Two Cats and a Reef

[thecoralbeauty]

Tank looks good, much better with the new light. I'm def a little jealous of your shrimp/goby pair.

 

How has your experience been with the urchin? I have heard of them bulldozing the little corals our tanks often have.

I'm loving the light! The shrimp/goby pair is so awesome, I don't know why I never did it before. Now, I consider it a must-have.

 

The tuxedo that I have is small enough that it doesn't bother anything. It also tends to be pretty gentle.The real bull-dozers in my tank are the turbo snails. They also sometimes fall over and can't get themselves back up. They'll just lay there and go to sleep until i feed and turn them right side up again.

[ml86743]

WOW! Your pistol/goby rocks...! Great tank, great pics! Keep up the good work.

[DocReef]

ahhh nice! thank you!! I've had mine acclimated up to 45% over the last weeks, and the only thing that seems unhappy is that rainbow monti. It's curious that he's the one thats mad, because lots of my other frags (including other monti's who are very happy!) came from that same tank and they seem to be adjusting fine to my lights.

I find that most coral with the name "Rainbow" in them, tend to not like strong light, especially white light. Just an observation, I don't have any scientific evidence to support this. Is it losing color/bleaching, or browning out?

[thecoralbeauty]

I find that most coral with the name "Rainbow" in them, tend to not like strong light, especially white light. Just an observation, I don't have any scientific evidence to support this. Is it losing color/bleaching, or browning out?

losing color/bleaching, and i just noticed this morning. I'm a teacher across town, so i can't even get home to move it until tonight, but i plan to move it to the edge of my tank to see if it'll color up. or at least a more shaded area. the other monti's are LOVING the light

[hypostatic]

Hey! cool looking tank!

[thecoralbeauty]

Hey! cool looking tank!

Thank you! Means a lot! I had been meaning to ask you about your elegance coral. I love them, but have heard they are hard to keep alive for longer periods of time. Yours seems happy- thoughts as to why? What has your experience been?

[gena]

It looks like she was checking out the clam or maybe the hammer. the goby/shrimp pair is on the left side of the tank, under the blue polyp colony. you can see the stripes on the goby right under her chin in that photo. usually, it is the flasher wrasse that teases them the most. it's really fascinating to watch them interact with each other. the cats will gently paw at the glass and the fish will swim by and tease them, not seeming scared at all!

I see the stripes . I have a feeling my new cat will be very interested in the tank. Hopefully not too interested LOL. I'm sure my leopard wrasse will provide hours of entertainment for her .

[thecoralbeauty]

I see the stripes . I have a feeling my new cat will be very interested in the tank. Hopefully not too interested LOL. I'm sure my leopard wrasse will provide hours of entertainment for her .

I can't tell if the wrasse harasses them, or if they harass the wrasse! I hope your new kitty loves your tank. Is it going to be a boy or a girl?

 

Moved the rainbow monti under the birds nest frag, so it'll get a little more shade and indirect light. polyps came out pretty soon after i moved it. we'll see how it does, and will update with any increased coloration/improvement i see.

 

It was raining here all day, and while I enjoyed it, and so did my rose, it made for a gloomy afternoon home from work. i alternated sitting on my front (covered) patio and soaking in the humidity and lovely rain-smell and running inside to check on the tank. Daisy, of course, joined me. You know you're a cat-mom when....

[gena]

I can't tell if the wrasse harasses them, or if they harass the wrasse! I hope your new kitty loves your tank. Is it going to be a boy or a girl?

 

Moved the rainbow monti under the birds nest frag, so it'll get a little more shade and indirect light. polyps came out pretty soon after i moved it. we'll see how it does, and will update with any increased coloration/improvement i see.

 

It was raining here all day, and while I enjoyed it, and so did my rose, it made for a gloomy afternoon home from work. i alternated sitting on my front (covered) patio and soaking in the humidity and lovely rain-smell and running inside to check on the tank. Daisy, of course, joined me. You know you're a cat-mom when....

Too cute! I LOVE sitting on the front porch when it's raining. Unfortunately those days here in California are few and far between. But I lived for those days back in Indiana .

 

It will be a girl. We're debating on whether or not we should adopt 2! I know they love having a friend when they are kittens. We shall see .

[thecoralbeauty]

Too cute! I LOVE sitting on the front porch when it's raining. Unfortunately those days here in California are few and far between. But I lived for those days back in Indiana .

 

It will be a girl. We're debating on whether or not we should adopt 2! I know they love having a friend when they are kittens. We shall see .

 

Go for two!!! I adopted mine together. After my husband passed away, I needed an animal to snuggle with and for me to have something to take care of and love. I went to the shelter thinking i was gong to adopt a single, older cat (i had never had cats before, but i knew i didn't have time or space for a dog so i was keeping an open mind). They walked me through the kitten room on the way to see the older cats, and these two glomped onto me and wouldn't let go. After a few minutes of unsuccessful prying, I said "ok, well, maybe i'll just play with them for a little bit and then move on to what I had actually come for"- i ended up taking them both home with me because i couldn't stand the thought of them both staying in the shelter. They take care of each other, and I'm glad I got the boy with the girl to mellow her out. She can be a small terrorist sometimes.

[gena]

Go for two!!! I adopted mine together. After my husband passed away, I needed an animal to snuggle with and for me to have something to take care of and love. I went to the shelter thinking i was gong to adopt a single, older cat (i had never had cats before, but i knew i didn't have time or space for a dog so i was keeping an open mind). They walked me through the kitten room on the way to see the older cats, and these two glomped onto me and wouldn't let go. After a few minutes of unsuccessful prying, I said "ok, well, maybe i'll just play with them for a little bit and then move on to what I had actually come for"- i ended up taking them both home with me because i couldn't stand the thought of them both staying in the shelter. They take care of each other, and I'm glad I got the boy with the girl to mellow her out. She can be a small terrorist sometimes.

I'm so sorry for your loss . We are heavily leaning toward two and it wasn't me that suggested it LOL. It didn't even cross my mind to adopt two but it would make sense. We still have our 19 year old cat but I'm not sure he'd be much companionship for a kitten. He may surprise us though . If we do, it wil be a boy and a girl. Hoping a calico (female of course), and an orange/white male..but who knows. You never know what will happen when you walk into a kitten room...as you found out .

[thecoralbeauty]

kitten rooms=dangerous

[rturiak]

Sweet scape!

 

I think you have convinced me to get a few kitties to watch my tank with me. My fat lazy 14 year old cat couldn't care less about the tank now.

[FlowerMama]

Hey, finally found your thread. Looks wonderful. I really like your two islands and of course your rock flower! And your shrimp/goby pair are a treat. Bet your cat loves watching those 2 in action.

[thecoralbeauty]

Sweet scape!

 

I think you have convinced me to get a few kitties to watch my tank with me. My fat lazy 14 year old cat couldn't care less about the tank now.

Did he/she care much when they were younger? Mine are almost two years old now.

 

 

Hey, finally found your thread. Looks wonderful. I really like your two islands and of course your rock flower! And your shrimp/goby pair are a treat. Bet your cat loves watching those 2 in action.

 

thank you! my rock flower actually walked around to the back side of a rock, and now isn't at all visible from the front of the tank... how do you coax them to come out of there? (and walk to a more visible place without stinging other corals)- are there herd-able?

[hypostatic]

Thank you! Means a lot! I had been meaning to ask you about your elegance coral. I love them, but have heard they are hard to keep alive for longer periods of time. Yours seems happy- thoughts as to why? What has your experience been?

 

My experience has been very positive -- although I must say that I've only had one, so my sample size isn't too big. One issue with them is that sometimes people get frags/pieces that are infected, and by the time they start showing symptoms they have to be treated with real antibiotics in order to recover, which most people can't/won't do.

 

Mine has been super hardy, and has been growing quite quickly. I'd say that they are happier with low flow and lots of food.

 

It was raining here all day, and while I enjoyed it, and so did my rose, it made for a gloomy afternoon home from work. i alternated sitting on my front (covered) patio and soaking in the humidity and lovely rain-smell and running inside to check on the tank. Daisy, of course, joined me. You know you're a cat-mom when....

 

The frogs would have been happy and singing all day long =]

[thecoralbeauty]

 

 

Mine has been super hardy, and has been growing quite quickly. I'd say that they are happier with low flow and lots of food.

 

 

typical LPS. I only had one elegance, didn't ever inflate the entire way. how would you spot/identify an infection?

[Sk8n Reefer]

Tanks looking really nice - what lfs do you buy from?

[thecoralbeauty]

Tanks looking really nice - what lfs do you buy from?

i live closest to Neptune's, but i think their prices are a bit ridiculous. They were asking 96 bucks for a purple mushroom rock that I got for 10 bucks at Aquamart. (Pretty nice shop, too). I've also shopped at key's island, mostly because i'm very close with someone who worked there. they're usually great for frags.

Ive gotten a few frags from some friends, too.

my favorite lfs so far is aquatic art, though. if you haven't been there yet, you should. reasonable prices, wide healthy selection.

what about you?

[hypostatic]

typical LPS. I only had one elegance, didn't ever inflate the entire way. how would you spot/identify an infection?

 

Yeah, they're hard to consolidate well into a tank with SPS. You have to set up the tank carefully so that one area gets high enough flow for the SPS, and another gets low enough flow for the elegance.

 

It's hard to tell an infection until it's REALLY infected and obvious (white/brown goop starting to cover it). But before then you can start to tell when it's sick/unhappy -- it'll start to look like this:

[thecoralbeauty]

My piece started to look like that a few days after we put it in the tank. Shortly after, my fish got ich and died... curious. I wonder if it was related somehow? That was several years ago though, so I could just be remembering wrong. maybe if i find a nice piece i'll try again. Ive got a couple low-flow spots near the bottom of my tank, thanks to my rock scape. the issue now is that it's just expensive.

 

 

 

It's hard to tell an infection until it's REALLY infected and obvious (white/brown goop starting to cover it). But before then you can start to tell when it's sick/unhappy -- it'll start to look like this:

[Sk8n Reefer]

i live closest to Neptune's, but i think their prices are a bit ridiculous. They were asking 96 bucks for a purple mushroom rock that I got for 10 bucks at Aquamart. (Pretty nice shop, too). I've also shopped at key's island, mostly because i'm very close with someone who worked there. they're usually great for frags.

Ive gotten a few frags from some friends, too.

my favorite lfs so far is aquatic art, though. if you haven't been there yet, you should. reasonable prices, wide healthy selection.

what about you?

 

ya- Aquatic Arts is the only lfs I buy from- as you said healthy live stock and Chris is so knowledgable . Their SPS selection is outstanding and that's pretty much all I keep. I'll stop by neptunes sometimes on the way to AA just for hard goods but their tanks are not very healthy. Where's Key's Island- never heard of that one?. I got flatworms from a life from Aquamart yrs. back so I never went back

[cjm3fl]

I really like how your tank turned out.

Sorry to hear about the set-backs you're experiencing.

 

Having 2 cats myself I understand their "interest" in the things we keep in aquariums.

My 8-month old thinks everything needs his total attention. My 11 year old couldn't care less...while anyone's watching.

 

I've plans to set up a few tanks starting in a few months so I'm in the planning and 'drooling' phase right now.

I'm drooling at your tank pics.

[thecoralbeauty]

ya- Aquatic Arts is the only lfs I buy from- as you said healthy live stock and Chris is so knowledgable . Their SPS selection is outstanding and that's pretty much all I keep. I'll stop by neptunes sometimes on the way to AA just for hard goods but their tanks are not very healthy. Where's Key's Island- never heard of that one?. I got flatworms from a life from Aquamart yrs. back so I never went back

I got some corals there, and my wrasse. I noticed some discoloration and strange swimming from the wrasse over the first few days i had him, but he seems to have kicked whatever it was.

 

keys is off santa-fe on oxford (just south of the chick fil-a/costco). the person i'm close with no longer works there though, but had done an amazing job of keeping up with the frag tanks (that were ridiculously cheap) and the fish he cared for were very healthy. however, keys has a long-standing reputation of having pests like aptasia, etc, and sick fish. i'm not sure how often i'll be shopping there now that my person isn't there, because i trusted him to thoroughly inspect and only sell me stuff that will work out well for me. the shop has kind of gone downhill lately. not much to look at, and kind of messy.

aquatic art is new to me, but apparently he used to work for/with the owner of key's before striking out on his own. my only complaint with aquatic art would be that they're only open on fri/sat.

 

are you going to the swap on the 16th?

I really like how your tank turned out.

Sorry to hear about the set-backs you're experiencing.

 

Having 2 cats myself I understand their "interest" in the things we keep in aquariums.

My 8-month old thinks everything needs his total attention. My 11 year old couldn't care less...while anyone's watching.

 

I've plans to set up a few tanks starting in a few months so I'm in the planning and 'drooling' phase right now.

I'm drooling at your tank pics.

aha! I drool on this forum on the daily. im flattered you like my tank.

actually, i would say i'm pretty lucky- no big set-backs so far, everything is happy!

 

i also MAY be installing a hob overflow/fuge soon (we shall see) so stay tuned if that comes to fruition. I definitely want to, but the amount of moving/painting that it will require is going to be ridiculous. i think it will be worth it though!

[gena]

thank you! my rock flower actually walked around to the back side of a rock, and now isn't at all visible from the front of the tank... how do you coax them to come out of there? (and walk to a more visible place without stinging other corals)- are there herd-able?

If you figure out a way, let us know . Mine are finally all visible and haven't moved for about a month LOL.