Oceanic Angles

[Needreefunds]

Nice observation.

 

 

 

I.e., sometimes size does matter.

NOW can I snicker??

 

 

 

6'2" 225 huh Bill?

 

Looks like you have me by an inch. ( let it go D.....) Problem is I'm closer to door stop than door kicker.

 

Wish I could help with the mystery coral ID. It is a fantastic hitchhiker, whatever it is, and looks to be doing wonderfully for you.

[varanus37]

Yeah, it's done really well. It's completely recovered from the episode with the palys and looks fine. You can tell it's starting to expand and has grown over the epoxy to the LR. Just looks puffier in general.

 

Bill

[BibleSue]

Nah, I love this job. On the flip side, there are major jerks that work in the same place I do and I've also got to consider being physically fit later on in life. Makes it easier to accept leaving the job. If I do stay though, I've got several schooling options open plus the fact that I just like this job. As far as the not knowing if I'll deploy, that doesn't really bother me either. I'll be home to see my daughter born either way and my wife is totally capable while I'm gone. No worries on that end so I'm kewl with it. Our job overseas is even better than our job here so I'd love to go back. Some people don't get that but if I don't go it's like going to med school every year and then never operating on someone. Kinda pointless.

 

Thanks for the interest.

 

Bill

 

Be sure to let me know if you go overseas so I can put you on my prayer list. One of my "kids" that I used to babysit was at Ft. Benning & went back over a few months ago.

 

I'm glad you enjoy your job. It takes a special kind of person to do what you do. It takes a special kind of person to do what I do---be a Grandma!

 

[varanus37]

Yes it does, on both accounts. Just ask my mom, . Great picture!

 

 

Bill

[BibleSue]

Yes it does, on both accounts. Just ask my mom, . Great picture!

 

 

Bill

 

Thanks! Did I actually say I was special????????? I was referring to feeling at a loss without kids in my life. My daughter used to laugh because I collected their friends & neighborhood kids & treated them as they were my own. I miss the beach in S FL but it is worth it to be near the grandkids.

 

I love spending time with my grandkids. I love teaching little ones in Sunday School. I think its because I never grew up. I had to do an improv lesson today since the kids were here & the little one doesn't do well without Mommy. I teach in there every other week. Others avoid it like the plague, about like I would avoid what you do!

 

When the kid I babysat for left for basic after college his Mom apologized for every toy gun she bought him, every GI Joe, every paint ball gun etc. He is good at his job & loves it as well. Good thing God didn't make us all the same! Thanks for all you do to keep us safe & relatively free.

[varanus37]

Yeah, I loved it when I taught sunday school as well. Always fun. No need to thank me, I like doing what I do. My mom is definitely the same way about her only grandbaby. One of the other benefits to a possible medical retirement. Puts us closer to both grandmas. Including my own! Glad you have so much fun with the family. It's nice to be close like that.

 

Bill

[c est ma]

at Richie!

 

And I love the pic, Sue! Those grandkids are very lucky.

 

--Diane

[varanus37]

+1 to both!

 

Bill

[varanus37]

So Teresa found the seal that came off the skimmer. Back up and running now.

 

And the nastiness.

 

Remember how I fragged my caps and sent those pieces off? Already growing back together.

 

Green as well.

 

Full shot of the green.

 

I haven't had many critter pics up recently so here are some for this tank.

 

Peeking from behind the hammer.

 

Digging out my zoas, as usual.

 

This way?

 

No, this way.

 

Chasing food.

 

Chasing the clowns food.

 

Check out my 1/2 10 thread to see update pics for the viv that was created when I adopted C7's vine snake. Decent shots of the anoles and a shot of the pink leaf plant to show the wonderful amount of growth it's had as well.

 

Bill

[varanus37]

So, I have a question for all those who stop by and read. What's your cleanup crew like? We've started to lose some of the smaller blue leg hermits now as time goes by and I'm looking for more algae cleanup critters. I'd like to stay away from the hermits as they've killed snails in my tank no matter what the size of the crab. Scarlets don't kill snails and I'm a big fan of them but they seem to never eat algae in my tank. I have great detritus cleanup but really no algae help to speak of. The blenny does his part but he's mostly a glass cleaner and not rocks. I've got a few macros popping up from frags now as well. Just trying to find some things that will help keep it in check with my physical maintenance as well. Any specific snails or other critters you all can think of? Thinking about going the lettuce nudi route. Big fan of those. Just looking for suggestions on the critters out there and what peoples experiences have been with them.

 

Bill

[SPS20]

So, I have a question for all those who stop by and read. What's your cleanup crew like? We've started to lose some of the smaller blue leg hermits now as time goes by and I'm looking for more algae cleanup critters. I'd like to stay away from the hermits as they've killed snails in my tank no matter what the size of the crab. Scarlets don't kill snails and I'm a big fan of them but they seem to never eat algae in my tank. I have great detritus cleanup but really no algae help to speak of. The blenny does his part but he's mostly a glass cleaner and not rocks. I've got a few macros popping up from frags now as well. Just trying to find some things that will help keep it in check with my physical maintenance as well. Any specific snails or other critters you all can think of? Thinking about going the lettuce nudi route. Big fan of those. Just looking for suggestions on the critters out there and what peoples experiences have been with them.

 

Bill

 

In my 20L, I have about 20 astreas, a few ceriths, nerites, and nassarius, a small fighting conch, (who will go to a friend's tank when he gets bigger, but he's tiny now, and entertaining) an algae blenny, and one or two hermit crabs. The hermit crabs do kill snails here and there, but I leave alot of empty shells laying around, and that seems to slow the slaughter a bit.

 

Sadly, I am probably the most active member of the CUC, I dive in there with my long tweezers a couple times a week and pull out any macros that have decided to grow in bad spots. I am contemplating a mithrax (emerald) crab, but I am somewhat concerned that it would eat my 6-line or my blenny when they are sleeping.

 

When I had larger tanks, I would generally just put one Desjardiini Tang in each tank, and they would eat almost anything that is remotely plantlike in nature. Unfortunatley, Tangs are out for such small tanks, and so we have to be a bit more creative.

 

If you don't care too much about your coraline, I would suggest an urchin, though you have to choose your species carefully, as some of them are very destructive little bulldozers. If you can find one that's safe, they can eat an astounding amount of vegetation in a short time.

[varanus37]

I actually have 2 urchins, haha. They're both bulldozers and both enjoy eating coralline in large quantities. They do fairly well with the algae that's film or slime but I'm trying to get the macro types out. I tweeze as well quite a bit but of course they just grow back. Wish they had saltwater sheep. Just eat things down to the rock. That'd be sweet.

 

Thanks for the ideas.

 

Bill

[c est ma]

I was glad to read Josh's response as it concurs with my experience and my reading. Despite what one hears, I am not convinced any of the common snails and hc's are really much good at dealing with macros. Shimek states that most members of the Turbinidae & Trochidae are super at what they've evolved for, which is basically scraping off diatom-type films. Their radulae are not really designed to cut into macros. Some folks do say that the really big (golf ball sized) turbos will...not sure I believe it!

 

On the good side, it's easier to manually keep up with algae "plucking" in a nano than in a bigger tank...

 

Gee, I've never had an emerald that I feared would attack fish (and my fish are tiny!), but did have one that dug into a coral (and killed it) going after the food the coral had just eaten. IME emeralds arrive ready to devour algae, as they've often not been well-fed for some time, but as soon as you start adding fish food, they happily convert...still, they do work away at algae and are fun to watch. I think possibly females might stay smaller and be less agressive than males...

 

--Diane

[varanus37]

Yeah, snails are no good with the macros. They're more inclined to clean the macros off and help them grow faster! I pluck my birds nest frag it seems almost daily. Feather caulerpa is what I think is growing there. Crazy how fast it grows. I'm thinking about getting the sea hare I had before back from my LFS. That guy dominated some algae but was a bigger bulldozer than the urchins. The good thing about squishy, slimy guys like that though is that frags don't stick to them the way they do urchins. My emerald is actually in my 1/2 10 gal. and doing a wonderful job. I might get out to the LFS today and check it out. I need some more snails anyway. 55 gallons of space is quite a bit for such small creatures.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Bill

[varanus37]

10,000+ views!!!! Oh, and I got some more snails. .

 

 

Thanks,

 

Bill

[varanus37]

Got some good pics today so I thought I'd post them up. Lots of colorful shots and some good ones of the fish and my weirdest/kewlest cucumber.

So here he is.

 

 

Closer on the face on this one.

 

Another close shot.

 

And pulled back to show his overall size, which is huge compared to the others.

 

CBBs are skinnnny.

 

Looks like I found it in a mag somewhere.

 

Little bit of purple sponge peeking out.

 

What the main body looks like.

 

Check out the size difference on this one polyp compared to the rest. It almost looks like the 2 types crossed.

 

Just nice and red.

 

Starting to grow off the frag plug and plate.

 

I know the glass looks bad but it's hard to reach!

 

Closer.

 

Now 4 full heads and some buds.

 

Teresas clam.

 

Closer.

 

Toxic flonk.

 

This piece is a really bright orange. It's growing out nicely as well.

 

I love the polyp coverage on this coral.

 

Well that's the pic post limit for this one. More pics to follow on the next post in a few minutes.

 

Bill

[varanus37]

Same goes for this piece. Very dense.

 

BRIGHT green. So kewl.

 

These guys are spreading really well. Can't wait to see what that black stripe looks like when it's plate size.

 

Such a kewl blue color.

 

The green ended up looking neat here because the actinics kicked on a bit early.

 

Hope everyone likes. I used a magnifying lens that I got for some of the pics so when I look at them I kinda see a fisheye thing going on. Have to work on that.

 

Bill

[Weetabix7]

 

You have GOT to save me a frag of this one when it grows out enough.

Even hubby thought it was cool when he saw it just now!

It would look awesome in the new custom tank zhubbell is building for me.

[Reef507]

Nice reef. You have some very nice corals. Looking at all these beautiful photos is making me wish my tanks were further along.

[varanus37]

Weet- It's a slow grower. Apparently having the LE tag has something to do with that or some such nonsense. Either way when it's double I'll just chop it in half and send you one side.

 

Reef- Thank you. Just give it time. The 55 has been up about a year and a half now. Some setbacks along the way but it's doing really well now. Give it time and yours will end up the way you want it.

 

Bill

[c est ma]

Wow, too many to comment on! Except to say, what an enjoyable tour!

 

That cucumber is fascinating. I remember you mentioning your cukes before, but I'm afraid I don't remember if you bought them or if they hitched? Also, has that one grown since you got it?

 

What a beautiful little sponge! And of course your montis are lovely--such a nice collection, and they all seem to be doing quite well.

 

(How come I only get 10 pics/post?! )

 

--Diane

[divecj5]

Wow Bill. Great pictures of your amazing tank. You have quite the collection of some amazing corals in there. I agree with Weetie that the LE Monti frag that you have is stunning. I don't remember ever seeing that one before.

 

In your last set of pictures it was great to see that your green and orange montis have recovered from the fragging you did for me. Mine are starting to take off now in my tank after settling in for a while. Thanks again.

[varanus37]

Diane- The first cuke was a hitcher who came with the tank. I've since added the rest. The big guy in the pictures hasn't grown alot but he's gotten a bit bigger than when I got him. Glad you liked the pics.

 

dive- That's Tyree Strawberry Patch. The LE type. I'm not much for names and all that kewlness because I know it causes crazy prices. I only know the specifics of this one because mvite let me know when I got it from him. It's neat to have a lineage going on like that but not $100 a frag neat, haha. Glad the montis are doing well for ya. Other than dropping a grenade in your tank, they should do just fine. If you do come across a grenade and then decide to put it in your tank just make sure to keep the bits that are left in water and light and it should still be fine.

 

Bill

[varanus37]

So I've got a question. My green digi is steadily growing upward and is widening just a bit as it goes. The red cap is growing out toward it and they're fairly close to one another. What do you think will happen if they touch? Think the cap will grow around the digi or they'll harm each other? The digi is already higher than the level of the cap so there's no chance of it shading the tip and stunting growth. I'm tempted to leave them be and see how they sort it out but I don't want the interaction to be fatal to either. I don't see why it would be as my montis have fallen on or touched several other coral types and they always seem to be on the receiving end of any punishment. I've got some room to work in that area so I can move the digi if the need arises but I also think it'd be kewl to have a cap with a digi tree growing out of the center of it. I'm all about this coral bonsai. Shape and flow of form and color.

 

 

Bill

[varanus37]

So, bad news. I got my water from a different LFS last week and my clam just lost it. Now I've got some nice patches of red algae and no clam. , love that LFS. Went back to my original LFS, did several WC's and have been topping off with only their water now. Everyone else looks fine and the red clumps are dissipating. It really sucks that just 2 buckets of water from this LFS killed off my clam. I'm guessing their system is sketchy and I've never actually seen it. So all I did was give this girl 2 buckets and she came back with water. I never even thought to test it because I've tested the other LFS and they come back straight every time. Lame. So now I'm back to my original LFS where I can walk right up and check their RO/DI unit and watch the guy fill my stuff. Lost the clam but everyone else is fine. 2 new baby heads on the Nukes and growth on pretty much everyone else. All of the SPS are expanding and the orange crush has almost filled the frag plug. Had some recession on the red and white stripe micro at the same time as the water debacle so I'm attributing it to that. Did the WC and top-off with my usual water and he's looking puffy and hungry like always. Hopefully that did the trick.

 

 

Bill