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SC Coastal "Pest" Anemone Tank


Monochrome5

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italipinos8

I am always out in my kayak fishing and see tons of different anemones, algae, and sponges. You should try to stick a sponge in there too. Also if you wanted to add a fish, how about adding a mud minnow (impossible to kill) or find some baby toadfish (very ugly looking fish). These are local fish you can find in any part of the low country.

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Monochrome5
I am always out in my kayak fishing and see tons of different anemones, algae, and sponges. You should try to stick a sponge in there too. Also if you wanted to add a fish, how about adding a mud minnow (impossible to kill) or find some baby toadfish (very ugly looking fish). These are local fish you can find in any part of the low country.

 

Sponges are on my list, though a little more down the road. Then tend to do better in more established tanks.

 

Mud minnows may be a little to hyper for a 2 gallon tank. Especially one that's as tall as this. I think they would need a bit more swim room. Toadfish could definitely be cool, though. They don't move much since they're ambush predators, so they shouldn't have too much trouble in a smaller tank. I'll keep an eye out for one.

 

What part of the lowcountry do you fish?

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italipinos8

I fish mainly the intercoastal (IOP) to the wando. If your out in creeks look for very shallow water, a couple inches deep, and look for conch shells. You can usually find tons of the baby toadfish.

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Monochrome5
I fish mainly the intercoastal (IOP) to the wando. If your out in creeks look for very shallow water, a couple inches deep, and look for conch shells. You can usually find tons of the baby toadfish.

 

That's a great idea. I'll take a look around and see what I come up with!

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Monochrome5

Built my media rack today! The idea behind this was K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple, Stupid. It's quite basic, yet works like a charm. It's two eggcrate support columns topped by an eggcrate platform. No glue, no silicon, nothing but good old gravity and physics holding it together. This allows the top to be easily removable to change out filter media. So easy a caveman can do it!

 

Step 1: Cut the eggcrate

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Step 2: Insert into tank

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Step 3: Have a beer

guinness.jpg

 

Now my question... Should I run chaeto in the rack (I have a dual 10W submersible halogen to light it - I would zip tie a halogen onto each support) or should I run a bag of chemi-pure elite (zip tied to hang)? I don't want my water too clean for these guys, but I also want to have some crabs and other goodies in there eventually...

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brandolando4

I read that those lights have been a heat concern in 10 gallons, idk if this is true!! If it is it could really effect ur 2 gallon!!

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Monochrome5
I read that those lights have been a heat concern in 10 gallons, idk if this is true!! If it is it could really effect ur 2 gallon!!

 

I tested them in a bucket with about 5 gallons of bathtub water. After 24 hours on the water was at ambient temp. Who knows?

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Monochrome5
Go for it! The fuge I made in my tank is awesome cheato grows like crazy!!

 

I don't know if I even want filtration. Everything in here loves cruddy water...

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Monochrome5

So I woke up today to find the new actinaria anemone missing. After a quick search I found he had moved himself over to the aiptasia island. I feel like he's going to get stung to death, but if he got himself there he can get himself back out, yeah? Crazy little nems.

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Monochrome5
"Can't a nem just walk around anymore?"

 

I know, right? But get this... He split!! That's right! I now have TWO! Muhuhuhahahaha. It's like he wandered down there and then called in reinforcements. I love it.

 

Check them out:

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And I added some new members to the tank. This awesome little crab is a dwarf box crab. He's basically full grown (may get just a smidge bigger) and he likes to bury himself in the sand and jump out at things. You should see him do flips (literally) for brine shrimp. It's hysterical. He's sitting in front of another new tank member, a gelatinous bryozoan. I pulled up both of these guys in my most recent trawl (last Friday) as well as some periwinkle snails and a small hermit crab. This tank is teeming with life now. I love it! It's such a refreshing change to have a tank full of things you don't normally see.

 

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I shall call him... Melvin.

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Mr. Microscope

Wow! Fun additions! What is that white thing behind Melvin. Looks like another nem of some sort. Also, can we get a shot of the hermit? I have a soft spot for those little guys. Can't wait to see the new FTS. +1 on the flipping video!

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Since your a marine bioligist, I was wondering if you could tell me what somthing I found is, this past Saturday. Ipicked up an oyster, welll there were a whole bunch of yellowish looking polyps on it, is it a type of coral or sponge or what?

 

P.S. melvins pretty cool and so is that bryazoan!

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I like this little tank. At first, I thought I would be overcome with the urge to kill aiptasia and go looking for them in my tank :lol: . But now, I sorta of like the variety that you have going on.

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Monochrome5

Thanks guys :) This tank has been quite a fun little endeavor. Some updates:

 

I had to remove the branching bryozoan. Melvin decided to wear it for a hat. Over and over. Till it was finally shredded into little bits. But, some of the little bits seem to have anchored themselves on the rockwork. They are a super fast growing "fouling" species, so it really doesn't surprise me. Melvin then decided to eat my hermit crab. Oh well... such is nature. He's too cool for me to take out.

 

Baby aiptasia are here! They are growing quite a bit slower than I had anticipated. Most are smaller than a tic-tac. The big ones seem to be getting a lot more color to them as well. Some deep reds with green bands. Very fun.

 

This week is exam week, however I should have a great collection day next week. I'll keep everyone up to date on any additions!

 

Since your a marine bioligist, I was wondering if you could tell me what somthing I found is, this past Saturday. Ipicked up an oyster, welll there were a whole bunch of yellowish looking polyps on it, is it a type of coral or sponge or what?

 

P.S. melvins pretty cool and so is that bryazoan!

 

I'd need a picture. It's most likely a colonial hydozoa. There are a few species that are symbiotic with oysters and can be quite large. One of my favorite hydroids live exclusively on the shells of hermit crabs (they won't settle on non-hermit shells, even if it's the same snail).

 

Wow! Fun additions! What is that white thing behind Melvin. Looks like another nem of some sort. Also, can we get a shot of the hermit? I have a soft spot for those little guys. Can't wait to see the new FTS. +1 on the flipping video!

 

The white thing is the gelatinous bryozoan. I believe they're called "sea pork" in some areas. They feel just like a dolphin, if you ask me. You expect slimy, but they're actually quite smooth.

 

 

 

better yet a video of him flipping for brine =D

 

I'll see if I can get a video camera from someone to shoot him flipping. It's actually quite funny. He tries to climb the glass to grab the pieces of brine and always ends up falling over backward.

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Monochrome5

More peeeechurs!

 

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Melvin, buried and ready to attack!

 

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Aiptasia Island. Now with babies! Like I said earlier, they're growing a lot slower than I had originally anticipated. Oh well. They're still awesome. Also, the other actinaria nem that split is on the move again. One of the clones is on the bottom right side of the island in the picture. The other has wandered onto the back wall of the tank about an inch from the intake baffles. They're truly nems about town.

 

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The original hitchiker anemone is out now! No longer hanging from the roof of his little cave area. Still no ID on this guy, but he seems to eat brine/cyclops once a week and be nice and happy. Based on him being nearly entirely white/clear with an orange stalk, I'm going to assume he's non-photosynthetic. He will actually hide when the light is on most days.

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