before?

well... we only know that by your word.



No, i think he's just more skeptical than you are. There's a reason why we dont see these things in a lot of peoples tanks. How the fvck is his nano "desingd round thur needs" when we really don't know much about the needs of crinoids at all.

I hear u fishfreak, nobody has had sucseess wit keepin criniods alive not even scientists. All im sayin is tha fact that bongoshrimp has had sucsess wit sponges let alone crinoids, means he doin somthn rite he got my props, thur aint no reason for peeps on here to be scoldn him on what hes accomplshd

Ok I wanted to stay out of this mostly. You don't have to believe me, but I have kept the orange feather star for almost 3yrs now. At one point my pH went down and some of his arms started falling off. HOWEVER, I have since raised the pH and his arms have grown back. As for the sponges, I can't help that my power went out during the last snow storm in the midwest and I also make a mistake once in a while. Like with the pH buffer. Maybe you should stop focusing on me, who has been able to care for all these thing successfully until a power outage and a tiny mistake and focus your negative energy on people who actually don't do their homework and buy things like feather stars, sponges, cephalopods, and even fish that are hard to keep. Like people who buy seahorses that end up being eaten by anemones.

It's starting to sound like you are a bit jealous and thanks to everyone who has the heart to give me the benefit of the doubt. You know, it's not like I keep secrets about how I'm feeding the feather stars and sponges. Maybe if I hadn't told you that I brush them with a baby's toothbrush almost every other day to keep the algae off. Maybe if I hadn't told you about my successes and mistakes, you could assume something was fishy and I was lying. BUT NO- I have shared all of these things with you on this thread. You can only do your best to take care of these things AND I ASSURE YOU THIS- there are way more people out there killing these types of animals for multiple reasons. So I had two mishaps, one that was beyond my control, but everyone makes mistakes.

BONGOSHRIMP IS A G

Thanks, I hope we can be done with this and move on.

Agreed

You still have not directly addressed any criticism made of your methods, the only thing you've done is rehash the same things you've said over and over.

Please explain to me how a few months in a biocube is supposed to prove anything to me? Explain how you are catering to all of your animal's needs when their needs are not known? I don't even feel the need to address being "jealous" of you.

You've been around this forum for less than six months and yet you think you know it all? I've been in this hobby for the majority of my life and on this forum since 2005. I have seen many "yous" in my time on this forum and they all end up the same way. I'm still calling bs that this tank will be anything more than crashed given time.

Perhaps given time I will proven wrong, and if that's the case I'll gladly apologize to you and admit that I was incorrect.

If we don't fully know how to care for something, you can only do what you have learned (in my case from other reefers) what is best. For the sponges, I feed a DTs tree times a week plus cyclopeeze and mysis for the pipefish and seahorse. For the feathers I feed DTs and cyclopeeze, spot fed. I mean what do you want me to say. I'll admit I don't fully know why everything is living for me, but is there something wrong with that? So far my tank hasn't crashed, is there a problem with that? I don't know what you want me to say.

CGNano, where is your tank thread? How long you've been posting here is irrelevant. If you're going to start #### at least show the man all the filter feeders you are keeping, used to keep and killed, how long your tank has been up, etc, etc. You know, proof that you actually have the experience to back up the bull#### attitude.

CGNano, please just stop thrashing Bongo! He's proven he has the true ability to keep these difficult animals. 3 years is a pretty long time.

I am completely agianst animal abuse, just look at my name. I've been an animal lover since before 2. I would never want a beginner to have one of these. Bongo Shrimp may be new to this forum, but surely he is not a beginner in the hobby if he can keep these animals alive. He also sounds like a smart person because the way he takes care of the animals and the time he spends is great. It's starting to sound to me that you are jealous and maybe trying to make a useless point. Please stop. Bongo Shrimp has awesome tanks and is very good with caring for animals in the salwater aquarium hobby. Please stop.


Blue Lorax- Your new avatar is awesome!

Finally im not the only one who agrees CGNano is a lil bit outta line. Yea I finally found an avatar that fit ma name

Bongo Shrimp is a G!

To tell you the truth I liked all your avatars. This is my fav though.

I go here for most of them http://www.avatarsdb.com/

I like the Kung Fu panda one. Funny. Great Site!

Well... since I already know, two more bongo shrimp are coming into this tank. He stole another purchase out from under me

Haha, well here's what I was about to say:

How many bongo shrimps do you have now (including the two you just ordered)

How do you keep a steady supply of asterinas?

Tank is awesome!! I've wondered how a BC29 would look as a seahorse tank! Now I know!

Thanks guys.

Now I will have a total of 5, would have been 6, and still could be 6 but I haven't seen all four for a while now.

I keep a steady flow of starfish by either rotating pieces of LR full of brittle stars (since they really prefer brittle stars) and I'm trying to get them fully on asterina stars too. Those come from the tanks at my LFS.

Here's the new pair!

5-6 Bongos! You have a truly unique setup here.

wow i go to work and miss all the excitment. anyway how many shrimp do you think would be the max for this setup, bongo.

Yay new Bongo Shrimps!

Can't wait to see them!

Thanks guys. I don't really know what the max amount of shrimp it could take. I mean, they are all so so small. The new pair are both only 1/2" each. Plus I'm adding a fuge to my reef and if that works out ok, I might add one to my lagoon too.

If they are that small and if you have a fuge you cold probably add a few more.

OH I WILL!!!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the new bongos, I don't think they are a pair though. Working with LA/DD on that issue...







----------------------------------------------------------------------

On the other hand, here's a cool pic of "The Beast" (he's the biggest of the bongos). Notice the blue streaks-

Great Pics! Great Bongos!

nice!

New unknown encrusting sponge:


Some sort of plant, bought it under the name "sea fern" but I think it is really called something else:


And... Orange Seahorse, lookin goooood: