A Carib.Castle: Naughty Nibblers... June '15 pics/vid, Razors, 125g, diy LR

[metrokat]

What a cool wrasse! I love yellow fish.

[eitallent]

Omgosh how cute is that MMB guarding the nori ! Which reminds me I need to put some in my tank - it's been a couple of weeks and they need a treat :0)

 

Yep, Bubba the 10 lb Mexican Turbo needs to go to a bigger tank so that I can put in some pretty macros. I had to rip all the halimeda off of my one piece of rock as it was just not looking great anymore - hated to but it had run it's course. But I love how you've decorated your little piece of the ocean. I was thinking of getting a RSM250 but I may want to have something more like yours - it's just so pretty.

They are soooo cute. I just love watching their antics.

 

Once the nuisance algae is under control and you re-home your Turbo a regaular CUC will leave your pretty macros alone. I have C.prolifera, that looks like Oar grass, and nothing has touched it. It is growing well and has really good hold fasts in the sand bed. I also have Dragons Breath and Red Titan for color which seems to be left alone by all the algae eaters also. I have to glue those down or hold them down with home made plugs.

 

SWseamomma, I am formally requesting that you start tank threads for your tanks. I saw some pictures you posted on members' threads but that is just not enough for me. Thanks!

 

Wow, awesome assembly of fish! I especially dig the Molly Miller. Now i really excited about rehoming and redoing my current fish in my main display.

Thank you for stopping by. I am so happy with the MMB. They are gregarious and easy keepers. Also, good luck with your rehoming and redoing of your fish and display. It is such a great feeling to be enthusiastic and inspired about a project.

 

I like it!!!!!!!

OMG! Zeph has visited my thread.

Seriously, thank you, Zeph. I appreciate your help. I really want to put in a happy Squammy in here but it certainly would not be a Caribbean animal. May be it could be a reflection of real life where pet owners release their non-native animals into the wild, like piranhas, Asian carp and goldfish. Except a beautiul squamosa would be so much nicer to have in my tank than any of the above.

 

I love all your leeetle fishies! There must be so many little flutters in there at any given time.

There is always motion and flutters. I think we may dub the wrasse Sharkey because he is a non-stop, smooth, swimming machine. Or maybe Hunter because he is always looking and examining every square inch of rock!

 

So awesome that you've kept this all Caribbean critters!!!!! It really looks amazing!!!!

Thank you! I really want to keep it Caribbean. These organisms have evolved over time together and hopefully will create a harmonious environment. They have had time to resolve their issues!

 

What a cool wrasse! I love yellow fish.

 

Kat I hope you are having a fabulous time abroad! I am jealous!

I really needed the yellow in there. I am looking for red but all the little red fishes from the Caribbean are mean little suckers.

The next few fish I will add were recommend by Ben and Mr.M; the Chalk Bass. They will add a different color and shape.

[eitallent]

New page, new pictures!

 

As you look at these pictures you will notice some algae on the rocks and plugs. This low growing, fuzzy stuff does not bother me. It does not seem to irritate the Zoas or other corals. The CUC loves to eat it when they are on the rocks. They leave a bright white trail as the glide over the rocks, eating algae as they go. I continously pull the nerites off the walls and from the underside of the canopy and place them on the rocks where I want them to clean.

 

To me this is just a sign that my tank is just a youngster and eventually it will mature and have less and less nuisance algae. I hope that it will always have a small amount of this primary food source for the herbivores in the tank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oldSWseamomma]

They are soooo cute. I just love watching their antics.

 

Once the nuisance algae is under control and you re-home your Turbo a regaular CUC will leave your pretty macros alone. I have C.prolifera, that looks like Oar grass, and nothing has touched it. It is growing well and has really good hold fasts in the sand bed. I also have Dragons Breath and Red Titan for color which seems to be left alone by all the algae eaters also. I have to glue those down or hold them down with home made plugs.

 

SWseamomma, I am formally requesting that you start tank threads for your tanks. I saw some pictures you posted on members' threads but that is just not enough for me. Thanks!

Well the red "talicyano" is gone and the CUC that John at Reef Cleaners set me up with are doing an amazing job. I think my tank was understaffed. I hate to trade Big Bubba in as I've had him since I started my tank and he was only a 1" youngster - now he's almost topping 4 inches tall & round I am working on gathering all my tank pics together and will start a thread when I have them all in one file and I have a bunch on my phone I need to download. Right now I only have the RSM going - when I start the BC14 I'll start a thread on that one also But my RSM is mostly a FOWLER. I have one pulsing Xenia and one smal GSP the rest is LR but with very pretty coralline all over it (purples, pinks, magentas, greens) but my tank isn't anywhere near what yours and many others are for beauty When I rehome Bubba I'll be getting more macros and some corals - right now he just bruises thru everything - I need to get a pic of the MMB that hitches a ride on him - it's hilarious.

[eitallent]

OMG! He is huge, almost as big as ZephNYC is muscular!

 

I am glad you will be starting your tank threads. I love seeing everyone's creativity and individuality with their systems.

[Felicia]

Looking good! I really like that new wrasse you got, such a nice pop of color in there. I'm glad to see all the frags of my corals in there. They all looks like they're doing so well, especially the bam bams and Mind Blowing palys. I like seeing the slight difference in how the colors look under our different lights

 

Btw, how are the neons doing? Is one still picking on the other, or have they established territory and calmed down?

[eitallent]

Looking good! I really like that new wrasse you got, such a nice pop of color in there. I'm glad to see all the frags of my corals in there. They all looks like they're doing so well, especially the bam bams and Mind Blowing palys. I like seeing the slight difference in how the colors look under our different lights

 

Btw, how are the neons doing? Is one still picking on the other, or have they established territory and calmed down?

 

Thanks, Felicia.

 

Sharky is doing really well. He eats a lot when I feed, hunts in between feedings and slips into the sand at night. His color is vibrant which is and indication of his health. Liveaquaria really have their stuff together. Everything I get from them is always top notch.

 

Your frags are really doing well. They are coloring up like you said in response to these set of specific conditions in this tank. I love it.

 

The BNG are still chasing eachother whenever they can. The slightly bigger of the two, Zag, is more dominant and seems to continuously look for the smaller one, Zig. When he spots the Zig, Zag starts the chase. It ends when the Zig finds a spot to hide and Zag feels like he has defend his ground! rolleyes

 

Thank you for visiting.

[Felicia]

Thanks, Felicia.

 

Sharky is doing really well. He eats a lot when I feed, hunts in between feedings and slips into the sand at night. His color is vibrant which is and indication of his health. Liveaquaria really have their stuff together. Everything I get from them is always top notch.

 

Your frags are really doing well. They are coloring up like you said in response to these set of specific conditions in this tank. I love it.

 

The BNG are still chasing eachother whenever they can. The slightly bigger of the two, Zag, is more dominant and seems to continuously look for the smaller one, Zig. When he spots the Zig, Zag starts the chase. It ends when the Zig finds a spot to hide and Zag feels like he has defend his ground! rolleyes

 

Thank you for visiting.

Glad to hear Sharky is doing so well. I like his name

 

The fighting between the BNGs doesn't sound too awful. The larger of mine chases the smaller one on occasion. Does it seem like your smaller one is able to get enough to eat?

[eitallent]

Yes, I make sure I shoot some food at opposite ends of the tank. The more aggressive eaters will start eating so I quickly shoot some food over the the little guy, Zig. The BRC chase each other around too. I guess they just like to do this, but since there are five of them it gets spread around.

 

I have been placing a plastic one liter bottle over some of the corals to feed them Coral Smoothie. I placed the bottle close to the Jawfish condo and he did not like it one bit. A short while later I notice a pile of sand over some macros and there was the Jawfish constructing a new house in a different location. Once I removed the bottle he returned to his preferred rocks!

[eitallent]

Farm pics!

Just so's you know, we use no chemicals on our farm. We use chicken, horse and cow poo (composted) for fertilizer. We eat what the bugs, birds and other wildlife will leave us.

 

I have made Blueberry Buckles and a pie! Yum...

 

Several pints of raspberry jam...

 

Golden raspberries are especially fruity with no tartness. Delicious!

 

These turn into...

 

these Elderberry flowers. We make Elderberry wine from the berries.

 

Flowers all around...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Blubbernaut]

You make wine from a flower? HOW?

[eitallent]

You make wine from a flower? HOW?

 

The Elderberry flower makes a small black berry the size of a gooseberry. These are pressed as sieved and the juice is made into wine.

 

[Blubbernaut]

The Elderberry flower makes a small black berry the size of a gooseberry. These are pressed as sieved and the juice is made into wine.

 

Okay, that makes sense now. I thought you meant you make wine from the flower itself. My bad.

[Mr. Microscope]

Love the fruit photography!

 

BTW, I see you have a lot of plugs in your tank. Here's something I do to minimize that and help the corals grow faster over them. Take some bone cutters (for SPS), and snip/work off the leg of the plug from the top. Then, you can mount the plug top to your rock work with some superglue gel and epoxy. I find the corals grow faster over the plug when the corals are kept perfectly still in place for an extended period of time.

[eitallent]

Love the fruit photography!

 

BTW, I see you have a lot of plugs in your tank. Here's something I do to minimize that and help the corals grow faster over them. Take some bone cutters (for SPS), and snip/work off the leg of the plug from the top. Then, you can mount the plug top to your rock work with some superglue gel and epoxy. I find the corals grow faster over the plug when the corals are kept perfectly still in place for an extended period of time.

 

Yes! Great idea. Thanks for your suggestion.

 

I have been procrastinating in getting some of the corals off the commercial plugs and placed on my home-made plugs. I think I am delaying because I am afraid of damaging the corals. But it will have to be done so that it looks more attractive in there. I will use your idea for the corals that I cannot easily remove.

[jedimasterben]

What kind of SPS do you have in there? Looks like a birdsnest, not very Caribbean

[eitallent]

What kind of SPS do you have in there? Looks like a birdsnest, not very Caribbean

 

LOL I know! I am getting desperate.

 

It was on sale at PEA and it resembles the branching SPS in the Caribbean. It is a stretch, I know, but if it does well then I can sell it or trade it for something more true to the Caribbean theme.

 

Just be prepared that eventually I may get weak and add a T. squamosa in there.

 

I just re-read these articles and it has given me new inspiration for what kind of corals to add to my tank.

 

West Atlantic Stony Corals: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3 in advancedaquarist.com

[Mr. Microscope]

West Atlantic Stony Corals: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3 in advancedaquarist.com

Cool articles! Thanks for the links.

[jedimasterben]

Just remember that is 100% illegal to collect or sell stony corals from the Caribbean (and as far as I know the Atlantic in general)... unless they are 'hitchikers' on aquacultured rock, in which case they are fair game. You can contact Tampa Bay Saltwater and they will sell you just the hunks of rock that have the specific corals you want on them, which is what I plan to do eventually with my Caribbean biotope

[eitallent]

Just remember that is 100% illegal to collect or sell stony corals from the Caribbean (and as far as I know the Atlantic in general)... unless they are 'hitchikers' on aquacultured rock, in which case they are fair game. You can contact Tampa Bay Saltwater and they will sell you just the hunks of rock that have the specific corals you want on them, which is what I plan to do eventually with my Caribbean biotope

 

I knew that Fl SPS is a no no, but I figured that I could get the equivalent corals from the Pacific if they occupy the same ecological niche. IDK I am still mulling that over.

 

I will take a peak at the TBS shop and see what I can see. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Cool articles! Thanks for the links.

 

You are welcome. I love that they discuss some equivalent corals available in the aquarium trade from the Pacific.

[eitallent]

EDIT: oops this info is for the nano!

 

 

CO₂ Scrubber has kicked in!

 

The pH this morning is 8.11. That is the first time ever that it has gone above 7.9.

 

The alkalinity is at dKH 7.8

 

Calcium is a 550 ppm

I will use a CO2 scrubber in this tank as well. It really works.

 

[eitallent]

I am cutting off the stems on the frag plugs to glue them down and Mr.Microscope so smartly suggested. I will be taking pics later today when all the corals are open and happy again.

 

FlCandy's frags arrived yesterday in perfect condition. I cannot wait for her frags to open up and to set up her section of the tank.

 

All the fish are doing just beautifully! I could not be happier with the new arrivals and the original residents.

[oldSWseamomma]

So are we in for moar eye-candy pictures soon ? FTS ?? I just LOVE your tank

[eitallent]

Thank you!

 

Got all the plugs cut and some are glued to my homemade plugs and some I left on the discs,

 

Everybody is very angry and closed up tight! This afternoon I will take some pics and a FTS just for you, SWseamomma.

 

I may have time to do a video FTS. The macro swaying in the water is one of my favorite attributes of the tank.

[oldSWseamomma]

Awwwhh I can't wait ! How are the MMB's doing ? I put all of the barnacles I recieved from John down in the substrate in the front and now it's like mine have a roomy condo to choose from - ha ! I did take the biggest one out and chipped away the opening to make it a little wider and Ariel loves that one now but so far no eggs inside. They haven't laid them on my powerhead either so I have no idea if they've laid eggs or where they put them.