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Lula Mae's 1.6ish gallons of whatever I want to put in it--tank updates and news and stuff


Lula_Mae

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Thanks Weetie!  I haven't tested in years. :lol: Test kits expired and I finally threw them all out lol.  I'll do a water change and see if maybe that helps.  I get my first paycheck from my new job this week so I can start getting supplements/food/etc. in order! :happydance: Wonder if Instant Ocean salt is a little lower on the magnesium side?  It's all I've used for years since it's easily available in small boxes. :closedeyes:

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Hey, I don't own any test kits either, so we're in the same boat on that one!!

Not sure on the Instant Ocean, but you could probably google to find out Mg levels in it. 

Mg test kits are pricey last time I looked, so I'm not saying go out and get one by any means, it was just a thought that popped into my head. 

Guess it wasn't very helpful, sorry! 

I will tell you that one kinda all purpose thing that I used to keep on hand and use as a dip when I didn't know what the problem was is lugol's iodine. I've had it perk corals up when they were unhappy & I didn't know why. I believe I used do something like 1-2 drops lugols in one cup tankwater for 5 mins or so. It's on the Zoa Pests & Diseases thread if you want to look. 

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I adore tanks like this!  I'm very excited to follow your progress with this one.  c est ma's little 5 gallon has always been one of my favorites as well.

 

Oh and the turquoise trumpets I have came from Reefgardener :).  For a "cheap" coral, I think they add a lot to a reef aquarium.  For me it's the ball shape when they get larger, and their pretty, vibrant coloring.  I'll never ever be without them!

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5 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

Hey, I don't own any test kits either, so we're in the same boat on that one!!

Not sure on the Instant Ocean, but you could probably google to find out Mg levels in it. 

Mg test kits are pricey last time I looked, so I'm not saying go out and get one by any means, it was just a thought that popped into my head. 

Guess it wasn't very helpful, sorry! 

I will tell you that one kinda all purpose thing that I used to keep on hand and use as a dip when I didn't know what the problem was is lugol's iodine. I've had it perk corals up when they were unhappy & I didn't know why. I believe I used do something like 1-2 drops lugols in one cup tankwater for 5 mins or so. It's on the Zoa Pests & Diseases thread if you want to look. 

Haha no worries!  I learned something new, so that was helpful!  I used to keep Lugol's on hand and used it regularly but I think I eventually threw it out partly because it had made a bit of a mess in the cylinder it came in, and I wasn't sure if it had an expiration date (I'd had it 5+ years by then).  I meant to get more but you know how that goes... :rolleyes: I'll see if I can't get some ordered soon since I'm not sure I can find it affordably locally.

 

5 minutes ago, gena said:

I adore tanks like this!  I'm very excited to follow your progress with this one.  c est ma's little 5 gallon has always been one of my favorites as well.

 

Oh and the turquoise trumpets I have came from Reefgardener :).  For a "cheap" coral, I think they add a lot to a reef aquarium.  For me it's the ball shape when they get larger, and their pretty, vibrant coloring.  I'll never ever be without them!

Thanks Gena!  I wondered if they were the same, they're such a pretty color!  I'd always liked the pink candy canes but have hardly ever seen them for sale so if I do decide to try it, they will be a good substitute :happy: (plus turquoise goes better with red than pink does!).  Starting my new job has kept me busy the last couple weeks so I haven't gotten to read much on your current tank (though I did read about the cat falling in when the tank was covered :lol:) but I did read through the macro tank thread and loved it--I had the same light over my 5.5 and wish they still made bulbs for it!

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Yep, I got those a few years ago from her.  I also had the pink with green centers.  They were very aggressive though.  My turquoise and neon green trumpets don't bother anything.  I was disappointed to have to rehome the pink.  The pink may not all be that aggressive, but keep that in mind when placing them in your tank.

 

She jumped up there twice.  Hasn't done it since LOL.  I think she's learned her lesson.

 

I would love to start another macro tank but I hate having to maintain more than one tank (speaking of, need to start water for my water change today!).  Maybe I can squeeze some macro into my current tank :).

 

 

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Nice!  It's neat to see what a little frag can become given time to grow. :happy:  I haven't seen pinks in years so will probably never have any, but you make a good point about aggression.  I don't have room for anything to be tackling other things! :lol:

 

I can't imagine why she wouldn't like a nice saltwater bath!  :lol:  Cats are funny critters.

 

I totally understand!  I have a couple of freshwater tanks in addition to the salt tank, and a hedgehog too, so that's quite enough for me to be taking care of at present lol.  Having lots of tanks going can just get exhausting!

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14 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Nice!  It's neat to see what a little frag can become given time to grow. :happy:  I haven't seen pinks in years so will probably never have any, but you make a good point about aggression.  I don't have room for anything to be tackling other things! :lol:

 

I can't imagine why she wouldn't like a nice saltwater bath!  :lol:  Cats are funny critters.

 

I totally understand!  I have a couple of freshwater tanks in addition to the salt tank, and a hedgehog too, so that's quite enough for me to be taking care of at present lol.  Having lots of tanks going can just get exhausting!

hedgehogs are adorable :).

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9 minutes ago, gena said:

hedgehogs are adorable :).

I agree. :happy: I found her on Craigslist, a family had bought her for their young daughter and found it was more work than they could manage (didn't help they had a small mesh wheel that was difficult to clean). :( So I brought her home!

 

Here's a picture of Violet aka Princess Pricklepants in her snuggle sack a while back. :happy:

IMG_20160318_235828482_zps1ecbfrji.jpg

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Awwww...so adorable.  We had one at the pet store I worked at many years ago :).  I can't believe in all my years I've never owned one.  I've had everything else LOL.  Well, not a snake or a tarantula.  But all the cute options :D.

 

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Haha!  Certain snakes I'd be ok with (though hubby says no LOL) but tarantulas are a permanent no-go from me. :wacko: The only thing I don't like about hedgies is cleaning up the poop--it's so messy!  That's what drove the previous owners to give her up, but they were also using a mesh wheel that would have been impossibly difficult to clean.  After I picked her up, we made an immediate stop at Petsmart for a plastic wheel lol.  But if you ever do decide to get one, they eat a mix of high quality cat food (and dog food with small kibble--I get the small breed kind), with mealworms for treats (and boy does she love those! ha!).

 

Violet only likes to come out at night after all the lights in the house are out.  If you go in and turn a light on, she freezes like she got caught doing something she shouldn't! :lol: Love my huffy ball of quills!

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17 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Haha!  Certain snakes I'd be ok with (though hubby says no LOL) but tarantulas are a permanent no-go from me. :wacko: The only thing I don't like about hedgies is cleaning up the poop--it's so messy!  That's what drove the previous owners to give her up, but they were also using a mesh wheel that would have been impossibly difficult to clean.  After I picked her up, we made an immediate stop at Petsmart for a plastic wheel lol.  But if you ever do decide to get one, they eat a mix of high quality cat food (and dog food with small kibble--I get the small breed kind), with mealworms for treats (and boy does she love those! ha!).

 

Violet only likes to come out at night after all the lights in the house are out.  If you go in and turn a light on, she freezes like she got caught doing something she shouldn't! :lol: Love my huffy ball of quills!

Violet...that's a great name! 

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23 hours ago, TinyOcean said:

So I think you need to post more pictures of your feather duster! They are so cool. Are they easy to care for?

Haha I will try to soon.  It's a little peeved at me right now (see below).  I think so, though I have never fed them before...I am trying that now. :closedeyes: Picked up some Kent's Microvert when I got the duster and will be looking into other filter feeder foods as well.  Since I plan to do large water changes, I think feeding shouldn't be an issue (plus the macros will probably love the waste lol).

 

21 hours ago, gena said:

Violet...that's a great name! 

Thanks Gena!  It's one of my favorites. :happy:

 

Went to an LFS today, saw something I wanted, finished running errands and came back for it.  

 

Introducing...
pom%20pom%20in%20bag_zpsf3mpvger.png

 

A pom pom crab!  This is the only LFS I have ever seen stock pom poms, and the ones they had a couple months ago had no pom poms so I was pretty excited that this one still has both.  It was also hanging out right on the outside of the rock, boldly.  

 

Acclimating (yes that is a purple plastic cup):
IMG_20170221_170410915_zpshfdevyhm.jpg

 

IMG_20170221_170433020_zpsillnvtfx.jpg

 

IMG_20170221_170458420_zpsffabjsxr.jpg

 

I dropped it in and of course it disappeared immediately, but a few minutes later...

 

Hanging out just below the blue scroll, just like I expected!
IMG_20170221_182845343_zpsvukg5x1r.jpg

 

IMG_20170221_182901177_zpsgn9mrbbb.jpg

 

I also picked up a little nassarius snail.  Tried to place him gently on the large rock and of course his shell rolllllled down the rock and landed with a plunk in the sand.  He promptly rolled over and cruised away like nothing had happened.  I later saw him zooming down the right side of the tank lol.

 

I did make a horrifying discovery after putting the pom pom in.  When my hand touched the water, I thought, "Gee, that feels kinda cold!"  Checked the thermometer...it was 68 degrees!!! :blink: Checked the heater and realized...when I was messing with it to rearrange things the other night, I forgot to plug it in. :wacko: Our apartment usually stays pretty warm, but it's been so warm the last few days, the heat's been turned down so the apartment was cooler than normal.  I feel so badly now, no wonder the zoas weren't happy (this is why I shouldn't mess with my tank when I'm exhausted!)!  I plugged the heater back in but now my feather duster looks mad.  I hope he pulls through okay. :unsure: I did take a moment to superglue over the largest vermetid snail that hitchhiked in on the live rock rubble. :mellow:

 

So that was the exciting part of my day.  I did pick through all of the frag tanks at the LFS but the only thing that jumped out at me was a zoa frag...3 polyps for $20 which isn't a bad price but more than I want to pay for something I might kill quickly lol.  The rics were unimpressive and they did have a turquoise-ish candy cane which was well priced and tempting...except for the massive amounts of hair algae on the frags.  No thank you lol.  Also saw rock flower anemones for the first time but was more than I could afford today...$50+ for one!  Looking around online to see about getting some frags soon, just gotta decide what I want. :happy:

 

 

 

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Hooray, I've always thought Pom-Pom Crabs were cool, congratulations on the new addition!!!

 

As far as the temp, I wouldn't worry too much. 

I learned from shipping frags 'n stuff that Reef livestock adjusts much better to lower temps than high ones. Seems to stress them out less. 

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Yay! Pompoms are so awesome! I'm excited for you! I think I may have some vermetid on the new zoas I got so I'll have to try the superglue thing but not sure how precise I'll be at putting it on lol. 

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10 hours ago, Rain24 said:

Wow, so glad you realized your heater was off. I've been quietly reading this thread, but now that there is a new Pom Pom crab, I am quiet no longer! So cuuuuuute!!! :wub:

Welcome aboard! :happy:  Pom poms are pretty much my favorite invert ever (feather dusters run a close second) and I'm excited to have one so soon!  I'd like to add another soon but must wait till payday.  And I'm glad I realized it about the heater too lol.

 

4 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Hooray, I've always thought Pom-Pom Crabs were cool, congratulations on the new addition!!!

 

As far as the temp, I wouldn't worry too much. 

I learned from shipping frags 'n stuff that Reef livestock adjusts much better to lower temps than high ones. Seems to stress them out less. 

Thanks Weetie!  That's reassuring to know.  I don't think it got toooo cold for everything but I'd just had a conversation with the guy at the LFS about the time his heater failed, temp dropped to 62, and he lost everything. :wacko:

 

Speaking of the LFS, they had what he described as a blue hippo tang with a color variation so that her body was pretty much jet black.  She was gorgeous!  He said they were going to put a silly high price tag on it so that she wouldn't sell and they could keep her as a store pet. :lol:

 

33 minutes ago, TinyOcean said:

Yay! Pompoms are so awesome! I'm excited for you! I think I may have some vermetid on the new zoas I got so I'll have to try the superglue thing but not sure how precise I'll be at putting it on lol. 

Aren't they?!  So cute when they wave the pom poms around. :happy:  I have never been too precise about it lol.  I just try to get a little glob to cover the end of the tube but it usually ends up a bigger blob than intended.  Doesn't look pretty but at least things won't be harassed by their stringies.

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I love the pom pom crab!  Mine hasn't had it's poms for years, but he's still cool.  He'll pick up little pieces of coral.  Or I guess he probably breaks little pieces of coral off.  Check out the porcelain anemone crabs.  I think you'd love one of those too.  The white ones are the prettiest.  And if you get a rock flower anemone, it will probably hang out in it :).

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2 minutes ago, gena said:

I love the pom pom crab!  Mine hasn't had it's poms for years, but he's still cool.  He'll pick up little pieces of coral.  Or I guess he probably breaks little pieces of coral off.  Check out the porcelain anemone crabs.  I think you'd love one of those too.  The white ones are the prettiest.  And if you get a rock flower anemone, it will probably hang out in it :).

Yeah my first one lost his poms (or one of them at least, it's been several years so I don't quite remember) and decided one of my powder blue freebie rics from Coral Morphologic made a good substitute LOL!  I had a super aggressive zebra hermit (never again!) at the time so the pom pom was constantly hiding and the poor ric shriveled up and turned white lol.  I'd love to try a porcelain crab as their little fans look so pretty in pictures!  Wonder if there'd be any aggression issues between crabs in this small space (I do want to add a second pom pom)?  My only concern with RFA's is how big they can get--if one inflates to 6" it would cover half my tank! :lol: But if they stay smaller than that and/or grow slowly I'll definitely think about trying a couple as they do look very pretty!  Wonder if a porcelain would like a St. Thomas mushroom?

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1 minute ago, Lula_Mae said:

Yeah my first one lost his poms (or one of them at least, it's been several years so I don't quite remember) and decided one of my powder blue freebie rics from Coral Morphologic made a good substitute LOL!  I had a super aggressive zebra hermit (never again!) at the time so the pom pom was constantly hiding and the poor ric shriveled up and turned white lol.  I'd love to try a porcelain crab as their little fans look so pretty in pictures!  Wonder if there'd be any aggression issues between crabs in this small space (I do want to add a second pom pom)?  My only concern with RFA's is how big they can get--if one inflates to 6" it would cover half my tank! :lol: But if they stay smaller than that and/or grow slowly I'll definitely think about trying a couple as they do look very pretty!  Wonder if a porcelain would like a St. Thomas mushroom?

Mine likes a fox coral (LPS) so I'm positive the porcelain crab would make do with whatever you have.  I've never seen any interaction between my porcelain crab and the pom pom crab.  Both keep to themselves.  These two species are the only crabs I would consider keeping.  Hermits are little punks LOL.

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30 minutes ago, gena said:

Mine likes a fox coral (LPS) so I'm positive the porcelain crab would make do with whatever you have.  I've never seen any interaction between my porcelain crab and the pom pom crab.  Both keep to themselves.  These two species are the only crabs I would consider keeping.  Hermits are little punks LOL.

I LOVE your fox coral, it's so gorgeous!  It's probably as big as my tank but if I do a big tank in the future, a fox coral is definitely on the list now lol.  Hermits are definitely punks!  I had some hitchhike on my hermit-free Reef Cleaners order last year and they harassed everything even though they were tiny. <_<

 

I've been working my way through your tank thread and wondered about the blasto merlettis you have (the first ones that were in the tank)--are they the same as the "aqua violet" ones from Reef Gardener?  I've been considering them as I've loved merlettis ever since seeing them in el fab's tank but want purple ones because purple is my favorite color lol.  The bright minty centers on the ones on her website are so pretty and provide a nice contrast to the purple!

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