albertthiel Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) 2" from the top is standard for any rimless & drilled tank. Mine is at least two inches from the rim, possibly two and a half. Thanks Jedimasaster for clarifying that ... I guess in rimless tanks the level is then indeed lower than in other types with a rim ... I used to run mine at just under the rim which is I guess a little less than the 2 inches now standard as per why you seem to say for rimless tanks. Appreciated Albert The crab in the video is the same one. I had it in my pico first, then I transferred everything to the 10g. It was much smaller in the pico when I first dicovered it and has grown since the video! I figured it was a type of decorator crab when I saw it sporting small rubble, sponges and a paly. It is grey with a pointy head...it almost looks furry. It is hard to take pics of it Well now that you gave that description then I will go for a Decorator indeed. Watch though as we want to make sure it is not attacking or harassing corals that we do not want it to bother. As Reagan said "Trust but Verify" in this case keep an eye on it just to make sure ... Albert WOW Yes quite a bit of decorations right ....... a real one ..... Looks like if we took all the decorations off we could nearly open a fish store Albert Edited June 26, 2012 by albertthiel 1 Quote Link to comment
got2envy Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Sorry the video and the pic where it is on the mushroom were under LED's...very hard to take good pics and the other pics are with my phone, I will see if I can get pics of it with the real camera. last night he was trying to pick up a whole colony of my zoanthidsbut I guess they were to heavy it is def grey and looks furry with 2 small claws up front that it uses for picking at stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Hi Albert - I would love it if you ID this hitchhiker for me. I had posted it in the ID forum, but so far no one seems to know what it is. Thank you very much for looking! Taken 062512 btw, it's hanging on Clove Polyps, so you can get an idea of it's size. It also was underneath the rick when I got it and has very slowly traveled to where it is now. About 2 weeks ago. it's doesn't seem to bother the cloves. - Susan Susan to me it looks like an amphipod and some of them can be "nasties" so I would remove it from the tank as I have seen amphipods attaching corals esp zoanthids and the like. Try to get it out but you will have to real careful in doing so as other wise it will hide in a rock, in which case you would have to remove the rock to get it out. Do not touch it with your bare hands either. Netting will be difficult but you may try getting it with a skewer or something similar and stick the skewer right through it if you can ... in all likelihood you will find it easier to do this at night when the light are out iMO. When you try to find it use a flashlight with a red colored piece of transparent plastic in front of it as that will not make the amphipod go into hiding. Keep us posted .... and good hunting ... 1 Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) The crab in the video is the same one. I had it in my pico first, then I transferred everything to the 10g. It was much smaller in the pico when I first dicovered it and has grown since the video! I figured it was a type of decorator crab when I saw it sporting small rubble, sponges and a paly. It is grey with a pointy head...it almost looks furry. It is hard to take pics of it Still double checking got2envy but for now I still think it is a decorator one .. Keep an eye on it and let me know what it is doing ... Thanks Albert Edited June 26, 2012 by albertthiel 1 Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) Below is a link to a good description of how to add live sand and what kind to an aquarium ... there are 5 pages to the article ... http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/livesands.../a/aa070198.htm Albert Edited June 26, 2012 by albertthiel 1 Quote Link to comment
ZephNYC Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 Saw this unusual nudibranch at a vendor today They called it a Cristata Nudibranch. Did a little research and learned they eat anemones. Got aptasia? Description Also known as Nudibranchs, Nembrotha cristata Sea Slug, Cristate Neon Slug, Cabbage Nudibranch, Cabbage Sea Slug, Cabbage Snail, Cabbage Patch Nudibranch, Cabbage Patch Sea Slug and Crested Nembrotha. Found singly or in pairs on coral and rocky reefs amongst sand and rubble areas. These found resting in a barrel sponge. They feed on hydroids, coral, sponges and anemones. Length - 6cm Depth - 3-20m Widespread Western Indo-Pacific Opisthobranchia - Nudibranchs - Sea Slugs meaning "naked gills" are molluscs without a hard shell. All opisthobranchs are hermaphrodites. These beautiful slugs are usually brilliantly coloured and this in itself can act as a deterrent against predators. Some sea slugs secrete acid from stinging cells in their tentacles while others secrete acid from cells in their mantle. Nudibranchs are slow moving, can swim or be propelled along either by muscular contraction or by millions of tiny hairs on the bottom of a fleshy 'foot', they have a voracious appetite and feed with a rasp like tongue. Nudibranch lay their eggs in a ribbon effect on the sand, in different colours depending on species. Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) Saw this unusual nudibranch at a vendor today They called it a Cristata Nudibranch. Did a little research and learned they eat anemones. Got aptasia? Description Also known as Nudibranchs, Nembrotha cristata Sea Slug, Cristate Neon Slug, Cabbage Nudibranch, Cabbage Sea Slug, Cabbage Snail, Cabbage Patch Nudibranch, Cabbage Patch Sea Slug and Crested Nembrotha. Found singly or in pairs on coral and rocky reefs amongst sand and rubble areas. These found resting in a barrel sponge. They feed on hydroids, coral, sponges and anemones. Length - 6cm Depth - 3-20m Widespread Western Indo-Pacific Opisthobranchia - Nudibranchs - Sea Slugs meaning "naked gills" are molluscs without a hard shell. All opisthobranchs are hermaphrodites. These beautiful slugs are usually brilliantly coloured and this in itself can act as a deterrent against predators. Some sea slugs secrete acid from stinging cells in their tentacles while others secrete acid from cells in their mantle. Nudibranchs are slow moving, can swim or be propelled along either by muscular contraction or by millions of tiny hairs on the bottom of a fleshy 'foot', they have a voracious appetite and feed with a rasp like tongue. Nudibranch lay their eggs in a ribbon effect on the sand, in different colours depending on species. Guess we do not need those especially if we have any of what they like to feast on in our tanks but great post Zeph .. Thanks ... Another noteworthy thing we learned today ! Used to have a Spanish Dancer but could not keep it alive .... Albert Edited June 27, 2012 by albertthiel 1 Quote Link to comment
ZephNYC Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 THis question is for Wombat. Sorry Albert, but of course feel free to chime in!!! Wombat, are you keeping or working with any Dendronepthya species where you work? Quote Link to comment
wombat Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 THis question is for Wombat. Sorry Albert, but of course feel free to chime in!!! Wombat, are you keeping or working with any Dendronepthya species where you work? No, although I would like to. We would need to set up a specialized tank for it. It *should* be fairly straightforward to provide adequate flow and food concentration while managing water quality. We have had a lot of success here with stuff that people say is impossible to keep in captivity, so I don't think there are any limits to what we can do. Quote Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 I've been doing some more research on what types of plankton that chromis and anthias consume in the wild, and at least as far as chromis, I see phytoplankton listed at almost every source. It may be tiny, but they must have developed some way of consuming it. http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/Damselfish...reenChromis.php http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Chromis_viridis http://www.aquahobby.com/marine/e_cviridis.php http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/fish-of...mis-viridis.htm http://www.fishbase.us/summary/Chromis-viridis.html 1 Quote Link to comment
Genj Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Based on its behavior I have to believe that it is a Decorator crab as they often will get other animal life on their shell top as camouflage and then just roam around the tank, but I will take another look as the pics are not all that clear for me to see the crab ... I 'll get back to you on it later but I do think it is a Decorator crab. Here is one that looks like yours that is "really" decorated : Tetsuo, is that you? Quote Link to comment
wombat Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 I've been doing some more research on what types of plankton that chromis and anthias consume in the wild, and at least as far as chromis, I see phytoplankton listed at almost every source. It may be tiny, but they must have developed some way of consuming it. http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/Damselfish...reenChromis.php http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Chromis_viridis http://www.aquahobby.com/marine/e_cviridis.php http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/fish-of...mis-viridis.htm http://www.fishbase.us/summary/Chromis-viridis.html Of those links, there is only one I sorta trust (Fishbase), and it is infamous for getting it wrong on all sorts of info. This is one of those cases. Those sites list Chromis as "peaceful", which is laughable. Sexually mature individuals are as aggressive as any other damsel when defending a nest. If you search hard enough on the internet, you can find all sorts of nonsense, like photos of Halichoeres wrasses captioned as Chromis viridis on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chromis_...ague_2012_1.jpg Anyway, about the feeding. Phytoplankton is very small, too small to see without a microscope. It's eaten by things like copepods, which in turn are eaten by things like fish larvae. The stuff you buy in a bottle called "phytoplankton", while quite useful to your tank, will not be eaten by your green chromis. A green chromis is about as likely to eat phytoplankton as you are to eat dust mites. You can try adding it if you like, and watch them slowly starve, and then come back in a few weeks and report that I was right, or you can just trust me on this one. They will not and cannot eat it. They will eat bits of floating algae, and graze a bit of algae off of rocks, but this is very different from phytoplankton. Your best bet is to feed your chromis frequently with a diet of small zooplankton--things like rotifers, baby brine shrimp, cyclop-eeze, etc. They'll eventually accept flake and pellet, and this is fine too. Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 THis question is for Wombat. Sorry Albert, but of course feel free to chime in!!! Wombat, are you keeping or working with any Dendronepthya species where you work? Zeph I will let Wombat and others who have kept these reply as I have not had any experience with them and I cannot remember enough about them from when I used to run my aquariums to make any valuable contribution here ... so over to Wombat and others Albert Tetsuo, is that you? Scary looking thing isn't it ... but it is a Decorator crab ... he must have gone to the Jewelry shop and go loaded up .... 1 Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Albert's tank Update 4 : I went to Pure Reef yesterday and got 40 lbs of live sand and added it to the aquarium. Of course since I had live rock in there, and since the tank had been running for a few days, I had to make a decision: was I going to add the sand and leave everything in the tank or was I going to remove the rock, add the sand and then put the rock back. Well I decided that it would be better to take the rock out, so that when the sand got added that it would not cover the rock with a layer of sand and sand dust. That is what I did. After having added the sand the water was of course all cloudy and milky looking - unavoidable IMO even though I was careful in how I added the sand. I had to put the rock back into the tank as I had no other tank set up where to keep it so I put them back in the tank in the cloudy water, figuring that I would gently lift them up in the morning (this morning) and swish them around in a separate container and get the sand dust off them and then put them back in the tank. That is what I did and although the tank did cloud up again (somewhat - nothing major like a milky looking solution) I can see the rock as evidenced by the picture below ... now I just have to let it clear up and then I'll start doing some tests on the water later today to see what levels I come up with for all the params we usually measure. More to follow .... Albert 1 Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Of those links, there is only one I sorta trust (Fishbase), and it is infamous for getting it wrong on all sorts of info. This is one of those cases. Those sites list Chromis as "peaceful", which is laughable. Sexually mature individuals are as aggressive as any other damsel when defending a nest. If you search hard enough on the internet, you can find all sorts of nonsense, like photos of Halichoeres wrasses captioned as Chromis viridis on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chromis_...ague_2012_1.jpg Anyway, about the feeding. Phytoplankton is very small, too small to see without a microscope. It's eaten by things like copepods, which in turn are eaten by things like fish larvae. The stuff you buy in a bottle called "phytoplankton", while quite useful to your tank, will not be eaten by your green chromis. A green chromis is about as likely to eat phytoplankton as you are to eat dust mites. You can try adding it if you like, and watch them slowly starve, and then come back in a few weeks and report that I was right, or you can just trust me on this one. They will not and cannot eat it. They will eat bits of floating algae, and graze a bit of algae off of rocks, but this is very different from phytoplankton. Your best bet is to feed your chromis frequently with a diet of small zooplankton--things like rotifers, baby brine shrimp, cyclop-eeze, etc. They'll eventually accept flake and pellet, and this is fine too. Thanks Wombat for your insights ... Great info and I am sure Jedimaster will get back to you on this ... 1 Quote Link to comment
atoll Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Albert's tank Update 4 : I went to Pure Reef yesterday and got 40 lbs of live sand and added it to the aquarium. Of course since I had live rock in there, and since the tank had been running for a few days, I had to make a decision: was I going to add the sand and leave everything in the tank or was I going to remove the rock, add the sand and then put the rock back. Well I decided that it would be better to take the rock out, so that when the sand got added that it would not cover the rock with a layer of sand and sand dust. That is what I did. After having added the sand the water was of course all cloudy and milky looking - unavoidable IMO even though I was careful in how I added the sand. I had to put the rock back into the tank as I had no other tank set up where to keep it so I put them back in the tank in the cloudy water, figuring that I would gently lift them up in the morning (this morning) and swish them around in a separate container and get the sand dust off them and then put them back in the tank. That is what I did and although the tank did cloud up again (somewhat - nothing major like a milky looking solution) I can see the rock as evidenced by the picture below ... now I just have to let it clear up and then I'll start doing some tests on the water later today to see what levels I come up with for all the params we usually measure. More to follow .... Albert Good start Albert, What some people do is elevate the rock off the sand a little using egg crate. What I did was add egg create where the rock was going to touch the bottom of the tank then added the rock and put the sand around it just covering the overlap of the egg creat. I used the black slightly thicker egg crate to do this. I have also done a "how to" guide on how to make amazing shapes with live rock etc using acrylic rods and eppo putty although the putty may not be necessary. 1 Quote Link to comment
atoll Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Just found the guide to how I reefscape I did here. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=299864 1 Quote Link to comment
chrssprngs Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Just curious, did you work the rock into the sand so that it is resting on the bottom of the tank? 1 Quote Link to comment
Panda_girl Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 THis question is for Wombat. Sorry Albert, but of course feel free to chime in!!! Wombat, are you keeping or working with any Dendronepthya species where you work? Hi Zeph, I have 2 dendronepthyas in my 55 that are doing well, but close up for weeks at a time. They are really gorgeous when they open, but do not open often. Any advice? Quote Link to comment
ZephNYC Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 Hi Zeph, I have 2 dendronepthyas in my 55 that are doing well, but close up for weeks at a time. They are really gorgeous when they open, but do not open often. Any advice? I am impressed!! I didnt know any DendroN's lived in Queens.. LOL. How long have you had them ? Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) Hi Albert - I would love it if you ID this hitchhiker for me. I had posted it in the ID forum, but so far no one seems to know what it is. Thank you very much for looking! Taken 062512 btw, it's hanging on Clove Polyps, so you can get an idea of it's size. It also was underneath the rick when I got it and has very slowly traveled to where it is now. About 2 weeks ago. it's doesn't seem to bother the cloves. - Susan As posted on another thread yes it may be a Sea Quirt ,... but I am still not sure although it could be ... hard to identify little life form. So I looked at a lot of Sea Squirt pics on the Net, including Boltenia, which seems to be the one that resembles what you have the most, and looking at various types of Boltenia and other Sea Squirts, you may be right indeed ... however I would keep an eye on it just to make sure that it is what you think it is. FWIW ... Sea squirts, also called ascidians, are any member of the invertebrate class "Ascidiacea" (subphylum "Urochordata", and they are also referred to as Tunicata). Sea Squirts are marine animals with some very primitive vertebrate features. Not high up in the evolution ladder is what I mean. Sea squirts are primarily sessile (permanently fixed to a surface), so if yours moves it may not be one, but then of course there are always exceptions and it may move till it finds a suitable spot to attach itself to an then remain in place. They have what I would refer to as potato-shaped like bodies and are found in all seas, and based on what I found in one of my books they adapt well to changing environments as they are found in intertidal areas as well meaning where sea water params are different than in the ocean. They also live at just about any depth apparently. They seems to reside on just about anything they can 'attach' themselves to, and even on the backs of small, medium and large crabs. Some species according to my reading live individually; others live in groups or colonies, depending on the exact species. The body has an outer "protective covering", called the 'tunic', which contains a cellulose-like substance. As a side note sea squirts contain compound that are used in medicine, mostly in medications apparently used to combat certain types of cancer. Sea squirts have two large pores or syphon like openings, one to guide water in through the individual channels and one to move the water out after food particles have been removed. Somewhat like an inhalant and exhaling syphon type arrangement although that may not be the exact scientific terminology for them. One issue with Sea Squirts and also with Sponges that I remember from reading up on them quite some time ago, is that the intake pores or let's call them holes or syphons, can be plugged up with too large food particles and block them completely. This seems to be the issue that hobbyists may have in keeping some sponges alive in aquariums. This eventually leads to necrosis in that area, or the tissue in those areas dying of (decaying) and eventually leading to the demise of the sea squirt or sponge ... I have not really seen them sold at pet stores, but then that does not mean they are not ... If you have one it probably came in on a piece of live rock, and that is also how pet stores would have them, probably even unbeknownst to them, as to my knowledge they are not sold on their own. Most remain in the same spot all the time once they have found "their" spot, and do not move around (sessile as opposed to motile). Normally therefore you would not see them move around. Did you see yoursI moving and if so was it a lot or just a little in the same area where it is now located ? Just interested in finding out. Hopefully it is a Sea Squirt and therefore not harmful as long as it does to attach itself to an invert or coral although I have not found any references to the fact that they do so. They seem to prefer "hard" surfaces. Keep us posted on what it does and what you see .... and hopefully this helps and is FWIW Here are some pics from belsenj and Albert Edited June 27, 2012 by albertthiel 1 Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) Tiger Tail or Cherry Acan Pics for you ... Tiger Tail Acan .. I have also seen it called Tiger Tailor Cherry Acan ... pic found was not a definite ID I think so if anyone thinks this is not a Cherry Acan can you post a pic of one ? Thanks If anyone has similar ones feel free to add pictures of them ... Thanks Edited June 27, 2012 by albertthiel 1 Quote Link to comment
revaltion131 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Bah, I was avoiding acans. Now I need one. T.T Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) Bah, I was avoiding acans. Now I need one. T.T Here is a link to a site that shows lots and lots of them : http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gall...mp;g2_itemId=15 and a few more : http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=305752 http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry3920142 http://www.corallore.com/acan-coral-357.htm You should be able to find a real good choice on those links ... Albert Edited June 27, 2012 by albertthiel Quote Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Question Does anyone have experience with the Mame Overflow for Nano tanks ? I looked at their site and it shows the "glass" overflow but I am at a loss to see what it overflows to and how water is returned to the tank .. .seems like the in and out are both part of the same assembly ... not clear as to whether it is used to overflow to a sump or what ? Let me know if you do have experience with it and give me more details as I don't seem to be able to find anything with a lot more detail on the net Thanks Quote Link to comment
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