el fabuloso Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 Apparently not. I left town for five days and the tomato clown was missing when I came back. No dead body, no remains, no trace or clue of where she could be. I still don't know how a big fat three-inch tomato clown could disappear without leaving a trace. So the tomato clown has since been replaced with a pair of true perculas. One interesting thing I noticed about my RBTA. Now that it's hosting a pair of true percs, bubble tips are appearing. It never showed any bubble tips when it was hosting my tomato clown which I know isn't uncommon for them to do so it never concerned me. I'm just wondering why the anemone decided to show bubble tips with the true percs and not with the tomato clown and what the difference might be. I mean other than the fact that the percs are so much more gentle with the nem than the tomato clown ever was. Quote Link to comment
Needreefunds Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 They must rub that 'nem the right way. 1 Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 There might be some truth to that. The tomato clown was way rough with the nem. She used to just pound the crap out of it. Didn't help that she was big and fat. The percs are much nicer to it. They'll even untangle its tentacles and comb them out. Especially the little one, he kinda does it obsessively. Quote Link to comment
jedidad Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 try anythingsaltwater.com. they carry them and they don't say anything about them being out of stock. really expensive though. i was able to add one to my cart but thats as far as i went. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 try anythingsaltwater.com. they carry them and they don't say anything about them being out of stock. really expensive though. i was able to add one to my cart but thats as far as i went. Quote Link to comment
spanko Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 There might be some truth to that. The tomato clown was way rough with the nem. She used to just pound the crap out of it. Didn't help that she was big and fat. The percs are much nicer to it. They'll even untangle its tentacles and comb them out. Especially the little one, he kinda does it obsessively. Yup was gonna say tomato, clarki, maroons are all very aggressive in their "fluffing" (calm down fab) of the anemone. Perc's are much gentler. Quote Link to comment
jedidad Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 that website was the only place i could find that goby that they were looking for Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Photo Updates The whereabouts of my tomato clown is still a mystery but on the other hand the true percula pair have settled in nicely. They're definitely much nicer and gentler to the RBTA and watching them play in their host anemone is a fun treat to observe after a long stressful day. Here's . It's so simple and ordinary yet still beautiful and it reminds me of why I got in this hobby in the first place. I just realized that I never gave a formal introduction to a new inhabitant that I sneaked into the tank last month. He's a blue-spotted jawfish and he's easily my most favorite fish. He definitely adds a splash of color and a lot of personality to the tank. He immediately found two spots: a little cave behind the zoas and a burrow under the pile of hairy mushrooms in the front of the tank. He plays the role of the grumpy old man in the tank, always guarding his spots with a look of concern and frustration on his face and not afraid to let others know with his big mouth if they're invading his territory. The jawfish "yelling" at the peppermint shrimp: At first I was concerned about a possible conflict with the yasha goby and they definitely got off on a rocky start. Mostly because the yasha goby rarely comes out to the open and when she did, the jawfish would stalk her around and watch her with sheer curiosity. There were a couple of standoffs where the jawfish tried to scare the goby away by opening his big mouth and "yelling" at her. To my surprise the goby fought back and "yelled" back despite the jawfish being much larger than her. But that was only during the first couple of weeks. These days the jawfish has given the goby free pass to wander around his territory. As I mentioned before, the yasha goby usually hides out with the pistol shrimp and rarely comes out to the open but she does every now and then. Especially during feeding time. Speaking of hiders, the harlequin shrimps are another two that I rarely see. Mostly because they hide out in their secret lair torturing a captive starfish. But I can tell when they're done with the starfish once I see them hanging out in the open and wandering around on the hunt for their next meal. But I like to let them wait about a week or so before giving them another prey to dine on. Friday night I threw in another chocolate chip starfish and got some pretty cool shots of it. I was surprise to see how much bigger, faster and more efficient they've become at immobilizing their prey and carrying it off to their dungeon. All in all I'm finding that the tank is finally in good balance in terms of livestock and everything is getting along swimmingly. I think I have room for one more fish and I'm thinking about adding a royal gramma as the last and final fish and hopefully it won't throw off the peaceful dynamic currently in place. But in the meantime I'm planning to aggressively tackle two big problems that have been plaguing my tank: Pest algae Flatworms Once I get those two problems taken care off I'll be much more comfortable with adding more corals to the tank. Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Looks awesome. I'm in the same boat with the flatworms. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 How do you plan on getting rid of them? Mine are EVERYWHERE and I can only siphon out so much! I wish I could get a sixline but it would probably not get along with my flasher wrasse. I might get one of those blue velvet nudis instead. Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Mine are everywhere too; way too many to treat with Flatworm eXit. My plan is to remove everything, blowing them off in a bucket, and treating everything in another tank (for an hour) Then, I'll return everything and treat the display tank after a week or so. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 That sounds like a lot of work. Good luck! Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 That's why I haven't done it yet. Maybe a nudi is a good way to go (if you screen off your pumps). LiveAquaria has them. Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 I know. I have a Koralia 3 in my tank that's a nudi blender waiting to happen. If I go that route I'll most likely take the pump out. Quote Link to comment
HecticDialectics Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 top notch assortment of fish and inverts, fab! Quote Link to comment
dickie52 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 I was surprise to see how much bigger, faster and more efficient they've become at immobilizing their prey and carrying it off to their dungeon. did you buy a smaller starfish? great shots, great tank! Quote Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Great update! I loved watching that video. Nice quality there. How deep is your sandbed for the jawfish? For your flatworms, perhaps you could do a series of dilute Flatworm eXit treatments. Quote Link to comment
streakr22 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Love the new fish ElFab. Beautiful percs and especially blue-spotted jawfish. I'm considering getting one too for my tank but don't know if one will get along with my orange spot blenny. He seems to have taken over any nook or cranny that exists in my tank. A royal gramma should be a wonderful final addition to your tank. Quote Link to comment
oogie Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Very nice!!! Yasha goby is my favorite fish of all time! Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 top notch assortment of fish and inverts, fab! Gracias! did you buy a smaller starfish? Nope. All the starfish that I've given them so far have all been roughly about the same size. But every time I see them out in the open I've noticed them get physically bigger. Especially the female. They used to look exactly the same and it was hard for me to tell them apart but now the female is clearly much bigger than the male. Also they used to struggle with taking down a starfish whereas now it seems like they've gotten it down to a science and can take it down, flip it, and carry it off to the back of the tank in ten minutes flat. Great update! I loved watching that video. Nice quality there. How deep is your sandbed for the jawfish? For your flatworms, perhaps you could do a series of dilute Flatworm eXit treatments. About 2-3" at the deepest. But there's a spot in the middle of the tank where my zoa rock barricades against the rock work forming a natural hole at the center. This is his favorite spot as it's deep enough to where he can swim vertically and be on the lookout and still dig at the bottom. It gives him the feeling that he's digging his own burrow. The downside to this is that he often spits out sand and dumps them all over my poor zoas. I don't want to use FWE ever again. I had a bad experience with using it in my pico and I don't want to have to go through that again. Granted that was a much smaller volume of water where side effects could easily go bad. But I have a huge population of flatworms, probably a lot more in places I can't see or get to if I nuke them. Love the new fish ElFab. Beautiful percs and especially blue-spotted jawfish. I'm considering getting one too for my tank but don't know if one will get along with my orange spot blenny. He seems to have taken over any nook or cranny that exists in my tank. A royal gramma should be a wonderful final addition to your tank. Thanks! It's hard to tell how they would get along with a blenny. Especially one that's already staked out every nook and cranny in your tank. All they really need is one good spot to settle into and feel secure in. Once they have that, they're happy and easygoing. But that all depends on how much the blenny is willing to compromise and surrender that one particular spot. Very nice!!! Yasha goby is my favorite fish of all time! They're great fish. I just wish mine would come out to the open more. Sometimes I forget I have her until she pops out of nowhere and it's like a surprise. Quote Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 (edited) Man this "pico" is lookin' good. Good to see some familiar pieces in the tank as well... Edited April 17, 2011 by Drift Monkey Quote Link to comment
animalmaster6 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Love the jawfish! Quote Link to comment
el fabuloso Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 Man this "pico" is lookin' good. Good to see some familiar pieces in the tank as well... Most of the corals in this tank were grown from my pico which is why it feels like an extension of pico but in a much larger scale. Hence the quote on my sig: omnia mutantur, nihil interit. Love the jawfish! Thanks. Quote Link to comment
pj86 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 El fab, I really like your choice of fishes. Your making me want to get a larger tank. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.