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msscha's 24 gallon office cube


msscha

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My vote is for the Rainfordii as well! Smart choice having a LFS tank sit for you. At least they know what they are doing :)

 

Did you end up leaving the tank at work for the holidays?

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My vote is for the Rainfordii as well! Smart choice having a LFS tank sit for you. At least they know what they are doing :)

 

Did you end up leaving the tank at work for the holidays?

Yes, 'cause I'm only going to be gone about a little over a week, and most of that time, I'll be out of town. LFS does tank sitting for $10/visit, which I consider worth it just for the peace of mind!

 

I think the Rainfordii is the better choice, too. The more I read on the wrasse, the more it seemed a bad idea.

 

For the musically inclined, my new love (a ukulele -- who knew?) --

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Ye Gads, It's Alive!

 

So here is what cyano looks like when it gets out of control -- a mat of the stuff with water caught underneath to create a bubbling burst of bacteria!

 

cyano_bubble.bmp

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That cyano seemed to come out and take over fast! Dang!

:eek:

I think it's the aftermath of the re-scaping/search for shrimp adventure. Too much disturbed sand! I am too selfish/pathetic to turn the lights off while I am at work, so plan is to do big clean/water change on Friday, turn lights off for the weekend, and have LFS turn them back on when they get here on Tuesday. I have a new pc and a koralia hydro 240 arriving tomorrow, so hopefully, that will take care of the problem!

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Added the new PC today (standard biocube -- will consider LEDs come spring) and the hydor koralia 240. The pump adds waaayyy more flow to the tank. I'm not sure I like it or not. It takes up a bit of tank real estate, though I had no particular plans for the back corner. Can't tell if the light makes any difference :huh: , but at least it's new!

 

Cleaned what I could of the cyano, will give the tank one last big Christmas feed before I leave in a few minutes, not to return until 12/31 (or maybe, 1/02). LFS is taking care of tank (woo hoo!) and I've turned the lights to only 5 hours a day. I decided not to do the lights-out technique b/c I won't be here to clean the tank when it is time to turn them back on. So, if I have the chance to stop in on New Year's Eve, and there is still cyano, I'll turn the lights out then. I am fretting about leaving for a week! What if the snails tip over the ricordea or mushrooms (again!)? What will happen to Sherlee if she isn't fed each and every day?

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Zwanzaa, and Happy New Year!!

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Merry Christmas Msscha!

 

I hope your tank clears up and stays safe during your trip. I am sure that the LSF guy will fix your corals for ya... maybe leave a picture of your tank for the guy so he can see if anything is missing or tipped over

 

Have a great trip and i hope your Holidays are filled with good times and friends and family

EZ

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!!!!!

 

I have to say, that's the prettiest cyano I've ever seen....seriously :lol:

 

Mines always been an ugly dark brown. Yours is actually attractive! I would say if you have to get it...that's the color to get :)

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!!!!!

 

I have to say, that's the prettiest cyano I've ever seen....seriously :lol:

 

Mines always been an ugly dark brown. Yours is actually attractive! I would say if you have to get it...that's the color to get :)

:P:D

 

That cyano is something spectacular, it looks like your shrimp is taking refuge on a raft :)

 

Hope the ph helps to clear it up.

 

Lovely tank.

Many thanks!

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Ooohhhh -- the LFS sent out a message today that they got in a new shipment that includes trimma (red spotted or striped) gobies and purple firefish! I'd be racing over there, except the transmission on my van blew just as we were leaving town, so I am car-less until tomorrow, when I will become the proud ( :o) owner of a 2006 Kia Sedona -- we have friends in the used car business, so are getting a good deal -- the monthly loan may not even top $200 (4 years) which makes being forced into an unexpected purchase a teensy, weensy bit easier to swallow.

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Ooohhhh -- the LFS sent out a message today that they got in a new shipment that includes trimma (red spotted or striped) gobies and purple firefish! I'd be racing over there, except the transmission on my van blew just as we were leaving town, so I am car-less until tomorrow, when I will become the proud ( :o) owner of a 2006 Kia Sedona -- we have friends in the used car business, so are getting a good deal -- the monthly loan may not even top $200 (4 years) which makes being forced into an unexpected purchase a teensy, weensy bit easier to swallow.

That's great news on the deal!!!!!

 

I hope your LFS still has the fish when you get there :)

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That's great news on the deal!!!!!

 

I hope your LFS still has the fish when you get there :)

Nope! They were gone within a couple of hours. That's okay -- the universe must have other things in store for me (pun intended?)!

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Nope! They were gone within a couple of hours. That's okay -- the universe must have other things in store for me (pun intended?)!

Darn! Well...something better will be coming along :)

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Back at Work

 

...and the tank is still the most captivating thing happening! I definitely need to set up a schedule for tank-staring relative to other work. Everything seems to have weathered the long absence just fine. Still a bit of cyano, but not as much. I'll keep the lights on a shorter, 5 hour schedule to see if that helps. Going to LFS today or tomorrow and getting either the rainfordii goby or a red-striped cardinal (LFS has a few of these, similar in size/behavior to orange-lined). I may even get two of them since they are schoolers. Also going for a hairy mushroom, maybe a brain.

 

Oh -- and the clicking is back! I give up. Welcome O Ye Pistol Shrimp. If it didn't kill anything the first time, then I'll let it be this time. I wish I knew if a YWG would pair up with it...

Edited by msscha
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So...what did you get??????

 

I still have clicking in my tank too. I thought it was the eunicid worms, but no such luck. I'm wondering if it isn't giant pods? I know I have one giant pod in there for sure. Hopefully it's not something deadly! Whatever it is, it's not big because my tiny green banded gobies have been just fine...and they are always in the rocks.

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So...what did you get??????

 

I still have clicking in my tank too. I thought it was the eunicid worms, but no such luck. I'm wondering if it isn't giant pods? I know I have one giant pod in there for sure. Hopefully it's not something deadly! Whatever it is, it's not big because my tiny green banded gobies have been just fine...and they are always in the rocks.

My husband's car went out yesterday, so I spent the day shuttling him around -- LFS today or tomorrow. Arg! I'm wondering about the clicking, too, since I read recently that lots of stuff may be responsible for clicking. If I go for a rock dweller, it'll be a green banded or yellow clown goby, or maybe the Molly Miller Blenny. I'm excited to see pics of the FW tank! I never invested in the right lights for serious plant life, though I did have one placed to get natural sunlight and had a couple plants grown just huge. I love how pretty a black gravel with plants looks.

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My husband's car went out yesterday, so I spent the day shuttling him around -- LFS today or tomorrow. Arg! I'm wondering about the clicking, too, since I read recently that lots of stuff may be responsible for clicking. If I go for a rock dweller, it'll be a green banded or yellow clown goby, or maybe the Molly Miller Blenny. I'm excited to see pics of the FW tank! I never invested in the right lights for serious plant life, though I did have one placed to get natural sunlight and had a couple plants grown just huge. I love how pretty a black gravel with plants looks.

I'll have to look up the Molly Miller Blenny. I'm not familiar with that one.

 

I have the stock light fixture from the picotope but I switched out the bulb for the 6700K bulb. It's such a nice bright color. I can tell my plants are already growing. I wanted to get the black flourite gravel, but my LFS didn't have it. I went with this other stuff. I can't remember the name, but it's brown. It looks nice too with the black background.

 

Hope you get some good stuff today or tomorrow!!!!!

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My husband's car went out yesterday, so I spent the day shuttling him around -- LFS today or tomorrow. Arg! I'm wondering about the clicking, too, since I read recently that lots of stuff may be responsible for clicking. If I go for a rock dweller, it'll be a green banded or yellow clown goby, or maybe the Molly Miller Blenny. I'm excited to see pics of the FW tank! I never invested in the right lights for serious plant life, though I did have one placed to get natural sunlight and had a couple plants grown just huge. I love how pretty a black gravel with plants looks.

 

Hey great job with the tank so far!

 

Which LFS do you go to? I think I used to go to Aquatropics when I lived there in 98' and had a 55 gallon.

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Hey great job with the tank so far!

 

Which LFS do you go to? I think I used to go to Aquatropics when I lived there in 98' and had a 55 gallon.

Thanks! I go to Ocean Exotics for the livestock, though I bought the tank from Aquatropics. Aquatropics has a hit-and-miss rep for its SW, though nearly every FW fish I've had for 20 years has come from them.

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New Denizens!

Made a quick trip to LFS yesterday...only spent 30 minutes looking before getting stuff and getting out! Came back with a Rainfordi Goby (aka, "clown jester" goby), a toadstool leather and a hairy mushroom. Rain did make it out already this morning, which I was happy about, though it's still on the shy side. This particular goby is not just beautiful, but a workhorse, as it eats algae and is a sand-sifter as well. Watching the sand-sifting is pretty interesting! It noses about, takes sand in, then runs it back out through its gills (or a hole nearby) and then spits out its mouth. At least, that's what it looks like! Both the toadstool and hairy shroom have woken up this morning, though the shroom has not fully extended yet. The textures on the toadstool are way cool. I must get a better camera! Also caught some shrimp love yesterday when adding the new corals. For the first time, the I felt the little scratchy sensation of the peppermint cleaning my hands :wub: .

 

Rainfordi Goby -- nicely photogenic fish!

raingoby1.bmp

raingoby2.bmp

raingoby3.bmp

 

Toadstool in the morning

toadstool1.bmp

 

Toadstool awake

toadstool2.bmp

 

Hairy Mushroom

hairyshroom1.bmp

 

Later that afternoon....The goby has been out and about most of the day. I am very happy about this! It's cool and sleek looking, and "Rain" is a good name. I think the clown is actually a bit scared of him! When he's gliding through the middle of the tank, picking at the rock, the clown retreated into the corner and just watched. Silly clown. I think I shall name her "Bozette".

 

I find it interesting that Bozette is round with vertical striping, Rain is long and sleek with horizontal striping. Clearly, there are no piscine fashion police ;).

Edited by msscha
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Awesome new additions! I have that same leather. When they get big, clowns will use them as a host. Whenever people came over they would ask me if it was an anemone :)

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Came in this morning to find sand moved around, not by the mysterious clicking one, but by the goby. It has burrowed out a sand pit for itself in the corner under the cheato. Neat! It's not nearly as shy as either the yellow clown or firefish were. Came out to say hello just a few minutes after I got here. I spent some time watching them yesterday afternoon before I left. Bozette seemed to be trying to make friends...I know that's anthropomorphism on my part, but Rain was out nibbling at rock and Bozette kept swimming over and wriggling just a bit, then swimming away. Nothing threatening like with the other clown, just curiosity, I guess.

 

ARG! Damn Turbo just knocked the acan off its spot again! Even though it's glued in place -- either I have to use way more glue or need to use the cement plug stuff along with super glue. Also spotted either a little shrimp or big copepod yesterday afternoon. It was about 1/4" long, some striping, some kind of antennae looking things up front, and a deeply curled tail end. When I got close to examine it, it shot like a bullet into the hairy shroom! Interesting, 'cause I read yesterday that hairy shrooms are semi-aggressive and leak a toxin that can be fatal to sessile invertebrates. I moved it away on its own a bit and returned the trumpet to its former place, well clear of the hairy shrooms reach. I also found an empty limpet shell today. I thought limpets were practically indestructible. I wonder what got it?

 

A couple of tank pics -- one fts, one side view

 

FTS -- 1/06/2012

fts_1_06_2012.bmp

 

Side view (the goby has pretty much double the size of its sand pit in the corner under the cheato :o)

sideview_jan_2012.bmp

Edited by msscha
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I use the glue then waterweld putty followed by yet more glue method. They stick pretty well.

 

Glad your new fish is settling in. I got new corals but they look pretty bad so no real pictures yet. Actually wondering about your toadstool, that's a leather right? How did it react when you put it in the tank? was it shipped to you or did you buy it local?

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