My humble 5.5g

[Lalani]

Fantastic, Diane! Its always a pleasure to read your thread.

[debbeach13]

Nothing wrong with those pictures. Pick one and enter a picture. What is the worst that can happen?

Your following from this thread alone might make you "THE WINNER"

Good Luck

Deb

[Weetabix7]

This one's for you, Diane.

This is a pic of the countertop aquarium I started out with when I first joined NR, almost 2 yrs. ago now. Look familiar?

 

[el fabuloso]

Those gobies are so cute!! Just how small are they? That nassarius "trunk" looks huge by comparison so I'm thinking either the gobies are really tiny or that's one big nassarius snail!

[c est ma]

Thank you, Duncan & Lalani!

 

You too, Sarah & Deb. As to entering the contest--I think there will be plenty of pics w/o mine. (I've yet to look at the entries and must get over there soon!) Sarah, there's a world of small gobies to choose from. . .good luck with whatever you decide on.

 

Nice to know I'm not the only lazy person on here, although with me it's more a matter of convenience since I'm getting interrupted by kids every 5 mins!

I see that I failed to post my taunting nature pics, I will remedy that shortly.

 

Honestly, I have no idea how you can have 2 small kids and still be on N-R as much as you are (and making as much sense)! Glad I goaded you into posting more scenery.

 

 

Yes, I've seen the funky leg dance the pom-poms do. They have thin translucent hairs on their legs that may be food-sensitive.

 

Very cute Gobies. I like them.

 

Boris--of course I remember seeing that pic of your presumed male! Don't know why I posted as if you had yet to get a good shot of him! Thank you for reposting it here, and I'm going to put our two together:

 

Male Pom-Pom suspect:

 

Female Pom Pom:

 

 

Pretty good comparison I think!

 

 

This one's for you, Diane.

This is a pic of the countertop aquarium I started out with when I first joined NR, almost 2 yrs. ago now. Look familiar?

 

 

 

Lisa, thank you so much for digging that up and posting it here! Boy does that look familiar! What fun! Looks as if you were into fragging already, even back then. Same (lack of) headroom below the cabinets, and I even STILL have some dorky wallpaper in my kitchen that I inherited 20+ years ago with the house...I'm not much for redecorating. . . Most of my tank has dorky formica behind it, but once in a while a shot will show a strip of the wallpaper off to the left side. . .LOL!

 

 

Those gobies are so cute!! Just how small are they? That nassarius "trunk" looks huge by comparison so I'm thinking either the gobies are really tiny or that's one big nassarius snail!

 

 

Aaron, it is a fairly big nassie (I've had it for some time now) but the fish are indeed small. I believe my male is somewhat stunted, as he's remained small; even though it's supposed to be the bigger fish of a pair of this type ("protogynous hermaphrodites") that turns male. The female is maybe 1/2" longer than the male, who is barely more than an inch to 1.5" long (hard to say exactly).

 

I dug up some old pics from other threads (back when my pic-taking left a lot to be desired) to give a sort of feel for the size. Here's the male in March of '06, sitting on a 7/8" - diameter frag plug of Porites (I no longer have that coral. . .or the flatworms, I'm happy to say ):

 

 

Here he is just visible (sitting on the LR above the green zoa mound) in an fts from August of '06:

 

 

And here's a shot of him thinking he's chasing that same nassie away from his nest (under the gsp) in March of '07 (the nassie, of course, is completely oblivious):

 

 

 

 

OT -- New Pics--Taking Hay to the Barn, Revisited

 

Somewhat of a simpler process when the snow's gone. Could my daughter get the car any closer to the barn?. . .

 

 

 

There's a deer in that shot, just barely visable. Shows up a bit better here:

 

 

Then there were two deer:

 

 

Ho, hum. It's only a girl unloading hay. Back to our grazing. (All pics taken from the same spot on the deck, so these long zooms suffer a bit!):

 

 

The goats, of course, were inside the barn talking to Liz as she worked.

 

--Diane

[Needreefunds]

Great stuff Diane!!

 

I'm coming to visit soon!

 

( any extra room in the barn?? )

 

I'm very much looking forward to some progressive shots to see how your beautiful backyard colors up!

 

Must be an incredible view methinks!

[Lalani]

Those gobies are so beautiful! You're making me want one.

And great job catching the shots of the deer.

[NanoCube-boy]

that's s nice Diane.

[constantocean]

I had one of those limpets in my tank! when I first found him I wasn't sure if he was good or bad, so I went with my gut and ripped him out while I still knew where he was. Poor little dudes on my bedroom floor somewhere now.

[got2envy]

Holy cow! I can't believe I never commented on this thread..I just read the whole thing..started at about 9pm it is now 12:25pm lol (with snacks and bathroom breaks in between) I can't get enough..it's like crack..I am speechlees and it is more than my brain and eyeballs can take in a few hours..I am so happy for your great success with this tank..it is just incredible! the gobies, the rics, the pom pom..my brain is on overload..I want a 5.5 stat! thanks for posting such a great thread! I am now subscribed

[c est ma]

got2envy-- Wow, that took endurance! I am most flattered that you would do that! Thank you so much for the very nice words.

 

 

constantocean--You & I are not doing very well in the limpet department.

 

 

Thank you Lalani! & NCboy.

 

 

Richie--re: room in the barn. . .I checked with the goats. . .they're ruminating about it. . .

 

 

 

Little update on the baby plate

 

 

So far, so good. Here are some pics of it after a meal a few days ago:

 

 

 

 

And what it usually looks like (scarlet hc on the outside looking in ):

 

 

 

 

When I recovered it, I placed it in the corner where its "parent rock" used to be, and the only place I had to relocate the parent rock to was in the back of the tank where it's very hard for me to get a good pic, esp. as the plate-generating site is so small (and as I have yet to remember to turn off the pumps when taking pics ). So this is about the best I can do. It is sitting right under the outflow of the HOB filter, which it seems to like. The little duster above it is not so pleased with the flow, though. :

 

 

 

Hard to zoom in on, but you can see the healthy tentacle extension:

 

 

 

And...just more of the same old, same old. This ric morph has been looking nice & lush lately (ignore the little reflection at the top--of course I didn't see that while I was taking the pic ):

 

 

 

--Diane

[el fabuloso]

Wow! Looks like that baby plate has really plumped up! I love the pic of the scarlet looking through the glass, almost like he's making faces at the camera. I've said it once and I'll say it again--your rics are gorgeous! I can't get enough of them.

 

Going back to the gobies, I still can't believe how tiny they are, they look huge in pictures!

[michelle02]

I had a problem with scale insects on my house plants years ago and i tried everything to get rid of them untill one day i had a ring sitting in some alchol to clean it and i thought i would try dabbing it on the scale beasties to see if it would kill them off, well low and behold it did so i used my partner at the times Absinth(vile horrible undrinkable stuff IMO) and dabbed it on with cotton wool....it killed them and ive never had them on my house plants since.

I know what you mean about wanting more space to transfer stuff eg your baby plate, i have 5 baby plates sitting on my substrate and 2 of them are getting rather big, so im slowly gathering together all i need for my 4ft/30g tank so i can transfer them into a new bigger more permanent home. Dont get rid of that fw tank you have it looks fantastic! get yourself another tank, after all plates do get big ) thats my excuse anyways lol

[Lalani]

That hermit really is a curious one.

Fantastic job on nursing the little plate, Diane. He looks great!

[spanko]

Just catching up here Diane. Those green banded goby pics in post # 446 are amazing. Magazine cover for sure. Little plate guys are doing well too I see.

[got2envy]

ooooh! more eye candy lol..love the hermit looking in haha looks like he's up to no good, you can almost see him rubbing his little claws together

[Needreefunds]

ooooh! more eye candy lol..love the hermit looking in haha looks like he's up to no good, you can almost see him rubbing his little claws together

LOL! +1

 

He looks like " man, I bet that's tasty!"

 

Great shots Diane, just beautiful!

[opaquelace]

As always, extremely interesting Diane.

 

You sure have a lot of documented activity for a 5.5 gallon. I think that is what makes it so nice though. It's like a tidal pool. Do you think the baby plate will color up? How are the porites? (I think that is what they were).

[c est ma]

Diane and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

 

(with apologies to Judith Viorst...)

 

 

I had just 3 things on my calendar Monday--dentist appt in Kalamazoo @ 1:30, then a quick run up to a pole barn company in a small town to the north, then back home to pick up my son and take him back up to Lansing after he'd spent the week-end at home.

 

The appt was to finally "install" the finished cap of a tooth implant (long story), a process that's involved several operations over several months...It went so quickly and painlessly that I found I had time to dash down to a pet store to p/u some crickets and quickly drool over their coral...Then I thought I'd p/u some donuts for the kids--and, what the heck, might as well try one myself...

 

So I'm chewing away when suddenly there's this small rock in my mouth--yep, the implant had fallen out...I call the dentist from the car, the receptionist says "can you get right back?--they'll try to fit you in." So I'm back there at 3:00. And there I sit till 5:10.

 

Then, as I'm finally seeing the dentist and he's refitting the cap, I suddenly have another little rock in my mouth, only this one is dropping right down my throat...simultaneously, the dentist says "WHOOPS!" It could not have been better aimed--set off the swallow reflex automatically and before I really knew what was happening, I'd swallowed the cap he'd dropped...

 

OK, accidents happen. He apologizes profusely, assures me the lab still has the casts, etc...and tries to undo something in order to replace the temporary hardware. And tries and tries...This is what I hate absolutely the most of anything at dental visits--anytime they're applying so much force you're sure they're going to either break your jaw or shove some implement thru your cheek...

 

Then I hear, "OK, I guess I'll need the torque wrench."

 

Torque wrench???!!

 

Well, I guess it was a tiny one. Anyway, it did the job, so I was finally out of there about 5:30, in no better shape than I'd originally shown up in.

 

But, a little way down the road, I started to think that at least I had a good story to tell, and that this would be one of those "someday I'll laugh about it" days...

 

So I'm driving the 20 some miles home (I live out in the country, remember), I'm in a line of cars on a rural highway traveling about 55-60mph--and suddenly there's the big brown blur of a deer running full tilt in front of my right fender. The car absorbs a few teeth-rattling impacts and I hear a sound that can only be called "crunching." I know the deer's done for, but that crunching was my car...I pull over as soon as I can on the shoulder (at which point the car behind me which witnessed the hit sped on by), get out and see some damage but nothing that looks like a wheel coming off or a terminal leak so I figure I can go a bit further till there's a safer place to pull over and call the cops...

 

The cop shows up maybe 20 min. later...meanwhile I've had time to find a big break in that molded front panel thingy that stretches from under the headlights down over the so-called bumper and appears to be made out of spun sugar; the front & back of the wheel well are bent out of shape and there's some pipe dangling from the front side of it; and the passenger-side door has a huge convexity and can't be opened...(I thought the headlight was OK but the appraiser today said he saw a break in it too...)

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm very sorry for the poor deer!

 

Anticlimatically (but who needs more climax at this point? Quiet, Richie!), I limped home and borrowed my daughter's car to take my son back, many hours later than planned.

 

Bleah.

 

 

* * *

 

I'll get to responses soon. Meanwhile, here are some pics of that little mini carpet nem in my fuge, and another little one I picked up the next time I was back at the same store. I find these little guys so fascinating:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are some awful pics (I see something outside, grab my cam which is set for tank pics, and just quickly flip to "automatic," which I normally hate to use), just to show there was a pair of sandhill cranes in our field the other day...I know they're just little blurs in the distance, but take my word for it, they're sandhills:

 

 

 

 

--Diane

[phil121]

Ok first off... That is some day.. I am sorry to hear about all that happened to you. On the other hand your ok so that's great!!

 

Your thread is fabulous I have been trying to read through it all. I absolutely love your tank. I love the gobies, it makes me want some so much.

 

Hopefully the week can only improve for you.

[c est ma]

Wow! Looks like that baby plate has really plumped up! I love the pic of the scarlet looking through the glass, almost like he's making faces at the camera. I've said it once and I'll say it again--your rics are gorgeous! I can't get enough of them.

 

Going back to the gobies, I still can't believe how tiny they are, they look huge in pictures!

 

Thanks, Aaron, I really appreciate your taking the time to make specific comments.

 

I do think the gobies are nicely in scale with the 5.5.

 

 

I had a problem with scale insects on my house plants years ago and i tried everything to get rid of them untill one day i had a ring sitting in some alchol to clean it and i thought i would try dabbing it on the scale beasties to see if it would kill them off, well low and behold it did so i used my partner at the times Absinth(vile horrible undrinkable stuff IMO) and dabbed it on with cotton wool....it killed them and ive never had them on my house plants since.

I know what you mean about wanting more space to transfer stuff eg your baby plate, i have 5 baby plates sitting on my substrate and 2 of them are getting rather big, so im slowly gathering together all i need for my 4ft/30g tank so i can transfer them into a new bigger more permanent home. Dont get rid of that fw tank you have it looks fantastic! get yourself another tank, after all plates do get big ) thats my excuse anyways lol

 

Michelle, thank you so much for trying to help with my scale insect problem. I've used a similar technique to get rid of mealy bugs in orchids...but the problem with the viv was, first, the infested bromeliads had been carefully anchored into the 'scape and, mostly, it had 2 very lively, breeding frogs in it by the time I noticed the scale. And I had just lost another set of frogs to escapes, so I was very loath to try to remove/replace the broms (some of which had egg clutches on them) with the frogs already in residence...Oddly, it seems to have been a scale specialized on broms; I'm not seeing any more scale (and the broms have died), so I'm thinking of trying to add more broms some day...Thing is, the frogs like to raise their tads in brom bracts...

 

Oh, yes, when you mentioned your plates I had to go back to my thread in the coral forum (which I am woefully behind on updating) and read the story of your plates all over again!! I just love it, and only wish you weren't in the UK so I could pester you about where you got your rock from. lol! And I couldn't agree more about what a great excuse these babies are for upgrading. Alas, I'm not being nearly as adventurous as you--I have started gathering what I need for a 15 long...but then, I don't have anywhere near the number of plates you have, nor have I been able to raise one anywhere near as big as you have. I hope you'll start a thread on your new tank!

 

Thanks for the nice words about the FW tank! My son helped me move it to another corner of the drainboard this last weekend, and all the inhabitants seem to be fine. The baby barbs are not so baby anymore!

 

 

That hermit really is a curious one.

Fantastic job on nursing the little plate, Diane. He looks great!

 

Thanks, Kim!

 

 

Just catching up here Diane. Those green banded goby pics in post # 446 are amazing. Magazine cover for sure. Little plate guys are doing well too I see.

 

You're too kind. Thanks! I need to get some more plate pics posted.

 

 

ooooh! more eye candy lol..love the hermit looking in haha looks like he's up to no good, you can almost see him rubbing his little claws together

 

LOL!

 

LOL! +1

 

He looks like " man, I bet that's tasty!"

 

Great shots Diane, just beautiful!

 

 

Thanks, Richie.

 

 

As always, extremely interesting Diane.

 

You sure have a lot of documented activity for a 5.5 gallon. I think that is what makes it so nice though. It's like a tidal pool. Do you think the baby plate will color up? How are the porites? (I think that is what they were).

 

I never in my wildest dreams would have thought a tank this size could be so perpetually riveting! (Maybe it's just what I find riveting--lol!)

 

I always feel a bit defensive when someone asks about the plate coloring up, as it's my baby and I like it no matter what! But I tend to think it will continue to have subtle colors...the mouth is practically neon green, the 6 "rays" are light green (which never shows in pics) and the rest is tannish...Who knows, tho--perhaps they change as they grow, or perhaps it's a matter of lighting...

 

The Porites seem to be thriving, but since I've moved that frag to the back of the tank, with the plate site facing front, the only way I get a glimpse of them is via their reflection in the back wall! And the blasto merleti is equally hidden! So these two pieces are also ones I'm looking forward to moving into the new tank, if I ever get it going.

 

Thanks for asking about these guys!

 

 

Ok first off... That is some day.. I am sorry to hear about all that happened to you. On the other hand your ok so that's great!!

 

Your thread is fabulous I have been trying to read through it all. I absolutely love your tank. I love the gobies, it makes me want some so much.

 

Hopefully the week can only improve for you.

 

Phil, thank you very much! I am always honored whenever anyone tackles a thread of this length and plods through it. Glad you like the gobies and hope you find them or something similar for your own tank!

 

And the week has definitely been trending upwards. Of course, I've been being very careful...lol!

 

--Diane

[lilredneckman]

Wow Diane it sure sounds like you had a horrible day! Well i am glad that you are OK. I was in illinois over the summer and we saw a 8 point buck right near the side of the road but luckly we were able to get out of the way and did not get him.

 

The tank is looking great! those mini carpets are fantastic! You should evter onw of your pics in the Macro Algae photo of the month.

[divecj5]

Wow Diane....sorry to hear about all of the funk you had to experience on Monday. I was just telling someone the other day that it always seems like one one things goes wrong with a day, it just keeps on rolling that way. You know what they say about cr*p....starts at the top and just rolls downhill. I often feel like I am at the bottom of the hill with my arms open

 

As others have mentioned, just glad that you are ok after both the dentist and collision with the deer. The accident could have been worse and glad that the only damage was to your car and not you. Unfortunately the backroads around here, where all the deer usually decide to scoot across, are lined with about 200 year old oak trees that don't budge when it comes to cars. People unfortunately try to avoid the deer, squirrel or bird and you know the end. Just glad you are alright.

 

On a lighter note, those mini nems are fantastic and your photography always amazes me.

[Monkfish]

You are truly gifted with that camera of yours you should really email some aquarists magizines your shots. They are better than most the published ones Ive seen.

[Lalani]

Geez, Diane, that was a rotten day all the way around.

At least you weren't hurt during the accident. I've seen several vehicles totaled from hitting a dear!

There seems to be some nice wildlife activity happening on that hill. At least you can look out there and unwind.