ReefWeeds Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 I still have been unsuccessful in trapping my two hitchhiker crabs. The original one I saw (kind of greenish/tan translucent) has since molted twice and is now at least 2 inches across (body is probably one inch). The crazy white fuzzy crab with red eyes has molted once and relocated from the original live rock to one up higher. Neither will take the bait - literally. Here's the last molt of the greenish/tan crab. Link to comment
Dan R Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I still have been unsuccessful in trapping my two hitchhiker crabs. The original one I saw (kind of greenish/tan translucent) has since molted twice and is now at least 2 inches across (body is probably one inch). The crazy white fuzzy crab with red eyes has molted once and relocated from the original live rock to one up higher. Neither will take the bait - literally. Here's the last molt of the greenish/tan crab. To much vodka or is it not enough vodka to catch a crab. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 Most likely not enough! Is there ever enough??? One of our cats (McGannihan) is obsessed with the tank. He sits next to it, obsessed especially with the shrimp. We now refer to the tank as Mac TV. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 HA! he totally is! Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Haha- great pics of the cat watching. Nice leathers in the corner- they look happy ? Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Haha- great pics of the cat watching. Nice leathers in the corner- they look happy He is OBSESSED with the tank. Actually, the tank and the screen saver on my macbook air seem to be equally eye-catching for Mac. A strong, full cover was definitely a must for our tank. He's actually a really funny cat - we have two giant standard poodles (70+ lbs each) and a bichon as well and he is constantly starting wrestling matches and whatnot. I'm pretty sure he's used up more than 9 lives. The leathers were happier before I tried to kill a teeny tiny aiptasia. They aren't fond of Joe's Juice. They seem to be healing though. I want to start trying to frag them and felt they were a good coral to start with! AND YOUR TANK IS AMAZZZZING. I've learned a lot reading through your tank thread, and I'm only about half-way through! Link to comment
GokesReef Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Pics look great! I think the questionable vertical brain is a hydnophora, if you get PE from it - nice scores Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Pics look great! I think the questionable vertical brain is a hydnophora, if you get PE from it - nice scores Thank you!!! I will keep a look out. I just put it in the QT tank as I think it has some sort of boring worm or something. It almost has eyes and I've seen some PE from those, but not much yet. Looks like it is a fresh cut frag, so it is probably healing. Hopefully it heals ok. Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 He is OBSESSED with the tank. Actually, the tank and the screen saver on my macbook air seem to be equally eye-catching for Mac. A strong, full cover was definitely a must for our tank. He's actually a really funny cat - we have two giant standard poodles (70+ lbs each) and a bichon as well and he is constantly starting wrestling matches and whatnot. I'm pretty sure he's used up more than 9 lives. The leathers were happier before I tried to kill a teeny tiny aiptasia. They aren't fond of Joe's Juice. They seem to be healing though. I want to start trying to frag them and felt they were a good coral to start with! AND YOUR TANK IS AMAZZZZING. I've learned a lot reading through your tank thread, and I'm only about half-way through! Thank you- Ya you have to use small amounts of Joe's juice or Aiptasia X- it can cause the ph to rise to quickly in small tanks. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Thank you- Ya you have to use small amounts of Joe's juice or Aiptasia X- it can cause the ph to rise to quickly in small tanks. Great tip! I hadn't realized that and will definitely be more careful from now on. Finally the toadstool seems to be healing. He had what looked like a gaping wound where he was burned. This AM i looked and it seems like he finally patched himself up. freaking aiptasia. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 The Taylor's tree finally looks happy today. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Darn crabs are still alluding capture. I put a shrimp tail in the mantis trap last night and both skunks tried to get in, giving me a minor heart attack since I KNOW they won't fit with their feelers. I had thoughts of the door snapping shut and snapping off their poor feelers. I caught a couple nassarius snails (seems to be all I can catch). I saw the larger crab hanging out by the opening a bit ago, but he hasn't taken the bait. I did manage to drop the trap on my green trumpet last night and it still hasn't forgiven me. And for some reason, I tend to have a brain lapse when it comes to removing my UP band before putting my hand in the tank. it is a miracle the thing is still working as it has to be at least 5 times since January I've dipped the thing in the tank. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 The duncan ate a pretty big piece of shrimp when I was feeding some Rod's earlier! It was a lot of fun to watch. A few weeks ago, I got a small 6 gal tank and set it up as a coral QT. So far, the corals I have in there seem happy. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 My two clowns seem to be hanging out near one area of rock and the male has all of a sudden gotten really possessive of that area - to the point where he is aggressively chasing away the skunks and nipping at snails. the cleaners don't seem to be too bothered - one still lunges at him, so it looks like they're squaring off. Hopefully the little guy doesn't get too aggressive! Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 So, I've got a question for all of you. The one piece of uncured LR that I put in the tank had some serious hitchhikers. Well, plumes of sand "smoke" have been coming out for a month or so and the plumes are now more frequent and in more spots. It started with one area and now the plumes come out from about 5 different spots. What in the heck do you think is spewing sand? And in a lot of cases, it is a mucous like sand, almost like something is pooping out sand streams (like a clam, but something in the rock). The stuff piles up so fast that I actually need to baste the rock almost daily to get the sand/stuff off it. I'm pretty sure the rock would be under a mound by now if I didn't. Here are a couple of photos. You can see the mounds of sand on the rock: Link to comment
gena Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Hi Stella's mommy . Following along now. Your tank is too cute...I love your coral selections. That ORA mint pavona and your clown pair is gorgeous!!!!! I know that plume of mucusy sand you are talking about. I see it in my tank too. I'm pretty certain it's a large bristleworm doing it in my tank! It's the only thing I've seen living in the big rock where the sand gets shot out! Look around your rocks at night or after you feed and see if you don't have some bristleworms living in them . I bet you do! Link to comment
Jennite Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Great tip! thank you. Careful with pepermint shrimp... they will steal food from coral and eat coral if they don't get enough to eat. I purchased mine because I had one big sized aiptasia. I used aiptasia x on it and then got the peppermint to control the little ones you can't see. I haven't seen one for two months. He does steal food from my coral. I try to feed him first and then the coral. Then I wait and he always goes for the easy steal from the coral. I just sit there and keep him away with a turkey baster, when he comes close to any coral I gently blast him. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Hi Stella's mommy . Following along now. Your tank is too cute...I love your coral selections. That ORA mint pavona and your clown pair is gorgeous!!!!! I know that plume of mucusy sand you are talking about. I see it in my tank too. I'm pretty certain it's a large bristleworm doing it in my tank! It's the only thing I've seen living in the big rock where the sand gets shot out! Look around your rocks at night or after you feed and see if you don't have some bristleworms living in them . I bet you do! Yay! Thanks for following! I'm becoming totally addicted (read: obsessed) with this hobby. I LOVE it. I read about the mint pavona on reef builders (here's the article) and since low to medium light and low to medium flow seemed good for this guy, I had to get him! Got it through saltwaterfish.com. Although it is delicate! I had a minor heart attack yesterday AM when I woke up and saw the whole thing cracked off the plug and sitting on the sand. My pink stylo was also knocked off, along with a couple other ones. I hadn't affixed any of the corals yet as I was still trying to figure out where I wanted them to go. I'm blaming the hitchhiker crabs - although it was probably the trochus. I glued the pavona on a rock about mid tank, so hopefully it likes its new home. Since the encrusting base was still on the plug, I put the plug in my little coral QT tank with hopes that it will grow. While I was gluing the guy down, I also accidentally fragged a couple small pieces, so now those are glued to plugs and are sitting in the QT tank! The pink stylo actually popped off the frag really easily - I hate those ORA black plastic frag plugs. I tried cutting them, but that is some really hard plastic! Oy - bristleworms. I know they're good for the tank, but they give me the creeps. Here's a photo of Stella! She is a funny girl, that's for sure. She knows how to make herself comfy. And of course Franklin (red) and Iko (black and white) couldn't be left out: Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 I purchased mine because I had one big sized aiptasia. I used aiptasia x on it and then got the peppermint to control the little ones you can't see. I haven't seen one for two months. He does steal food from my coral. I try to feed him first and then the coral. Then I wait and he always goes for the easy steal from the coral. I just sit there and keep him away with a turkey baster, when he comes close to any coral I gently blast him. I think I'll try one again after burning one of my toadstools with Joe's Juice. I blasted a good size one about a month ago, removed a rock that I saw another one on and have been keeping a close eye for others popping up. I hate those things. I did see one in my fuge basket in the overflow one day. Went back a couple hours later to blast it and it was gone. I'm pretty sure that one is somewhere in the tank reproducing like crazy. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Well, I finally FINALLY caught one of the two hitchhiker crabs! Got the bigger, greenish tan one, not the scarier red-eyed white fuzzy monster. My husband set up a monster tank (6 gallon Fluval edge) so he went in there. One down, one to go! Here's a photo of the trap in the tank - I like to call this crab trapping take one million fifty seven: Here's a photo of the crab in his new home (cell phone pic, bad quality): Yesterday AM I had to do some emergency coral attaching. When I woke up, a bunch of the frags I had placed in the tank, yet to be secured, had toppled. It looked like something just went around knocking over the corals. Anyway, the mint pavona was accidentally fragged - it popped off the plug and then I accidentally fragged two small pieces off. I've moved the plug with the encrusting base and the two small frags to the QT tank: Yesterday when trying to catch the crabs, I accidentally dropped the trap on the neon trumpet and knocked him over. He was NOT happy (and I have no idea why I keep referring to my corals as "he"). He was so unhappy so I moved him to the QT tank to try to get him to rejuvenate a bit. The QT tank has the same temp and parameters as my DT, so I'm hoping this will help him. It looks like his flesh is receding a bit. This was the second time he was knocked over in a week, so the poor thing is NOT happy: Link to comment
gena Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Awwww...to cute!!!! So is your Stella like my Chloe and bosses the bigger dogs around? We also have a brittany spaniel and she thinks she's the boss of him LOL. Of course Jack could snap her in two if he wanted to, but he's a gentle dog . I totally need an ORA mint pavona . The only ORA thing I have is a grubes gorgonian. Those black plugs are a PITA. I broke the gorgonian off the plug and it wasn't easy! I hear you on the addiction. Something about this hobby just gives you that feel good high. I think it's the pretty colors . Or maybe there's some chemical in the water that messes with our minds . Yay...congrats on catching him. I think it's awesome that your husband set up a tank too. Wish mine was into it like me. I told my husband if anything happens to me, just watch out for the grandis palys (I pointed them out)...they are the second most poisonous thing on the planet LOLOLOL. He told me if something happens to me, the tank will be on Craigslist the next day . Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Awwww...to cute!!!! So is your Stella like my Chloe and bosses the bigger dogs around? We also have a brittany spaniel and she thinks she's the boss of him LOL. Of course Jack could snap her in two if he wanted to, but he's a gentle dog . I totally need an ORA mint pavona . The only ORA thing I have is a grubes gorgonian. Those black plugs are a PITA. I broke the gorgonian off the plug and it wasn't easy! I hear you on the addiction. Something about this hobby just gives you that feel good high. I think it's the pretty colors . Or maybe there's some chemical in the water that messes with our minds . Yay...congrats on catching him. I think it's awesome that your husband set up a tank too. Wish mine was into it like me. I told my husband if anything happens to me, just watch out for the grandis palys (I pointed them out)...they are the second most poisonous thing on the planet LOLOLOL. He told me if something happens to me, the tank will be on Craigslist the next day . Stella totally rules the roost! I think she thinks she is the one that is 75 lbs and the others think they're 20. I love how that always seems to be the case - the little girl dogs always are the princesses I like a lot of the ORA corals and I like what they stand for - of course they tend to be more $$ - but I like some of the montis they have. They also have mandarins that are captive bred and supposedly eat frozen prepared food, so maybe sometime down the line I'll try one. Right now, I'm happy with just the two clowns though! But I keep looking at the clown gobies. The green striped ones are so cute. HA! I figured it was the colors - and just creating your own little ecosystem, but I really think you're on to something with the chemicals in the water! My husband isn't AS into it ... yet I think I'm annoying him with all my "where do you think I should put this" and "you have to see this" and "want to go with me to X to see some corals??". He thinks I'm a little nuts! But he is building a little wine cellar area and wants to put a tank in the wall as kind of a window into the wine room. He is having fun with the monster tank though. Although I was so excited I caught one of the darn crabs, I just dumped it into his tank without acclimating so we'll see if it makes it. Although it made it through my tank cycle and apparently through the "out of the water" time with the piece of rock it came in on. I love your grandis! After reading some articles on the poisonous nature of palys and zoas I was kind of scared to add some to my tank And that is hilarious about your husband. How long have you been at this hobby? Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Nice tank, we need another FTS!! Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Nice tank, we need another FTS!! haha! Well, it ain't nuthin like your biocube! Here's one from last night. I moved around a bunch of stuff and opened up some real estate on the left for the future acan area! My Xenia (currently balanced on the top of a rock in the front left) sure doesn't look too happy yet. I'm planning on attaching the GSP on the little white frag on top left to the back wall - hopefully it will spread. I just need to find a good reef-safe magnet to attach it. I'd rather not glue it in the event I ever want to take it off. Can't wait to see how your new tank looks - love that rock scape. Link to comment
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