Thatoneomahaguy Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 The tank appears to be cycling well. The goby,snails, crabs, and pistol seem happy! The pistol and goby arent pairing up at at all though It could be because there are no other fish yet or because they are big enough that they don't need to pair up for protection. Hopefully it still happens though. I can already see growth from the chaeto in the fuge. I think I completely forgot to mention that I got a Wave Point LED to light the fuge. I really like it so far! I tried to get a picture of the little guys on the snails shell. They look so cool! I think Ill go look at some coral this weekend. I'm a little torn if I should go through the LFS or order online. I saw Marine Depot Live (and other sites im sure too) have 1.5 inch hammer colar frags for $25. The ones that LFS are at least double that size but are also triple the cost. The LFS has some obvious benefits like not messing with shipping or the package waiting outside my house. I know I am paying more and getting more coral but not sure if I am overpaying... Link to comment
Felicia Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 How long have you had the pistol and goby? They can take a while to find each other and pair up, but they usually end up pairing so don't give up hope. I had a yellow watchman goby and randall's pistol shrimp pair for quite a long time that paired up pretty quickly in my first 10 gallon reef tank. Then I had a brooklynella outbreak from a pair of clowns and had to move all the fish into quarantine for 8 weeks, so the pistol and goby were separated. It took them quite a while to pair back up once the fish went back in the tank, but they eventually did. They separated again when I upgraded to my 30 gallon tank, but again eventually paired. I finally lost the pistol shrimp when my 30 gallon tank crashed. The goby died a year or so later of what I believe was old age. Anyways, point being that those two went through crazy stuff, but they always paired back up given enough time. Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 How long have you had the pistol and goby? They can take a while to find each other and pair up, but they usually end up pairing so don't give up hope. I had a yellow watchman goby and randall's pistol shrimp pair for quite a long time that paired up pretty quickly in my first 10 gallon reef tank. Then I had a brooklynella outbreak from a pair of clowns and had to move all the fish into quarantine for 8 weeks, so the pistol and goby were separated. It took them quite a while to pair back up once the fish went back in the tank, but they eventually did. They separated again when I upgraded to my 30 gallon tank, but again eventually paired. I finally lost the pistol shrimp when my 30 gallon tank crashed. The goby died a year or so later of what I believe was old age. Anyways, point being that those two went through crazy stuff, but they always paired back up given enough time. Well thats super encouraging! They have only been together for a week. Im sure my expectations were skewed. When I had a tank years ago I got a pistol and goby and they paired immediately. I think the pistol is still getting used to the tank. Today was the first day that I saw him inch out of hiding to get some food. I was pretty excited to see that even! Baby steps I supposed. Today i am going to go look for some GSP. I want to get some in position to start covering the back wall. I think I decided to shop online for corals tho. I checked out saltcritters.com and can probably get 4-7 frags for $150 or spend the same amount to get only 2 bigger pieces from my LFS. Link to comment
vlangel Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Oh no. The big hitters are starting to pay attention. The pressure is on Ha ha, you worry too much. We are a friendly community! And it looks like you are off to a great start. Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Ha ha, you worry too much. We are a friendly community! And it looks like you are off to a great start. Haha overthinking is my specialty Everyone has been helpful and friendly! A really fantastic community thats for sure! And thank you for the kind words! Also I got a packe from Amazon today! So now the questions is where do I put it? I've been playing with already and its pretty freaking sweet. Easy to use, small, and lots of power! Right now I have it hidden in the center. The rocks make it a lot less noticeable and the rocks are not resting it, There is still room behind the rocks too so its not restricting the inlet flow. I like the middle blasting straight out. I think hitting the front wall should spread the flow everyone and the two loc lin returns help with the left and right of the tank. The other option I was thinking was on the bottom left of the tank as shown by the left circle. I could try to angle it across the tank which might create high flow on the left of the tank and lesser on the right. This would give more coral placement options if some places are high flow and others low. Any input or thoughts are always appreciated! Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 The new pump does an amazing job. After feeding today the food bits were suspended and circling the tank for at least 10 minutes. The pump is creating circles of flow on the left and right sides of the tank so the food circulated forever! Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 The new pump does an amazing job. After feeding today the food bits were suspended and circling the tank for at least 10 minutes. The pump is creating circles of flow on the left and right sides of the tank so the food circulated forever! yeah, those RW4s have quite a bit of power behind them!!! I'm all for hiding equipment so I like your idea about having it behind the rock structure. Link to comment
Simulated Fish Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 The new pump does an amazing job. After feeding today the food bits were suspended and circling the tank for at least 10 minutes. The pump is creating circles of flow on the left and right sides of the tank so the food circulated forever! Glad to see you went this the RW-4 I do love mine! Where did you end up placing it? Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 Its front and center behind the rock work. Its not even noticeably unless you are looking for it. The circulation is amazing too so I think I will leave it there. I do have some bad news though... I found my diamond goby on the floor this morning. Kind of a bummer to be losing the only fish already but jumpers happen I suppose. I bought a window screen frame and have some awesome clear mesh so I and going to make a top for the tank. I replaced the goby already too. I doing my best to be patient with fish stocking but I didnt want to have no fish at this point. I picked up a few frags as well. I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow. Link to comment
Simulated Fish Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Its front and center behind the rock work. Its not even noticeably unless you are looking for it. The circulation is amazing too so I think I will leave it there. I do have some bad news though... I found my diamond goby on the floor this morning. Kind of a bummer to be losing the only fish already but jumpers happen I suppose. I bought a window screen frame and have some awesome clear mesh so I and going to make a top for the tank. I replaced the goby already too. I doing my best to be patient with fish stocking but I didnt want to have no fish at this point. I picked up a few frags as well. I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow. Sorry to hear. A lot of people don't think they can jump because they are sifters but they jump... A bunch GL with your next fish. I think the screen is a good idea. Link to comment
Felicia Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Sorry to hear that! Unfortunately just about any fish can jump. A lid is always the best plan, so glad you have the supplies to make one Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 O, I am sorry about your jumping goby. That is always sad but I am glad that you can make a lid and that problem is fixed. Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 Yea its unfortunate that it happened but I am grateful that the problem was easily identifiable and easily corrected. It would be alot more frustrating if I was losing livestock for no obvious reasons without any fixes. So it sucks but it could be a lot worse. Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 I got some coral frags a few days (that I still need to take pics of) and the LFS had some bubble algae in the tank so I dipped the corals with some coral revive before adding them to the tank. I noticed some critters fall off and shrivel up. Any idea what these little guys are/were? Thanks! Link to comment
D3monic Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 I got some coral frags a few days (that I still need to take pics of) and the LFS had some bubble algae in the tank so I dipped the corals with some coral revive before adding them to the tank. I noticed some critters fall off and shrivel up. Any idea what these little guys are/were? Thanks! Hard to tell but it looks like a amphipod surrounded by detritus. Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 That is a spaghetti worm I think, it's harmless. Sorry about the goby Will you get another to pair with the shrimp? Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 That is a spaghetti worm I think, it's harmless. Sorry about the goby Will you get another to pair with the shrimp? Definitely! I got a top for the tank made already. And if I do say so myself it looks damn good. Ill get pics tomorrow. Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted February 5, 2016 Author Share Posted February 5, 2016 Also skimmer comes tomorrow! Cant wait to get home after work and get it set up! Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 Did someone ask for a delayed update? Perfect, I've got you covered. The top I made for the tank turned out pretty awesome. I picked up screen frame for walmart for $10 and found some clear mesh online for about $4. Painted it black and called it a day. I am very happy with the results and how easy it was. I got my skimmer as well. It still hasn't broken in yet. I have it in about 8.5" of water as suggested and even at its tallest/thinnest setting, the collection cup fills with clear water in about 5 minutes. I added a short piece of clear hose to the overflow elbow to minimize the splashing. How long do most skimmers to break in? I didnt do a vinegar bath and probably should have. I suppose I can still take it out and wash it. Happy xenia. Orange zoas Some purple-ish star polyps Not too sure what this one is but it was an awesome purple and green at the fish store. Its a little more brown now but I hope its just adjusting to my LED's. Any idea on the ID? And lastly the FTS. You can see the purple firefish and the Wheelers shrimp goby. Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted February 12, 2016 Author Share Posted February 12, 2016 Skimmer is finally starting to break in and make some actual skimmate! I was starting to think it would never break in. Very happy to be pulling some of that junk out of the water! Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 These are blue cloves Looks like a pagoda/cyphastrea Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted February 13, 2016 Author Share Posted February 13, 2016 Looks like a pagoda/cyphastrea I am really bad with the scientific name so I apologize in advance. Is that different than a sunset coral? I found a picture of one and its looks extremely similar to this coral when its polyps are out and its not so brown. Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 If you look at black and white images of both corals you will see the difference. They are different species of coral. Your piece is either a pagoda or cyphastrea, might even be a tubinaria. All these 3 are LPS corals. Now that I think about it, unless your piece needs a lot of coloring up, it's not a cyphastrea. The sunset that you posted is a Montipora, a SPS. SPS have very small polyps, LPS have much bigger polyps. Note the polyp size and structure in these picture. Pagoda Cyphastrea Scroll Coral (Tubinaria) Sunset Montipora Link to comment
Thatoneomahaguy Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 If you look at black and white images of both corals you will see the difference. They are different species of coral. Your piece is either a pagoda or cyphastrea, might even be a tubinaria. All these 3 are LPS corals. Now that I think about it, unless your piece needs a lot of coloring up, it's not a cyphastrea. The sunset that you posted is a Montipora, a SPS. SPS have very small polyps, LPS have much bigger polyps. Note the polyp size and structure in these picture. Pagoda Cyphastrea Scroll Coral (Tubinaria) Sunset Montipora Very interesting. Lol and almost humbling to honest. I have so much to learn. I think the polyps on mine do look pretty similar to the tubinaria. Also I noticed that my clove polyps appear smaller recently. As in there is less of them on the same plug. I dont see any obvious dead or dying ones or any area that looks in poor health, just less polyps. I just did a water change so he looks a little cranky already so Ill try to get a pic later tonight or tomorrow. Should I be worried? Everything else looks very happy. Link to comment
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