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Elmar's Red Sea Max


elmar

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supreme_spork
The remains was just the outer shell and almost jellyfish type, transluscent.

 

Sounds like a molt -- they frequently trick you into thinking they're dead when they do that. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few days. :)

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Sounds like a molt -- they frequently trick you into thinking they're dead when they do that. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few days. :)

 

You are absolutely right! Earlier today, I saw him very alive - phew.

 

Also, I finally saw my mystery critter. It is indeed a crab. He won't come out of its hiding place much, he just sticks out his claws and picks away around the rock. Hopefully just algae at this point. I will try and get a good pic soon because he is a concern to me since I want to attach some coral around the rock that he currently lives. Also, at the same time of finally seeing the crab, I saw some cool action. This happened after about an hour with the lights being off and the entire room in darkness. I grabbed myself a small flashlight and sneaked up to the tank and found this....

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The small thing is an Amphipod. They are good things. They only come out at night. Get a RED LED flash light for night time viewing. It doesn't scare the critters away. THe small bristle worms are good too. But keep an eye out because they do get big. I pulled out a 9 incher out of my tank after one of my clown mysteriously VANISHED! I was told they can take out small fish so I trapped about a half dozen and tossed 'em in the bin.

 

Looks great so far! Do a complete water check soon and let us know what your numbers look like. Remember to shake the crap out of bottle2 of the nitrate test.

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Day 17 -

 

Today I have been noticing a random spur of micro air bubbles coming out of my return pumps. Is this caused by the skimmer? It is becoming a cycle about every 10-15 minutes. Mainly coming out of the right side, which is where I have the Hydor deflector attached. The bubbles do come out through the left side as well, just not as much.

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And to make matters worst, I have noticed I have some flatworms. They are deep yellow to brownish. I have a feeling these are the bad ones. They are less than an 1/8 of an inch. Some are on my rock and some are on my substrate, just above the sand and on the front glass. They haven't really moved from their places though. I know there is a chemical medication called Flatworm Exit, but I also have heard six line wrasses eat them. Being that I still have no livestock or fish, would it be wise to just go with the chemical solution or should I just add a sixline wrasse and stay the natural way?

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I'd consider using flatworm exit, seeing you don't have livestock yet. I've got em in my tank (I siphon them out with a turkey baster when I see them). I've been afraid to use FW exit with a fully stocked tank because of the reported toxins released from a mass die off.

 

 

Unless they get to plague proportions they apparently will die off on there own. A six line Wrasse would be worth trying... if nothing else you get a cool looking fish.

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Looks like you're off to an amazing start thus far! I really like your rockwork from the first pics. Dang, you've got your fair share of hitchhikers lol. I just found my first one today and my tanks been running since October. One thing is for certain... you've got yourself together better than I do, and definately better than I did!

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Looks like you're off to an amazing start thus far! I really like your rockwork from the first pics. Dang, you've got your fair share of hitchhikers lol. I just found my first one today and my tanks been running since October. One thing is for certain... you've got yourself together better than I do, and definately better than I did!

 

Thanks much Dan. I certainly dove into this hobby and got more than just my feet wet. I am glad to have the support of all the nice people online to help me through some of the tasks encountered thus far. Right now I am battleling equipment issues. I think I know what the problem is though as I've been in Red Sea Max support pages.

 

As for my hitchhikers...phew, I've been overwhelmed. No livestock yet, but definitely lots of life in my piece of the ocean. I love it! The flatworm issue is a bit discouraging at this time though as I wan to be able to introduce soft corals soon after some fish. I have decided to try Flatworm Exit and hopefully get lots out. I know that I won't finish them off now, so I will just have to deal with them by manually siphon them out or get myself a sixline wrasse. The more I think about it, I wouldn't mind having a sixline as an inhabitant. I have heard that they could be bullies if smaller fish are in and I do plan on having some clowns and other smaller fish.

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Be sure you siphon or turkey bast out as many as you can. I've heard the horror stories of people using FWE to get rid of worms, just to end up having more than they thought and the tank crashing when they all die at once from the chemicals. But since you don't have livestock yet, that might not be of much concern at the moment.

 

The micro-bubbles are most likely from the skimmer, unless air is somehow getting into the water stream in the pumps.

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Day 18 - First inhabitant

 

I walked into one LFS in town and they talked me into not going the chemical way of controlling the flatworm problem. Instead they introduced me to my newest inhabitant. Naturally, after acclimating him, he went straight into hiding mode, however, that did not last long.

 

He seems to be enjoying my latest aquascape. He has plenty of hiding places and constantly is going around and around into all the holes and caves. He is a very active fish and already have seen him picking away at the rock. I hope he is picking some flatworms. Unfortunately, he doesn't even come close to the front glass where most of them are visible. I am hoping that he goes after them when the lights are off.

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Nice fish Elmar, I'd probably own one if they were ever in stock here.

 

I think that was a good choice over adding chemicals. You should be able to siphon the buggers out during water changes or a bit at a time with a turkey baster.

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Thanks Hodge. :) He is pretty cool looking. I'm definitely glad I picked him up eventhough he wasn't in my list of fish to get.

 

After a few hours in the tank and after the lights went off on my tank, I couldn't find him anywhere. Finally, I saw him between 2 rocks which creates a little cave. It almost seemed as he was stuck and it was too hard to tell if he was even moving. I couldn't see his gills at all..so I tried moving one of the rocks and nothing. Finally, I completely moved the rock and slowly he swam away.

 

After a little while, he was swimming around again, but this time, he was just swimming just above my substrate. Going around and around the tank through the front and through the back. Nothing like when he was first introduce. At times, he just got into a corner and lay on the sand. His gills where slowly moving. I really thought he wasn't going to make it through the night.

 

This morning, I didn't see him come out when the lights came back on. After about 10 minutes, he finally showed, swimming through the caves once more. However, I did noticed something strange where I initially found him stuck before all of this happened. Some sort of web-like thing, almost bubble-like. I will try and get a pic of it if it is still there when I get home.

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It's tough when fish aren't as friendly as expected. I've got a firefish, hi fin shrimp goby and a perchlet and they all stay low and in the rock unless it's feeding time. They seem quite content to stay in there own territory and not venture too far...I guess thats what they would do in the wild.

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Day 19 -Seems like Speedy G (sixline) is doing fine. Fed him today and once again, he is exploring all of the hiding places and picking away on rock. As far as the flatworms on the front glass, some are actually gone. Either he sucked some up or they have started the invasion towards the rock - who knows. I won't worry about for now.Here are some pictures of what I described to be looking like a web, stringy things. Seems like the bubble-like form is no longer. I did not have my digital SLR, so sorry about the blurry pics....and after looking around the left side of my tank, I noticed this. Looks like a nice surprise. I will need to flip that rock somehow to better view it from the front glass. What is it?

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Thanks Hodge, whatever that white stringy thing was, it is now gone - at least from its original place. It almost looked jelly-like...who know what it was.

 

So the flower-like hitchhiker is a Zoa - cool. So will this one split into more? Do I need to feed it?

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Yep, a zoa for sure. It should multiply given time and decent conditions. I've got zoa frags (6 polyps) that have doubled in 6 weeks or so. They are relatively easy to frag once they colonize and you can spread them around the tank. I have never fed mine directly but they will grab small bits when feeding the fish. Just look like a venus fly trap. lol

 

I had a small mushroom hitchhiker (size of a pea) that is now a colony of 10, the biggest the size of a silver dollar, which was cool...and free.

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Cool set-up Hodge!

 

 

 

I have been thinking of getting some Acanthasthreas. Are these pretty hardy and maintanable for a beginner like myself?

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Thanks, I'm liking the results so far. I did a ton of research before starting which has helped a lot. So far I've only made one spur of the moment purchase without research (coral banded shrimp) and I got lucky (hasn't ate any tank mates yet)

 

As far as acans go, I've read they are easy to care for (low light/low flow) usually on the substrate and not too close to other corals. I really like them but they are so expensive ($125 for a small one up here).

I just ordered this Scroll coral. It will be the my most expensive coral ($70)

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Wow - indeed expensive! I've seen a few at LFS around my area for no more than $60, some even $30.

 

The Scroll looks awesome - Great choice! Good luck with that.

 

So I've done some more research and I have opted in going for some acans. I will probably go with some colorful zoas as well. Eventually, I'd like to keep a colt, hammer, and frogspan. Perhaps even some sort of hardy SPS which could live under the RSM's lighting.

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Yeah, that site looks pretty cool. I may just join in myself.

 

Stevie -

I remember reading one of your replies/posts about cutting the black sponge in half and putting something in replacement - what was that?

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Hi Elmar! Your tank sure is coming along and it's looking great! What kind of fish did you just add to your tank? He is beautiful..is it aggressive? Did he get rid of your flatworms?

 

I checked that site out last night too, it is really nice seeing all the pics..I already sent an email to sign up but haven't heard back yet.

 

Remind me, how many days old is your tank now? .

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