The Nautilus [85 shallow]- New family member

[lkoechle]

BIG DAY TODAY!

 

Fish have been moved to the big tank!

 

Acclimatin':

 

 

 

Freedom:

 

 

Husband actually took care of the acclimating. I was playing in a 30 degree arena on this lovely gal:

 

 

He married a woman with expensive tastes. Reef tanks and dressage! lol We has no money... And I can't figure out why...

 

But that's not all! We also ordered our CUC! So, 75 gallons worth of hermits and snails plus my fighting conch.

 

BUT WAIT! THAT'S NOT ALL! In the next 30 minutes after ordering said CUC, I ordered these guys:

 

yellow watchman and carribean pistol shrimp

 

and my scribbled rabbitfish!

 

Hopefully, both will be here Thursday, but I haven't been contacted by anyone yet. In the mean time, I've got to clean the QT from the clown fish and set up for these guys. Because of the shrimp, it's just going to be a 3 week observational QT. In the mean time, it will let the big tank get used to the new bioload of clowns and CUC.

 

We also decided to build a skimmer stand instead of buying one. After how much money I spent today, my husband was most appreciative of this decision. lol

 

I also programmed a workflow sequence for the Automatic Feeding System with the APEX, it's set to happen tonight at 8. So fingers crossed for all my code to work. My husband is a computer programmer, so I could have had him do it, but I've been trying to figure out as much for myself as I can. If it doesn't work, I'll ask him, but fingers crossed I go it right! The only thing I can't figure out that I want to do is slowing the vortechs down instead of turning them off. That is still in the works per the apex forums. Anyways, that was a big update! Now c'mon Thrusday!

[TigerLily]

Yay for fish in the tank! I love your purchases - come on Thursday!

[lkoechle]

So I noticed this weird slug like on my glass, after some googling, I believe it is Amphiscolops. Its described as harmless but still, I don't know if I want it in there at all. It's definently not an infestation since I only saw one, but I don't want the population to explode. Since This tank was started with base rock, I'm assuming it came in the CaribSea sand. Kind of ticked to be honest, I sit through a longer cycle with base rock so I don't have to deal with this and the dry sand was more expensive then live so I went with live sand. GAH! Mistake

 

What should I do? What would you do? Get some FlatwormeXit and bomb the bastards while I'm ahead?

 

[TigerLily]

So I noticed this weird slug like on my glass, after some googling, I believe it is Amphiscolops. Its described as harmless but still, I don't know if I want it in there at all. It's definently not an infestation since I only saw one, but I don't want the population to explode. Since This tank was started with base rock, I'm assuming it came in the CaribSea sand. Kind of ticked to be honest, I sit through a longer cycle with base rock so I don't have to deal with this and the dry sand was more expensive then live so I went with live sand. GAH! Mistake

 

What should I do? What would you do? Get some FlatwormeXit and bomb the bastards while I'm ahead?

 

Yucky! I would. The fewer things you have in the tank when you treat it the less you'll worry about hurting something with the FWE.

[metrokat]

If you plan on using FWE, be sure to use 5 to 10 times the suggested dosage. If you cannot see them all over the tank, the possibility of their toxins harming your fish is minimal. Take carbon offline when you use FWE - melev has a comprehensive guide. You need to nuke them completely otherwise they grow immune to each subsequent treatment.

[latteslave]

Six line wrasse if you don't want chemicals. It's not always 100% that the six line will go for them. Buddy here locally had an outbreak. We went the six line route and the population is under control.

[Eckozulu]

Springer damsel (saphire). Model citizens and they crush flat worms. Love these guys.

[specore]

Better to have these issues now than after the tank is fully stocked

[TeamIM24]

We used FWE but it didn't get them all so we got a 6 line wrasse. The wrasse went for the brittle stars first but finally got around to the flat worms and is keeping them in check. We still see them but no where near as many as we used to. One other thing you can do if you don't want to use FWE is to put some smaller pieces of live rock out were they get lots of light and turn up the lights long enough for them to collect on the rock and then pull the rock out. We got rid of quite a few flatworms this way.

[lkoechle]

So, about the flatworm issue: I'm going to purchase Faltworm Exit in a couple days and get rid of the worms. But today was the big fish day!

 

Here's the run-down:

Blue Zoo suppose to arrive via FedEx at 10:30. 10:40, no fish. 11:00, no fish. Check tracking: Delivery Exception. I called the 1800 number, "what is a delivery exception? I need that box now. There are live animals in that box."

 

Check door, ReefCleaners is here. But no ringing the doorbell, or signature confirmation per request. USPS freaking blows. They tramp accross my yard and never ring the frigging doorbell. <-- This has been an ongoing issue--

 

Back to the story: Get those stuff acclimating. Everything's alive, I have a beautiful Conch, good job ReefCleaners as always!

 

Find out BlueZoo box didn't make the truck. Call back two more times, thankfully got someone who cares about animals. Had a driver dispatched to me 12:00. Pretty good FedEx, despite the crappy beginning. Delivery guy even apologized even though it wasn't his fault. He was actually pulling out for another route when they handed him the box and told him this needed to go first.

 

Rabbitfish: Fine, start acclimating. Pistol Shrimp: Fine. Yellow Watchman: DOA

 

E-mailed BlueZoo, sent pics, have credit processing. I've been calling husband at work bitching about this as we go, on his way home he ran by the LFS and got me a yellow watchman as a surprise We'll be saving the BlueZoo credit for a fish that's cheaper at Blue Zoo + shipping then at LFS like the rabbitfish was.

 

Alright, now for the fun stuff: Photos!

 

 

Poor dead watchman. Yeah, he's dead dead.

 

 

My pretty scribbled rabbitfish named Usagi.

 

 

Pistol Shrimp. Name to be determined.

 

 

Maximus, my Florida Fighting Conch

 

 

 

And my husband's wonderful surprised for me!

And he's learning. He told me, "I asked them to feed him in front of me. They fed him Blood Worms, PE Mysis, and Garlic something. I wasn't sure if you had any mysis, but I remember you saying you want some, so I picked that up too."

 

BEST HUSBAND EVER!

[TigerLily]

Great fish and great husband! Congrats on the new additions!

[lkoechle]

This is the story of a fish. A tiny, inch and a half fish. This fish was put into a huge tank, it probably looked like the ocean! It was big and it was blue. That's what the ocean is!

 

The tiny little fish thought to himself, "I think I will explore the whole ocean!" So off he swam.

 

He saw a snail hanging on a strange box. "Hey snail! What's up there?" He called out to the snail.

 

"Oh," the devious snail said, "This is a magical box that will take you to worlds unknown!"

 

"Worlds unknown? But i just got here!" The tiny fish responded.

 

"I mean a new part of the ocean!" The snail quickly lied.

 

"Oh boy!" The tiny fish swam right through the gate the snail opened and into the magical box.

 

It was a whirlpool! The tiny fish was sucked up into a vortex and plunged down into the deep, deep darkness. He yelled for help but nobody heard!

 

Finally, he was thrusted into a swirling, foaming vortex of death. Oh no! A rock was right there out of nowhere. But the tiny fish, nimble and quick, dodged the rock.

 

"Where am I?" He asked in a daze. Swirling in the current of this strange place he realized he was stuck in yet another magical box. But this box was different, you could see through it!

 

Thinking quickly, the tiny fish decided to follow the water. Up over a magical fence, down below another one, pass an odd warm stick, and over a third into another box! But in this box, a great beast of white and orange slept!

 

Again, the tiny fish thought quickly. "SWIM!"

Plop! Over another magical fence and he was away from the beast. Although he was safe, he was stuck with no way home.

 

"I should have never listened to that snail!" He cried in the dim light.

 

All of a sudden, light burst forth everywhere. It was if someone had taken a wall away from the dark world! Two large beasts, larger than the vortex of death, larger than the beast of orange and white, stood in front of the tiny fish.

 

He tried to flee, but the magical box held him captive. "Oh no!" He cried. "This is the end!"

 

And gently but quickly, the fish was caught in a strange blue cloud. He rose from the box and, with another plop, he was in the ocean again.

 

"Thank you, large beasts!" He called ad the two lumbered away.

 

On that day the tiny fish learned the least harmless looking can cause the greatest harm while the most fearsome looking can be your guardian.

 

Author's note: so yeah that was the watchman goby's first night in the tank... But on the bright side, after rescuing him from the return chamber of the sump, he found the pistol shrimp!

[TigerLily]

Damn snails. Can't trust 'em.

[Sk8n Reefer]

Did some more rearranging in the living room today. We moved the clown/qt tank next to the couch. I think they're enjoy it more, plus I will too.

 

 

Had to pull this over to another page- I really like how tall your stand is?. I see your in Littleton- do you go to Aquatic Arts in highlands ranch?

[lkoechle]

Had to pull this over to another page- I really like how tall your stand is. I see your in Littleton- do you go to Aquatic Arts in highlands ranch?

We have been once for a masc meeting. They have weird hours but once we start buying coral (got to save after all the money we have just dropped on the tank lol) we will probably go. I liked what they had and they have discounts for masc members.

 

Are you in the denver area?

 

Edit: i just looked through your thread (well the first page of your thread lol). Is aquatic arts the store you're using?

[Sk8n Reefer]

We have been once for a masc meeting. They have weird hours but once we start buying coral (got to save after all the money we have just dropped on the tank lol) we will probably go. I liked what they had and they have discounts for masc members.

Are you in the denver area?

Edit: i just looked through your thread (well the first page of your thread lol). Is aquatic arts the store you're using?

 

Yes, I am in centennial. Ya aquatic arts is the only local store I buy anything from. I bought a few frags from MACNA this year but everything else is from them. Their hrs. are limiting- only weekends but you can call and make an appointment on other days. The owner Chris is really nice and very knowledgable guy. They definately have the healthiest live stock in the Denver area

[lkoechle]

Well, I've had my suspicions confirmed by several knowledgeable folks in the local area, my LFS (who regularly get in scribbled rabbitfish, just not small ones and I wanted a young fish), and my own research, particularly this article by advanced aquarist: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/8/fish2

 

My s. doliatus is not an s. doliatus but a s. virgatus

 

The virgatus does regularly get larger than the doliatus (not desirable) and the doliatus is much prettier fish. I had thought my scribbled rabbitfish may just not look so scribbly because of stress when I first saw her and decided to give her a couple days to settle into the QT tank. When I got a good look, I was dismayed to see that she has all the hallmarks of a virgatus and not a doliatus.

 

Doliatus:

Scribbled markings all over the fish including the bars and extending into the dorsal fin and back to the tail.

 

Virgatus:

Blue parallel lines over the snout

Solid bars

Dots, not scribbles, along the dorsal fin

Blue markings stopping shortly after the pectoral fin and not extending below the yellow

 

I've e-mailed Blue Zoo along with the aforementioned article and photos of what was sent.

 

At this point, I paid $140 for a pistol shrimp. I'm not happy. I hope this gets cleaned up, not thrilled with my first order at the moment. I did read of one person being mistakenly sent a One Spot Foxface instead of a Magnificent and Blue Zoo sent them the correct fish. So, I'm hopeful for Monday. I'm hoping I won't be charged shipping again seeing all that's happened. But we'll see.

[latteslave]

This is the story of a fish. A tiny, inch and a half fish. This fish was put into a huge tank, it probably looked like the ocean! It was big and it was blue. That's what the ocean is!

 

The tiny little fish thought to himself, "I think I will explore the whole ocean!" So off he swam.

 

He saw a snail hanging on a strange box. "Hey snail! What's up there?" He called out to the snail.

 

"Oh," the devious snail said, "This is a magical box that will take you to worlds unknown!"

 

"Worlds unknown? But i just got here!" The tiny fish responded.

 

"I mean a new part of the ocean!" The snail quickly lied.

 

"Oh boy!" The tiny fish swam right through the gate the snail opened and into the magical box.

 

It was a whirlpool! The tiny fish was sucked up into a vortex and plunged down into the deep, deep darkness. He yelled for help but nobody heard!

 

Finally, he was thrusted into a swirling, foaming vortex of death. Oh no! A rock was right there out of nowhere. But the tiny fish, nimble and quick, dodged the rock.

 

"Where am I?" He asked in a daze. Swirling in the current of this strange place he realized he was stuck in yet another magical box. But this box was different, you could see through it!

 

Thinking quickly, the tiny fish decided to follow the water. Up over a magical fence, down below another one, pass an odd warm stick, and over a third into another box! But in this box, a great beast of white and orange slept!

 

Again, the tiny fish thought quickly. "SWIM!"

Plop! Over another magical fence and he was away from the beast. Although he was safe, he was stuck with no way home.

 

"I should have never listened to that snail!" He cried in the dim light.

 

All of a sudden, light burst forth everywhere. It was if someone had taken a wall away from the dark world! Two large beasts, larger than the vortex of death, larger than the beast of orange and white, stood in front of the tiny fish.

 

He tried to flee, but the magical box held him captive. "Oh no!" He cried. "This is the end!"

 

And gently but quickly, the fish was caught in a strange blue cloud. He rose from the box and, with another plop, he was in the ocean again.

 

"Thank you, large beasts!" He called ad the two lumbered away.

 

On that day the tiny fish learned the least harmless looking can cause the greatest harm while the most fearsome looking can be your guardian.

 

Author's note: so yeah that was the watchman goby's first night in the tank... But on the bright side, after rescuing him from the return chamber of the sump, he found the pistol shrimp!

disney will release the movie later this year.

[ajmckay]

Ouch sucks to hear about the fish... Hopefully it works out! Based on the AA article, is the picture you attached the actual fish you got or a representative photo? Just curious because that picture definitely looks like s. doliatus...

 

What acclimation method are you using? Looks like you're using an acclimation tank?

 

and my scribbled rabbitfish!

[specore]

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree. Looks like s. virgatus. Other picture must be a stock photo

[lkoechle]

the one you quoted aj is the stock photo off their site of what I was suppose to get. My fish is what specore quoted. I'm still dealing with blue zoo on this. Hopefully it will be resolved for better or worse today.

[lkoechle]

So things looked shaky when I first contacted BZA today. Definitely could have gone either way. Long story short, my new fish will be here Friday! Woo hoo! Hopefully it will be as healthy as the incorrect fish. Now I have to figure out what to do with her to get my QT cleaned and ready again. I will be sad to see her go, but she would've outgrown my system at the habitually reached 12" versus doliatus's habitually reached 8". I will post my formal review on Friday in this thread, as well as RC on an ID thread I had posted there and the BZA sponser forum.

 

Also, I'm going to a local reefer's house tonight to pick out some zoas. He is going to frag what we pick and we'll be getting them after a week of healing. I bought my second SOL unit from him and he has a fantastic 60 gallon with zoas and rics. His zoa garden is AMAZING. So I'm excited about that. All in all, today went from rather bleak, to hopefully a very good ending. All I wanted was that scribbled. lol

 

Apparantly, they bleached the tanks so a little bit of Musical Tanks was played with the livestock. The varigates were put in the scribbled tank and the scribbleds were moved somewhere else. So thats how the mix up happened. In case you were wondering.

 

Additonally, I bought a half pound of sweet fish roe from H-Mart yesterday for $3.50. The fish have been going absolutely nuts with it. I'm thinking about mixing it with some RO water, SELCO Boost, and PE Mysis and then freezing them in a mini ice cube tray.

[lkoechle]

My husband has spoiled me yet again! We bought a DSLR yesterday so of course, I've been taking pictures! Still figuring out the best settings and post editing and what-not but here are a few I like:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Virgate Rabbitfish is also being taken to Aquatic Art today to make room for the Doliatus coming on Friday. Hopefully, everybody will be alive and this whole mix up can be forgotten. If I had a larger tank, I would keep them both, but she will get too big and the Doliatus might outgrow the tank one day too (though it shouldn't, but every now and then they get 10-12 inches instead of the average 8). So, no room for both of them. Aquatic Art is a good store and I think the clientele there are a little more knowledgeable (has weird hours, so you need to be dedicated lol) which has me hopeful that she won't be bought for a small system because she is small right now.

[lkoechle]

Yay! New fish are here! And everything is alive and correct! Photos will come later. The Doliatus is way more skittish then the virgatus was, but I'm assuming that's because the Doliatus is half the size. It is TINY! So, I've shut off all the lights in the room except for the main tank lights and closed the shutters to calm it down during acclimation. The shrimp and goby are floating around in the sump until I can finish acclimating the doliatus and then its their turn. I'll post pics once everyone has settled.

[lkoechle]

So, photos of the actual doliatus!

 

 

 

 

And here's the formal review of the Blue Zoo adventure which was also posted on RC.

 

 

When I received my initial purchase of an s. Doliatus, a Yellow Watchman goby and a Pistol Shrimp, I was very, very disappointed. My Yellow Watchman was DOA, which happens, and my Doliatus was not a Doliatus, but a Virgatus. They look very similar but are not the same.

I have dreamed of owning an s. Doliatus, literally, for years. However, I have only ever had nano tanks, until our new system we set up last fall. This fish was to be the gem, the epitome, the pride and joy of my first large reef system. So, when I first saw the absence of the scribbled pattern, I was in denial. For three days I waited, and hoped. I hate conflict and try to avoid it at all costs. So I prayed my gut was wrong and that I simply hadn’t seen enough photos to know all the variations. However, by day three and still no scribble markings, I took photos and started asking around, including reef-central and our LFS that frequently gets in scribbled rabbitfish. (I had wanted a small juvenile that I could have for many, many years and my LFS rarely gets them in less than 5 inches. So I ordered from Blue Zoo.)

Everyone I asked confirmed it was a Virgatus. So, I had a dead fish, and a wrong fish. Not only the wrong fish, but it was a fish I had very specific plans for. Part of those plans did not include it being a Virgatus.

I e-mailed Blue Zoo over the weekend, explained what had happened and hoped to hear from them on Mondayand requested to be contacted by phone. When I first called, I was told to call back later in the day. When I called a second time, I was told not to expect a response for 24 hours. I was a little (okay, a lot) disappointed and had started to wonder if this would have a happy ending. I already knew I was SOL on the goby per almost every online vendors’ policies and would only get a store credit.

The second day did not yield any great results either. On that day, to rub salt in a wound, my Tiger Pistol decided it was a great day to get eaten by a hermit crab. Yay! <-sarcasm- At this point, I was also starting to get antsy. I live in Colorado, so you need to seize a good winter shipping day while you could and that was Thursday with delivery on Friday. If I couldn’t get that, I’d have to wait until who-knows-when. After hours, I received an email stating a refund to my credit card for the Virgatus, not to include shipping costs. I was never contacted before this happened. I did not care about the money, I just wanted my fish.

The third day I called as soon as they opened, I talked with a gentleman by the name of Greg, who couldn’t help me. Having worked in retail, I understand that the first person you talk to usually isn’t the one who can solve your problem unless it’s just a question. Therefore, I was not fazed by this. But he was very nice and after listening to me explain the situation, he told me what he thought I should do to reach the proper folks.

After doing what Greg suggested, I got a hold of a man named Wayne, who was very patient through the whole process. When we reached the verdict that it was against their policy to reship livestock, we agreed on a refund including the DOA goby and there ended the conversation. I received an e-mail shortly thereafter stating a refund was not possible due to already being refunded on the Doliatus and because of those difficulties had decided to make an exception and re-ship my order.

Today my order arrived healthy, alive and correct. If there’s one thing I can say without any doubt, Blue Zoo’s livestock is quality. The mistakenly shipped Virgatus was incredibly healthy and so is the new order.

While my first online order certainly went awry, I would not hesitate to order from Blue Zoo again. The livestock is great, the packing is great, and the customer service is great, and, in this situation, they went above and beyond to resolve to an issue.