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msscha's 24 gallon office cube


msscha

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Sorry about the blenny! Any idea what might have happened?

 

I don't know how you can leave such a gorgeous tank at work!!!!! I'd be bringing that beauty home so I could enjoy it all the time :)

I think the blenny was done in by whatever got the yellow clown goby and firefish. No more tank additions until I catch whatever it may be. I spotted a bristle worm today, too, so i'll be doing some trapping over the next couple of weeks.

 

Office or home? That is the question over the holidays -- I have at least 2 weeks that I wouldn't need to go in...do I bring the tank home? Still thinking about that one. Otherwise, I have it at my office b/c that is where I spend most of my time :P. If it were at home, I'd see it for 30 minutes max. In the office, it's 24" from my head, and when I need to think, I just turn my head and stare.

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I think the blenny was done in by whatever got the yellow clown goby and firefish. No more tank additions until I catch whatever it may be. I spotted a bristle worm today, too, so i'll be doing some trapping over the next couple of weeks.

 

Office or home? That is the question over the holidays -- I have at least 2 weeks that I wouldn't need to go in...do I bring the tank home? Still thinking about that one. Otherwise, I have it at my office b/c that is where I spend most of my time :P. If it were at home, I'd see it for 30 minutes max. In the office, it's 24" from my head, and when I need to think, I just turn my head and stare.

That's a tough call on the 2 wk vacation. It would be a lot of work to bring it home temporarily...but I'd probably end up doing that anyways. And then I'd leave it home :lol:

 

I sure hope you find what's killing your fish!!!!!! The clown should be ok since it's more a water column dweller as opposed to a rock percher/hider.

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Clown Antics?

 

I am becoming a convert to appreciating the charms of this little fish! First, the clown has ceased its frantic parole of a single corner of the tank -- it now spends time all over the place. This morning, I'm am most amused to watch it investigating clumps of halimeda. I assume it's looking for food -- it looks adorably intent as it moves from clump to clump. It's even given an exploratory pass to a nassarius snout poking up.

 

The clicking in my tank has been audible a few times today. I am prepared to spend a week or so seeing if traps work. If not, I will take apart the rock to get at the shrimp. I would really like to add another fish someday, and have a soft spot for gobies and blennies, which means the predatory thing in the tank must be removed.

 

clown3.bmp

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Clown Antics?

 

I am becoming a convert to appreciating the charms of this little fish! First, the clown has ceased its frantic parole of a single corner of the tank -- it now spends time all over the place. This morning, I'm am most amused to watch it investigating clumps of halimeda. I assume it's looking for food -- it looks adorably intent as it moves from clump to clump. It's even given an exploratory pass to a nassarius snout poking up.

 

The clicking in my tank has been audible a few times today. I am prepared to spend a week or so seeing if traps work. If not, I will take apart the rock to get at the shrimp. I would really like to add another fish someday, and have a soft spot for gobies and blennies, which means the predatory thing in the tank must be removed.

 

clown3.bmp

Clowns are the best...so adorable!

 

I've gone hunting by pulling rocks out. It works pretty well as long as you know what you're looking for. I had two nasty eunicid worms in my tank. I just pulled all the rocks out and found them that way. Seems the best solution...although the most work. I bet your culprit is a crab. Don't worry too much about bristle worms...they are actually beneficial to your tank. Great for cleanup and they don't attack fish.

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Clowns are the best...so adorable!

 

I've gone hunting by pulling rocks out. It works pretty well as long as you know what you're looking for. I had two nasty eunicid worms in my tank. I just pulled all the rocks out and found them that way. Seems the best solution...although the most work. I bet your culprit is a crab. Don't worry too much about bristle worms...they are actually beneficial to your tank. Great for cleanup and they don't attack fish.

Since the trap was empty of everything but a nassarius this morning, I will be pulling out rocks. I'm looking for something that makes a clicking noise and builds sand piles. I'm hoping that if it's a shrimp, it scuttles into the rock and not the sand. Still, must make the attempt!

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Baby Duncan Heads and ClownScapes

 

Just a couple of pics -- caught a quick glimpse of little whitish claws cleaning house at an entrance to the shrimp's den...startled it when I moved to get a closer look, then saw a very odd worm-like body...wth? Mantis body? Unidentified Worm Sighting?

 

Two Baby Duncans (and yes, the other little nubbin is a head, it's just that the pic is not clear!)

duncan_babies.bmp

Clown and Colors

clown_and_color.bmp

 

What the hell is this? (am adding this to ID forum, too)

mantis_body_or_worm.bmp

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Black Friday...

 

I read on someone else's post that they nailed a 29BC for $150 at PetSmart on Black Friday -- I'm so jealous! It wouldn't fit on my desk, but if I'd walked in on the same deal, I'd have bought it in a heart beat and set it up at home. As is, the kids can't wait for the FW fish to finally die (which is potentially years yet) so that I can convert the 45 gallon tank at home. I am looking forward to it. It's deep instead of long, and I am so looking forward to careful and creative rock-scaping!

 

Other Friday news -- the LR takes a Perrier bath this morning to oust the rogue pistol and the crabs! I am sad b/c I will lose other valuable hitchhikers but I do want to get at least one more goby or blenny, so the evil critters must go. If it doesn't work -- then I will accept the current situation and work around it.

 

A few close up pics to get the weekend started...

 

Evil Crab 1 -- not sure if this guy is really bad or not -- it's incredibly shy and does not appear to be causing harm but those front claws have me worried

badcrab.bmp

 

Acans -- from two different angles -- proximity to lights still bleaches colors some

acan2.bmp

 

acan3.bmp

 

Blasto and Baby Astrea

blasto_baby_astrea.bmp

 

Duncans in the Afternoon -- this is how the duncans looks in the afternoon, warm, fat, and happy -- in the morning, the tentacles are more purple in color -- I love the way it looks like the tentacles are holding hands, like kids playing Red Rover

duncans3.bmp

 

Cloves -- there's nothing special about the coral here, I just love the colors -- holiday bright and happy!

cloves_and_color.bmp

 

Tunicate -- difficult pic to take b/c it's in the shade of the cave, but I love the ghostly feel of these animals -- there are several in the tank, mostly in the shade of the back wall

tunicate.bmp

 

Update -- hmmm. Partial success with uber-cleansing of rock. Got two largish crabs, which was unexpected. I rinsed off a couple dozen small, shrimp like looking things which LFS says are likely to be copepods (tiger copepods), indicating a healthy tank. No pistol shrimp or mantis rinsed off and I took out each rock except for a single base piece that I didn't think had seen much action. This meant re-building the rock scape, which looks much like it did, except the rock got placed about an inch further back, creating more swimming space up front. We'll see what that means for the corals which haven't decided they are happy yet with all the activity today. I don't want to do this again. I really didn't like taking everything apart like that, even if the sand bed looks all snowy white.

 

I also uncovered a ridiculously large hitchhiking snail -- it had a darkish shell about an inch long and half inch wide at the middle, with a distinct snout -- doesn't that mean it is a whelk? Stupidly, I called the LFS first when I should have taken the snail out and then called. It was moving across a mid-level piece of coral, not on the sand bed. I didn't get a good enough look to see if it had ridges on the shell. I shall have to await its reappearance.

Edited by msscha
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Great Santa hat!!!! The fuzzy crab with pointy claws looks like a trouble maker. Were you able to get that one?

 

I can't get over how much life your live rock came with!!!!!

 

Oh...may have to take a trip to Petco today to see if there are any ridiculous deals on tanks. I don't have a petsmart closeby me.

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Great Santa hat!!!! The fuzzy crab with pointy claws looks like a trouble maker. Were you able to get that one?

 

I can't get over how much life your live rock came with!!!!!

 

Oh...may have to take a trip to Petco today to see if there are any ridiculous deals on tanks. I don't have a petsmart closeby me.

Not only was the crab a bad one, but there were two of them! Both were female, and the LFS took the larger one out, turned it over, and she was filled with eggs -- yikes! So glad I got rid of them. The LFS thinks the crabs may even have been the ones digging under the rocks, but we'll see. In the meantime, I've been scolded into feeding less often (phosphate was up a bit) and am just going to hang out for a few weeks before adding anything else. Sigh...somewhere out there, there is a coral or three with little signs reading: "Mickey's Christmas Present to Self"!!

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Your tank is looking beautiful.

 

I'm having problems with soft corals bleaching under the pc's in my bc14. Are you keeping anything other than macros on the top levels of your 'scape?

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Your tank is looking beautiful.

 

I'm having problems with soft corals bleaching under the pc's in my bc14. Are you keeping anything other than macros on the top levels of your 'scape?

I have a small yellow ball sponge that came in with the LR, an acan that I moved up right next to it (on advice of the LFS who said it would want more light -- it definitely likes that spot better) and a ricordea florida that I'm keeping an eye on for just that reason. My LFS said that the pcs weren't really strong enough to upset anything that I had, but I am waiting to see.

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Monday Morning, Defeated

 

Sigh -- as you can see in the FTS below, though the tank is all sparkly clean and the Ocellaris Formerly Known As Bozo the Psycho Clownfish is still alive and happy (the peppermint shrimp is currently munching on a worm it caught -- do they do that or is this cleaning behavior? Update: it definitely ate that worm -- I watched the worm wriggle, trying to get away. A couple of hours later, and that snack is nearly gone. I had no idea peppermint shrimp did that!), the pile of sand has been re-built (bottom front left of tank, b/w the rock and duncan) and the clicking noises continue. I surrender. I took each rock but one out, found two crabs, both female and one sporting rows of eggs ready for hatching (then got to watch the entertainment as bad crabs were fed to puffer fish at LFS -- who needs streaming TV?!), unnecessarily killed a ton of copepods (which I've been reassured are still there aplenty), but did not get that which I was after.

 

Two of the mushrooms have let go and moved elsewhere. One is hanging out on the sand and the other in the back of the bottom rock ledge. A new hidden cup coral is alive and waving tentacles; it's located on the bottom piece of rock opposite the clicking sand pile. The big yellow sponge has grown a tail (what is this?). The other new attraction is the acorn (sessile) bi-valves. While I've read they do poorly in captivity, mine are now opening and closing, sending out lovely little sweeper arms that look like tiny, pulsating feather dusters. It's a bit like having flirtatious live rock, those little cyclopic eyes opening and batting a coquettish lash, then retreating bashfully.

 

FTS -- 12/05/2011

fts_12_5_2011.bmp

 

Peppermint as Predator

peppermint_predator.bmp

 

Yellow Ball Sponge with Tail

yellowball_tail.bmp

Edited by msscha
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tee hee hee -- peppermint molted again last night. I think that's the third time. Maybe the bristle worm made just the right snack for the next stage! Thinking of getting another peppermint; they are kind of entertaining. I'm also thinking of bringing the kids back to the office tonight, with a flashlight and red cellophane. I would love to see if I can spot what's in there, and since my husband is out of town for the night, he won't get upset if we don't show up for dinner ;). (yes, that's right: my husband does the cooking, thanks the gods!)

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The Cause of all my Woes?

 

Well, decided to go for it and took down the rocks again -- this time, I took everything out, including all coral and the clownfish, but not the peppermint shrimp (it looks so delicate and it moves so fast that it seemed safer to leave it in). I didn't use sparkling water, just a bit of fresh, then carefully inspected the holes for critters. I outed one more crab that I knew was in there -- it had to be crushed to death b/c fresh water wouldn't drive it out of its hole. Then, miracle of miracles, I spotted to rogue pistol shrimp darting around the bottom of the tank. I got it netted and dumped it into a freshwater container where it didn't die. Just kept darting around! It was much smaller than I expected -- barely an inch from tip of tail to head. It's a bit hard to believe that all the holes, clicking, and possibly, death, was caused by this one little thing! OTOH, I have black widows on my property, so don't doubt the killing potential of small creatures. I also unearthed a brittle star, which I thought was dead, but when I put it into the salt water container with the coral and clown fish (who I've now named Sherlock), it seemed to revive some and began burrowing under the cloves to hide. The picture below is lousy, but it was definitely bigger than I was expecting.

 

I really hope not to hear clicking again.

 

The Rogue Pistol Shrimp

pistolshrimp.bmp

 

Unhappy Brittle Star

brittlestar.bmp

 

Sponge or Slime thing on bottom of rock

sponge_or_sea_slime.bmp

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Black Friday...

 

I read on someone else's post that they nailed a 29BC for $150 at PetSmart on Black Friday -- I'm so jealous! It wouldn't fit on my desk, but if I'd walked in on the same deal, I'd have bought it in a heart beat and set it up at home. As is, the kids can't wait for the FW fish to finally die (which is potentially years yet) so that I can convert the 45 gallon tank at home. I am looking forward to it. It's deep instead of long, and I am so looking forward to careful and creative rock-scaping!

 

Other Friday news -- the LR takes a Perrier bath this morning to oust the rogue pistol and the crabs! I am sad b/c I will lose other valuable hitchhikers but I do want to get at least one more goby or blenny, so the evil critters must go. If it doesn't work -- then I will accept the current situation and work around it.

 

A few close up pics to get the weekend started...

 

Evil Crab 1 -- not sure if this guy is really bad or not -- it's incredibly shy and does not appear to be causing harm but those front claws have me worried

badcrab.bmp

 

Acans -- from two different angles -- proximity to lights still bleaches colors some

acan2.bmp

 

acan3.bmp

 

Blasto and Baby Astrea

blasto_baby_astrea.bmp

 

Duncans in the Afternoon -- this is how the duncans looks in the afternoon, warm, fat, and happy -- in the morning, the tentacles are more purple in color -- I love the way it looks like the tentacles are holding hands, like kids playing Red Rover

duncans3.bmp

 

Cloves -- there's nothing special about the coral here, I just love the colors -- holiday bright and happy!

cloves_and_color.bmp

 

Tunicate -- difficult pic to take b/c it's in the shade of the cave, but I love the ghostly feel of these animals -- there are several in the tank, mostly in the shade of the back wall

tunicate.bmp

 

Update -- hmmm. Partial success with uber-cleansing of rock. Got two largish crabs, which was unexpected. I rinsed off a couple dozen small, shrimp like looking things which LFS says are likely to be copepods (tiger copepods), indicating a healthy tank. No pistol shrimp or mantis rinsed off and I took out each rock except for a single base piece that I didn't think had seen much action. This meant re-building the rock scape, which looks much like it did, except the rock got placed about an inch further back, creating more swimming space up front. We'll see what that means for the corals which haven't decided they are happy yet with all the activity today. I don't want to do this again. I really didn't like taking everything apart like that, even if the sand bed looks all snowy white.

 

I also uncovered a ridiculously large hitchhiking snail -- it had a darkish shell about an inch long and half inch wide at the middle, with a distinct snout -- doesn't that mean it is a whelk? Stupidly, I called the LFS first when I should have taken the snail out and then called. It was moving across a mid-level piece of coral, not on the sand bed. I didn't get a good enough look to see if it had ridges on the shell. I shall have to await its reappearance.

 

yo its called a bristle worm

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Congratulations on your victory!

It's amazing how many hitchhikers you've had from your live rock. Maybe your yellow sponge is splitting?

Thank you! Later, I looked up brittle stars and read that they may be "adventitious" predators, meaning if they come across a rock-sleeping fish, they may go for it. I kind of wish I'd taken it out! I checked yesterday, though, and the sand was still all nice and smooth, so it looks like the pistol was that culprit. Amazing that something so small could be such a headache ;).

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Babies, Babies, Everywhere!

 

The nassarius laid eggs (again -- they are major contributors to plankton life), a bit of tube coral sporting 3 polyps has started growing on the sand, the duncan has two new heads and I think I see a third starting, the blasto has increased from 3 or 4 to 6 heads, I located another hidden cup coral yesterday (bringing the total I've found to 3), and now there's a new baby on the acan -- woo hoo!

 

Ominously, I've heard wee clicking again. Sigh.

 

I also realized yesterday (could I possibly be slower?) that the best rock for mounting coral is being used as the middle, tilted level of the tank, much of the surface being blocked by the rock on top. This strikes me as a poor use of real estate and I think I may re-scape next week. I have to figure out how to place that rock in such a way that I can use more of it first. I don't want to lose sight of the yellow ball sponge and the blasto, but the latter is movable and otherwise, there's nothing going on with that piece of rock. Hmm. Since I am still shy of adding rock dwellers (as much as I want a firefish), the re-scaping may go nicely with the addition of another clown -- that should help calm the territorial response. I need to hit the beginner's discussion list for other fish suggestions, too.

 

Baby Acan

acan_baby.bmp

 

Hidden Cup (not the new one)

hiddencup.bmp

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What did you do with that pistol shrimp? I found a 7 inch eunicid in a shipment last month. He survived a lugols dip and everything. Just happened to look into the tank just in time to notice a scary grey worm with massive mandibles tearing apart some watermelon zoas.........I say you he dead now.

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What did you do with that pistol shrimp? I found a 7 inch eunicid in a shipment last month. He survived a lugols dip and everything. Just happened to look into the tank just in time to notice a scary grey worm with massive mandibles tearing apart some watermelon zoas.........I say you he dead now.

If the pistol had turned out to be particularly beautiful, I might have saved him for the LFS to do with as they saw fit, but as is, it was not that pretty. I was amazed at how long it lasted in the fresh water, though! In the end (pun intended) he was sent via the sewer system to the Great Ocean in the Sky. I now wonder if I should have sent the brittle star along with him.

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Was going through the Beginner's Discussion thread on fish again, and read that I should be mixing the food types up a bit. I've only been using frozen (marine fusion) but do have a bit of flake the LFS gave me to use before there were fish. I tried some and it's official: Sherlock the Ocellaris formerly known as Bozo the Psycho Clownfish will eat anything :D . Sherlock needs a Watson or maybe an Irene.

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if it were my work, i would have taken him and thrown him in the sump of a very large tank. he no need to die.

Yeah, I know -- I kinda respected his persistence. I don't have a big tank, though :(

 

try some of this stuff. it makes my fish and corals go crazy.

 

just stick the tip of the frozen bar in the tank and swish it around a little. amazing stuff

I've heard of that! I'll try it -- they had some good articles linked, too. thanks!

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