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Megability's BioCube29 Build Thread


megability

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Man, Hawkfish is FAST as he darts across the tank when he sees something that looks tasty. I thought the Tomato Clown was fast when got excited, but he's got nothing on the Hawkfish...

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After about a month I am finally starting to see the Yasha Goby and Pistol Shrimp venture out of their new burrows. Must have been a lot of internal housekeping in there for the shrimp to straighten out first. Here's a decent picture, with hopefully better ones to follow soon, but they make a cute odd-couple :P

 

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Hawkfish is a real character. He swoops all over the tank at feeding time, snagging food out of the mouths of other fish, literally, and then goes back to his perch and breathes heavy because he probably just ate way too much. You can actually see food coming out of his gills when he breathes and sometimes he gets the hiccups for a while :lol:

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love the hawkfish and tail spot blenny pictures! Never seen the arch eyed hawkfish before, wish I can get one but my tank is too small.

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I created an HD video of the Yasha Goby and Candy Stripe Pistol Shrimp doing some housekeeping, please

... Edited by megability
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Mushroom Boy

Beautiful job! So, what do you have running in the sump at this point (media basket, refugium ...)? Also, what type of salt and additives do you use? Fantastic growth and coralline encrustation! Keep it up!

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Thanks. Yeah I have the inTank Media Baskets in the back, with a cut square of floss/sponge on the top rack, then a bag of GFO in the middle, and a bag of Chemi-Pure in the bottom space. In the second chamber which is now the mini 'fuge, there's a growing ball of Cheato algae powered by a submersible light all night that came with StevieT's kit.

 

I now use a 2-part (with magnesium too) made at a local store here and it seems to work ok, but it now takes a LOT to keep my Calcium up, probably because the Montiporas in there now are getting so big. I probably use 1/4th to 1/2 cup of A and B a day now, but maybe it's just not that strong either. I also use Reef Crystals salt when I do 4g water changes about every 3 weeks or so, and Kent's Essential Elements from time to time in between. I'm stoked on the corraline too, it's so thick and rich looking :)

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Here's an even better video of the Candy Stripe Pistol Shrimp housekeeping with the Yasha Goby just standing guard... Man that's a busy little shrimp, he's definitely on a mission to get that sand the way he wants it! :lol: ...remember to watch in HD!

 

->Link to Video

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  • 3 weeks later...
megability

Picked up a new Porcelain Crab today. I'll try to post a good picture soon but he's not colored like most I've seen. He's very striped with purples, browns and blacks, with a couple of big orange dots on his big claws like eyes. He's also got really blue antenae and mouth parts. It seems he's a newly listed species from the Caribbean, Petrolisthes bolivarensis, called Zebra or Purple Zebra Porcelain Crab...

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  • 4 weeks later...
megability

I added what was sold as a Strawberry Cowry today, (Erosaria helvola?) really colorful! Initial research confirms these little snails are reef-safe but then something else I read says they can go after soft corals if given the opportunity.

 

Judging by the amount of coloration they have, lots of little red bumps and a "feathery" mantle, I would imagine they spend all day on some specific type of carnation coral in the wild, but can anyone confirm one way or another if they're safe?

 

I'll try and post some pics soon because it's really a neat looking little snail...

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megability

This little colorful snail has taken up shop next to the toxic-waste trumpet coral so far and I've watched him take a few bites. :huh: Pretty cool actually.

 

I'm going to consider this both a good and bad thing; bad because no one wants their corals preyed upon, but good because out of all my corals, I have the most of the trumpets, they grow fast anyway, and hopefully this means the snail is not so specific as to what kind of coral it needs and I can keep him alive :)

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megability

As promised, here are some pictures of this cool little cowry snail - also called an ovulid, false cowry, egg cowry, and allied cowry it seems. Jenneria pustulata is the scientific name, called Jenners Cowry or Pustulated Cowry...

 

Their mantle actually comes out and covers their shell when they are active, laying down calcium from the outside, that's why they are so smooth and shiny. And their mantle appears to try and mimic coral polyps, pretty cool, and I am assuming the bright red colors are either to blend in with it's favorite coral, probably a pocillopora, or maybe to advertise that they are poisonous... or both :)

 

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megability

Here's the little guy munching away on some trumpet coral - thankfully I have a ton of it...

 

This is only about 2 or 3 days worth of feeding so far, so it will be interesting to see how much he needs, and how much each head of trumpet coral can take before it's irreparably harmed...

 

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