Felicia Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 $25 is cheap for shipping. I'm so used to paying $50. It stinks . The shipping is low for local customers because they don't have to send it overnight for it to arrive the next day. If you live within 100 miles of the store, shipping is $18 plus a $7 box/packaging fee. I just had a thought, do tube nems split like other nems? Do people propagate them or are they all wild? Might be an interesting road to travel. I've often thought a trio of chromis might be cool. Though, in my research I keep reading horror stories about them getting aggressive towards each other and impossible to catch. I don't want to dissuade you from such an awesome fish, just a heads-up. LOL! Your coolness factor just went up to 11. I honestly have no idea how they reproduce! I hadn't looked into that. I may have to do a bit of research on that, because that could be very cool! Yeah, I've heard the same thing about the chromis so I'm really torn. I feel like a new angel is a risk too, so maybe I should just give another coral beauty a shot. I just definitely want colorful open swimmers in this new open scape. Anyone have any thoughts on adding another wrasse, maybe a melanarus? Glad you like the fact that I drove my betta tank to work on my scooter! Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 makes me want a scooter.. They're awesome and very affordable Ok, so I decided to go for that Symphyllia brain coral on ebay and I won it! The starting bid was $34.99 and I only had to go to $38.81 to get it. With shipping ($25 for local), that makes it $63.81, which I don't think is too bad. Probably not as huge of a score as the other things I go on ebay a little over a week ago, but not a bad price for something I really wanted. Its nicely colored and pretty large at 3"x2.5". I was planning to get an open brain for the sand bed in the new set-up, but then saw this and decided I liked it more. I think it'll look pretty sweet in there http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/symphyllia1.jpg.html'> http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/symphyllia1zoom.jpg.html'> Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Ok, so I decided to go for that Symphyllia brain coral on ebay and I won it! The starting bid was $34.99 and I only had to go to $38.81 to get it. With shipping ($25 for local), that makes it $63.81, which I don't think is too bad. !!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see it! I hope the pic lives up to it's glory. Though, even if the colors aren't exact, it looks like a nice sized piece and still a great deal. Since this place is so close, are you able to arrange pickup instead of shipping? Might help save a dime or two. Plus, then you can give your corals a scooter ride too. LOL Link to comment
gena Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 They're awesome and very affordable Ok, so I decided to go for that Symphyllia brain coral on ebay and I won it! The starting bid was $34.99 and I only had to go to $38.81 to get it. With shipping ($25 for local), that makes it $63.81, which I don't think is too bad. Probably not as huge of a score as the other things I go on ebay a little over a week ago, but not a bad price for something I really wanted. Its nicely colored and pretty large at 3"x2.5". I was planning to get an open brain for the sand bed in the new set-up, but then saw this and decided I liked it more. I think it'll look pretty sweet in there I'm so glad you got it . Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 !!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see it! I hope the pic lives up to it's glory. Though, even if the colors aren't exact, it looks like a nice sized piece and still a great deal. Since this place is so close, are you able to arrange pickup instead of shipping? Might help save a dime or two. Plus, then you can give your corals a scooter ride too. LOL I'm excited about it arrive later this week! I know that shop uses much bluer lights than I do, but I buy from them a lot, so I usually know about how different corals will look under my whiter lighting. Hopefully it will still be nice and colorful under my lights. My purple and green acans from them are still very bright under my lighting, so I think this should be a good color combo Unfortunately, they have a deal with UPS to get discounted shipping and they have to hit a certain volume to maintain that. The only online sales they do are through their small ebay auctions once a week, so they won't allow local pickup for any of those because they worry about losing their deal with UPS. However, the local shipping is only $25 and considering it usually takes me about 45 minutes each way to that store when you figure in traffic (and it could take even longer with the way the bay area traffic is), the price of gas and my time make it almost worth just paying $25 to have it delivered to my door. I have never actually taken any corals on my scooter, since I have to get on the highway to get to all of them. That's when I take my car. I have however, carried multiple fish on my scooter. I had FW tanks during undergrad and the store I went to was right by campus, so I'd often swing by there on my scooter after class to pick things up. I'm so glad you got it . You gave me the push to decide it was worth bidding on I need to stop buying new corals Link to comment
markalot Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Missed this ... Now on board. Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 P-R-E-T-T-Y !! agreed with above! I can't wait to see its prettiness in person It should be getting delivered Thursday. Missed this ... Now on board. Glad to see you, Mark! I've been looking on info about symphyllia sp. brain corals and haven't been able to find a ton. Seems like they're not super common. Also, looking at sale prices for the few places that have them makes me realize the ebay auction price really was a steal Here's the one decent article I found on them: http://www.reef2reef.com/blog/symphyllia-symphony/ Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 I just had a thought, do tube nems split like other nems? Do people propagate them or are they all wild? Might be an interesting road to travel. Btw, Mr. M, here's what I found on tube nem reproduction: Lastly I want to briefly discuss reproduction within this group, but any such discussion is hampered by the fact that there has been precious little research done on this subject. The species that have been studied are protandric hermaphrodites, meaning that small or young individuals are males, and the animal switches to being a female at some point in their lives (possibly triggered by some size or age threshold). Sexual reproduction apparently occurs by the release of gametes into the water column. There are several reports of a tiny tube anemone being found within the body cavity of an adult, but it is unclear whether this is evidence for internal brooding or an aberrant developmental pathway. Likewise, there is some evidence that these animals are capable of reproducing asexually, but to date there is no evidence that this has occurred in an aquarium. Regardless of the exact method of reproduction, the chances that your tube anemone will reproduce in captivity are very slim, indeed. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/6/inverts Link to comment
gena Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 You gave me the push to decide it was worth bidding on I need to stop buying new corals If I had the money and the space, I would have bought it . It's so pretty! I voted another coral beauty. You loved it so much, might as well give it another try. They are the safest of the angels. If it doesn't work out, go for the school of chromis . Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 If I had the money and the space, I would have bought it . It's so pretty! I voted another coral beauty. You loved it so much, might as well give it another try. They are the safest of the angels. If it doesn't work out, go for the school of chromis . I'm so excited to get it! Glad you talked me into it Plus, it should be less likely to get nipped at by an angel than a regular open brain since its not as puffy. I originally wanted to add an open brain, but I like this symphyllia better I'm leaning towards another coral beauty. I just hope it doesn't manage to kill my clams before I could get it back out if I have issues. That's what I worry about! Link to comment
gena Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 I'm so excited to get it! Glad you talked me into it Plus, it should be less likely to get nipped at by an angel than a regular open brain since its not as puffy. I originally wanted to add an open brain, but I like this symphyllia better I'm leaning towards another coral beauty. I just hope it doesn't manage to kill my clams before I could get it back out if I have issues. That's what I worry about! If you notice the clams are closed up, then there's a problem. When my FF was irritating my squamosa, it just stayed closed up for several hours. That would be your cue to remove the angel . Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 If you notice the clams are closed up, then there's a problem. When my FF was irritating my squamosa, it just stayed closed up for several hours. That would be your cue to remove the angel . Yep. That's the plan. I've just heard stories where an angel manages to kill a clam in like a day or less, before people can even get the fish back out of the tank. If I get a new angel, I'm going to have to invest in a fish trap. Link to comment
gena Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Yep. That's the plan. I've just heard stories where an angel manages to kill a clam in like a day or less, before people can even get the fish back out of the tank. If I get a new angel, I'm going to have to invest in a fish trap.Sounds like those clams were sick to begin with. I would think a healthy one would be able to keep itself closed up to protect itself. Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Sounds like those clams were sick to begin with. I would think a healthy one would be able to keep itself closed up to protect itself. Good point. I know nothing about clams and am shocked that I've managed to keep mine alive so long. I'm always convinced they're just going to up and die My new worry is transferring them back into the brand new set-up where there will be no nutrients in the water. I doubt they're going to like that. Not sure what the best way is to handle that though. When the cycle is over, the corals and clams will all have to move first with the light and then the fish once everything else is out of the tank and I can catch them. Link to comment
gena Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Good point. I know nothing about clams and am shocked that I've managed to keep mine alive so long. I'm always convinced they're just going to up and die My new worry is transferring them back into the brand new set-up where there will be no nutrients in the water. I doubt they're going to like that. Not sure what the best way is to handle that though. When the cycle is over, the corals and clams will all have to move first with the light and then the fish once everything else is out of the tank and I can catch them.I don't know much either . Once you do the transfer maybe feed live phyto daily for a week just to be sure they are getting nutrients. Then go back to your regular schedule. That's probably what I would do. But what do I know....Miss fighting cyano in my tank from over-feeding LOL. Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 I don't know much either . Once you do the transfer maybe feed live phyto daily for a week just to be sure they are getting nutrients. Then go back to your regular schedule. That's probably what I would do. But what do I know....Miss fighting cyano in my tank from over-feeding LOL. Yeah, that's probably what I'll have to do. I feed a mix of Marine Snow and Phytoplex to the NPS stuff in the seahorse tank daily, so I can just add that to the main tank for the clams. I just don't want to overload the bacteria population right off the bat by adding too much food. I actually don't feed the clams at all right now. They seem happy with the lighting and the nutrients from the system. I've got minimal filtration and a decent number of fish, so that keeps them happy. But yeah, I overfeed too! I've got cyano in the holding tank right now. I found replacements for my clowns. I wanted to go through one of the breeders I know in the local club instead of going to an LFS. I figure the breeder is a known reliable source and the fish should be very helpful. Also, its cheaper since there's no markup from breeder to store. Luckily, the breeder that lives just up the road from me has a Darwin and an orange ocellaris right now, which is exactly what I wanted. He's putting them together for me today so they pair up and then in a couple weeks when the tank is cycled, I'll go pick them up and add them directly into the new tank. This time around though, the Darwin will be the female since its older and larger (born last summer), which the orange ocellaris will be the male since it was hatched in November. Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 I finally got around to testing my water to see where the cycle is. Looks like its coming along nicely. I'm thinking it will be done in a few more days. I'll give it a week more to be safe. Here's the water test: Ammonia: 0 ppm Nitrites: 0 ppm Nitrates: 10 ppm http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/WaterTest3-18-14.jpg.html'> Link to comment
gena Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Looks like the cycle is already done! My brother's was fast too. He just moved his clownfish into it yesterday. Is the Darwin clownfish what you had before? I googled it. It's a black and white with orange face? If so, that's what mine was. Love them! The pairing with the orange will look so good! Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 Looks like the cycle is already done! My brother's was fast too. He just moved his clownfish into it yesterday. Is the Darwin clownfish what you had before? I googled it. It's a black and white with orange face? If so, that's what mine was. Love them! The pairing with the orange will look so good! Yep, its looking pretty much done. When do you think its safe to add the clowns? This weekend? Or should I give it another week? I want to put the new clowns in first and give it a few days to get used to the bioload before moving everything else. Yep, Johnny was a Darwin although he had almost no orange on his face. It varies how much orange stays on their face. The new one I'm getting has a decent amount of orange on her face and she's also a misbar which is cool. I love the combo of black clown and orange, so I had to do it again Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 YEY! and then it begins again! It's so exciting to feel anticipation for other reefers. You get to latch onto new tanks to enjoy viewing the result of the addictive buying habits that have to happen when you start a tank but our wallets don't have to be there with you! I remember for myself feeling uneasy, on edge and then complete calm once I bought something. Crazy. I do learn alot because you guys have already done this n' that and bring your observations and reflections to the table. Thank You, in sincerity, I really do appreciate just how much everybody shares. Link to comment
gena Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Yep, its looking pretty much done. When do you think its safe to add the clowns? This weekend? Or should I give it another week? I want to put the new clowns in first and give it a few days to get used to the bioload before moving everything else. Yep, Johnny was a Darwin although he had almost no orange on his face. It varies how much orange stays on their face. The new one I'm getting has a decent amount of orange on her face and she's also a misbar which is cool. I love the combo of black clown and orange, so I had to do it again I would do it this weekend for sure. How high did your ammonia go? Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 I would do it this weekend for sure. How high did your ammonia go? This weekend it is! I talked to my friend with the clowns and he'd like them to get adopted ASAP because he's got some new batches of clowns hatching and needs the space. I honestly have no idea how high the ammonia went since I've been busy and just didn't bother with testing. I figure it went reasonably high since the rock spent 4 days in transit and was pretty smelly when it got here. Link to comment
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