Lula Mae's full circle 5.5--the end.

[fishfreak0114]

Love the GBG's!  I spent so long looking for the shrimp lol.  Even with your description, the one near the pom pom was so hard to see!  I'm thinking I might pick up one or two of those this weekend

[Weetabix7]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

They're here!  Finally home and everything is blessedly alive this time!   They are so tiny!  I knew they were small but it's one thing to read it and another thing to see it, you know?  Got them acclimating now.  The shrimp and crab were packed right next to the ice pack for some reason so I hope they'll be ok.  The pom pom crab and shrimp kept scaring each other, especially when the shrimp would touch the poms, and it was scaring me after my experience with Shelby so I put the pom pom in a cup and hung it on the side of the bucket.  I've got the drip running into the cup and when the cup's full it'll drip into the bucket so they both get the benefit of the drip acclimation lol (don't have enough stuff to set up a third drip line lol).

 

Here's a couple quick pics:

Green stripey babies!  The one up top decided to move just as I took the pic so it's a little blurry lol.  He's a bit lighter in color (or just paler from transit) than the other.

 

Pom pom has huge fluffy poms!  The shrimp are very hard to see because they're basically transparent, but one's in the top left, and one is right on top of and to the right of the pom pom crab.  You can see it covering part of the pom pom's legs on the right lol.

 

By the way, the new blasto is looking AMAZINGly fluffy and the anthelia seems to be perking up a little, I think!  I'll try to get a pic up soon.

 

Hooray!!!

[Nano sapiens]

On 7/4/2017 at 6:14 PM, Lula_Mae said:

SO since I know a lot of you have GBG's, anyone have advice/recommendations/fun anecdotes to share?  I've got frozen mysis and a couple frozen carnivore blends, and a variety of small pellets and some flakes so hopefully there won't be issues getting them to eat!

 

Oh, and fingers crossed that this time goes better.  Heh.  

 

GBG are tough fish and usually starting eating a day or two after settling in.  However, occasionally you'll get one that just doesn't react to flake or frozen.  That was the case with this brute:

 

 

...when he was tiny and he didn't touch any food I added for around 2 months (but I did catch him once or twice munching on a resident amphipod or small worm).  One day he just started eating the food I introduced and hasn't stopped since.  So don't worry too much about them...and just hope they turn into a male & female (my last one was small, but already a male, so now I have two large WWF wannabees)

 

 

Also, if yours are from the same source as mine (assuming LA's wholesaler gets them from the same supplier) the males get this golden/greenish color, but the females stay more steely-blue (these don't develop that gright green seen in some online pics).

 

As for the Pederson's, they can be a nuisance for Zoas since they will hook onto them to stay stable in a current.  But, they don't do any real damage to the coral.  Good thing is they don't tend to munch on them like Sexy Shrimp have been known to do when hungry.  You can expect a year or so lifespan (assuming they weren't older to start with), so enjoy them while they are around.  Expect to see frantically flicking antennae EVERY TIME you go anywhere near the tank!

 

With all these little critters, due to their small size, they need to feed more often than larger ones since they don't have large energy reserves.  Small amounts of flakes/frozen 2x/day has worked well for all my little rascals

 

Hope they all do well

[StinkyBunny]

They are damn cool little fish. I remember seeing the little Prison gobies in The Keys, I had to have a few. So, back then, all you needed was a fishing license to collect them. I went back to the submarine channel to collect 6 of them. They were tough to collect too, lol. Who knew those little critters could move like greased lightning on ball bearings. The submarine channel is exactly what it sounds like, they repaired/rearmed/resupplied subs there during WW2. It's deep, straight down walls to 40'.

 

Don't worry if they don't eat for a day or 2, it's quite normal. I get fish in from all over the world and some eat right out of the bag, others take a day or 2 to start eating. I tell people all the time, imagine being chased, thrown in a bag, then in a box, get bounced all over Hell's half acre and then put in a new house. It's quite stressing to say the least.

[Lula_Mae]

5 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Yeah for live arrivals. I am jealous of your new GBG baby's

I know, right?  Finally live fishes!

 

4 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Love the GBG's!  I spent so long looking for the shrimp lol.  Even with your description, the one near the pom pom was so hard to see!  I'm thinking I might pick up one or two of those this weekend

Yeah, that one was pretty transparent.  I'm a little worried about it, it was lying on its side when I went to get it out of the bucket and seemed a little discombobulated when I put it in before going behind the rocks.  I hope it'll be ok!  I think it's the one whose bag was literally touching the ice pack...

 

4 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Hooray!!!

 

3 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

 

GBG are tough fish and usually starting eating a day or two after settling in.  However, occasionally you'll get one that just doesn't react to flake or frozen.  That was the case with this brute:

 

 

...when he was tiny and he didn't touch any food I added for around 2 months (but I did catch him once or twice munching on a resident amphipod or small worm).  One day he just started eating the food I introduced and hasn't stopped since.  So don't worry too much about them...and just hope they turn into a male & female (my last one was small, but already a male, so now I have two large WWF wannabees)

 

 

Also, if yours are from the same source as mine (assuming LA's wholesaler gets them from the same supplier) the males get this golden/greenish color, but the females stay more steely-blue (these don't develop that gright green seen in some online pics).

 

As for the Pederson's, they can be a nuisance for Zoas since they will hook onto them to stay stable in a current.  But, they don't do any real damage to the coral.  Good thing is they don't tend to munch on them like Sexy Shrimp have been known to do when hungry.  You can expect a year or so lifespan (assuming they weren't older to start with), so enjoy them while they are around.  Expect to see frantically flicking antennae EVERY TIME you go anywhere near the tank!

 

With all these little critters, due to their small size, they need to feed more often than larger ones since they don't have large energy reserves.  Small amounts of flakes/frozen 2x/day has worked well for all my little rascals

 

Hope they all do well

Thanks for the info!  I'm hoping I'll get M-F too rather than same gender.  I've got a variety of small pellets, flakes, and frozen and a couple small bottles of pods that I added on this order, so I hope something piques their appetites!  I'll try feeding tomorrow and see how it goes!

 

3 hours ago, StinkyBunny said:

They are damn cool little fish. I remember seeing the little Prison gobies in The Keys, I had to have a few. So, back then, all you needed was a fishing license to collect them. I went back to the submarine channel to collect 6 of them. They were tough to collect too, lol. Who knew those little critters could move like greased lightning on ball bearings. The submarine channel is exactly what it sounds like, they repaired/rearmed/resupplied subs there during WW2. It's deep, straight down walls to 40'.

 

Don't worry if they don't eat for a day or 2, it's quite normal. I get fish in from all over the world and some eat right out of the bag, others take a day or 2 to start eating. I tell people all the time, imagine being chased, thrown in a bag, then in a box, get bounced all over Hell's half acre and then put in a new house. It's quite stressing to say the least.

Wow, that sounds like it could be a cool place to explore!  I forgot to try to feed them tonight lol but I'll try tomorrow and see how they do.  The bigger, darker one gave quite a merry chase when I was trying to get him out of the bucket! I'm sure they were both terrified since my fingers are huge to them!

[Lula_Mae]

Peeking in the quarantine tonight with a light, look who I spotted!

 

5 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

 

GBG are tough fish and usually starting eating a day or two after settling in.  However, occasionally you'll get one that just doesn't react to flake or frozen.  That was the case with this brute:

 

 

...when he was tiny and he didn't touch any food I added for around 2 months (but I did catch him once or twice munching on a resident amphipod or small worm).  One day he just started eating the food I introduced and hasn't stopped since.  So don't worry too much about them...and just hope they turn into a male & female (my last one was small, but already a male, so now I have two large WWF wannabees)

 

 

Also, if yours are from the same source as mine (assuming LA's wholesaler gets them from the same supplier) the males get this golden/greenish color, but the females stay more steely-blue (these don't develop that gright green seen in some online pics).

 

As for the Pederson's, they can be a nuisance for Zoas since they will hook onto them to stay stable in a current.  But, they don't do any real damage to the coral.  Good thing is they don't tend to munch on them like Sexy Shrimp have been known to do when hungry.  You can expect a year or so lifespan (assuming they weren't older to start with), so enjoy them while they are around.  Expect to see frantically flicking antennae EVERY TIME you go anywhere near the tank!

 

With all these little critters, due to their small size, they need to feed more often than larger ones since they don't have large energy reserves.  Small amounts of flakes/frozen 2x/day has worked well for all my little rascals

 

Hope they all do well

I forgot to add earlier that I remembered hearing Pederson's are not long-lived, so I tried to go for smaller ones in hopes they might be younger and therefore live longer.

[frahny]

So cool, glad these ones didn't get the "hot box" treatment the others did. I just got an email they were in stock:)

[cfaye@Delaware]

This made me happy.....I love the Pom Pom, it is so cute. Nice QT set up. Can't wait to see everybody in their new home.....loving every minute.

[kimberbee]

I'm assuming Pederson's and white spotted anemone shrimps have similar livespans? I had a white spot for a year and a half-ish before it one day died. I was very very sad and worried something was wrong with my tank. 

[Lula_Mae]

11 hours ago, frahny said:

So cool, glad these ones didn't get the "hot box" treatment the others did. I just got an email they were in stock:)

Me too, I drove an hour to pick them up to avoid the situation.  LiveAquaria actually put the address as the customer center instead of putting my address on there so they couldn't accidentally put it on the truck!

 

5 hours ago, cfaye@Delaware said:

This made me happy.....I love the Pom Pom, it is so cute. Nice QT set up. Can't wait to see everybody in their new home.....loving every minute.

Pom poms are adorable and *usually* very peaceful (I've had about 6 to date and only 1 of those was an anomaly in that regard).  The porcelain crab and gobies are in quarantine and the gobies, at least, can't go in the tank for a while yet because I had a bad experience with a sick baby clownfish a while back and I'm letting the tank lie fallow from fish for a good while yet.  Plus, quarantine is always a good idea lol.

 

14 minutes ago, kimberbee said:

I'm assuming Pederson's and white spotted anemone shrimps have similar livespans? I had a white spot for a year and a half-ish before it one day died. I was very very sad and worried something was wrong with my tank. 

I'm not positive, but I think they do.  I hope they do well for me because I've had issues with shrimp living for me in the past (fresh and saltwater, doesn't matter lol).

[Lula_Mae]

Well, I offered them some Omega One mini pellets with garlic and the one hanging out in front went WILD, dancing all over, and I watched him eat at least three pellets!  The one in the back of the tank got excited when I dropped some near him, and I think he ate some but it was hard to see because it was behind something lol.  So YAY fishies are eating!!!

[teenyreef]

Congratulations! I remember when my gobies were new, I used to turn off the pump and carefully drop one pellet at a time near each goby. If it fell through the water close enough, they would grab it out of the water. But if it was more than an inch away, or if they missed it, they wouldn't touch it once it landed on the sand bed.

 

After a week or two of that, they learned to go after the pellets more aggressively, and then it didn't matter where I put the pellets 

[Lula_Mae]

1 hour ago, teenyreef said:

Congratulations! I remember when my gobies were new, I used to turn off the pump and carefully drop one pellet at a time near each goby. If it fell through the water close enough, they would grab it out of the water. But if it was more than an inch away, or if they missed it, they wouldn't touch it once it landed on the sand bed.

 

After a week or two of that, they learned to go after the pellets more aggressively, and then it didn't matter where I put the pellets 

Too funny!  The quarantine is bare bottom and it took them a minute to figure out where that delicious smell was coming from, but they got it eventually!

[gone_PHiSHin]

i'll be following along namely for the new GBG additions!  i was just about to pull the trigger on some GBGs finally (i've been contemplating getting a couple for months) since LA has free shipping right now. i was going to also order a pom pom and a porcelain crab so you pretty much ordered exactly what i was looking to get! 

 

well, i just got back from a little vacation, went to finally place my order tonight, and THEY ARE OUT OF THE GBGs AGAIN!!

 

oh well i'll get the little guys soon enough but in the meantime i'll enjoy your stories!  keep us updated, with pics whenever possible of course!

[Lula_Mae]

22 hours ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

i'll be following along namely for the new GBG additions!  i was just about to pull the trigger on some GBGs finally (i've been contemplating getting a couple for months) since LA has free shipping right now. i was going to also order a pom pom and a porcelain crab so you pretty much ordered exactly what i was looking to get! 

 

well, i just got back from a little vacation, went to finally place my order tonight, and THEY ARE OUT OF THE GBGs AGAIN!!

 

oh well i'll get the little guys soon enough but in the meantime i'll enjoy your stories!  keep us updated, with pics whenever possible of course!

Aw bummer!  I hope they get more in soon!  Only reason I didn't order another porcelain is I just bought one and had Valerie already so I figured three porcelains might be a little overkill haha.  I haven't even peeked in on them today as I was gone from 5 am to 9 pm with work and travel.  Phew!

[lkoechle]

35 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Aw bummer!  I hope they get more in soon!  Only reason I didn't order another porcelain is I just bought one and had Valerie already so I figured three porcelains might be a little overkill haha.  I haven't even peeked in on them today as I was gone from 5 am to 9 pm with work and travel.  Phew!

I have between 15 and 20 porcelain crabs in the 14 Apparently, you cant have too many 

[gone_PHiSHin]

15-20 porcelains?!?

 

is that the new CUC instead of hermits and snails?  

 

 

i will be getting one for my 10, whenever i actually come across one....but not one per gallon haha.

[lkoechle]

7 hours ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

15-20 porcelains?!?

 

is that the new CUC instead of hermits and snails?  

 

 

i will be getting one for my 10, whenever i actually come across one....but not one per gallon haha.

They werr all hitchhikers on my liverock. lol  They are all very peaceful though and the definitely have their spots but they dont seem territorial about them.  Every now and then I will find them clustered together but generally they each have their favorite spots they stick to pretty closely.

[MrBill2u]

47 minutes ago, lkoechle said:

Every now and then I will find them clustered together but generally they each have their favorite spots they stick to pretty closely.

Is it Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights?  Those may be Baptist porcelain crabs.  

[gena]

Ugh, sorry to read about your delayed shipment and dead wrasse...poor thing .  In response to your question before this fiasco, I did get mine from Live Aquaria.  He came from the west coast (close) so luckily there was no issue with shipping.  I actually prefer ordering from LA as opposed to Divers Den because that always ships from Wisconsin.  Just a preference on my part.  Mine eats mysis shrimp and lots of pods.

 

I love your new GBGs and the pom pom crab.  They are adorable and will be perfect for your tank .

[gone_PHiSHin]

do you guys always quarantine your orders from LA?  

[gena]

14 minutes ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

do you guys always quarantine your orders from LA?  

I never have.  Never had an issue personally.

[gone_PHiSHin]

i know the 'correct' answer here but i honestly don't have the space to leave a QT tank set up in my little condo!  

 

i never quarantined years ago when i had my other tank and never had a problem but i said i would practice better methods this go around.

 

its bothering me and is a large part of the reason i haven't added another fish to my tank since it's startup 6-7 months ago...

[StinkyBunny]

1 hour ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

do you guys always quarantine your orders from LA?  

I didn't quarantine once and it brought Velvet into my system, never again. LA/DD could be giving fish and corals away and I'd pass. My advice, QT them and treat them for at least a month, copper and prazi.

[Lula_Mae]

23 hours ago, lkoechle said:

I have between 15 and 20 porcelain crabs in the 14 Apparently, you cant have too many 

Well then, I could pack at least 5 in this tank!

 

12 hours ago, lkoechle said:

They werr all hitchhikers on my liverock. lol  They are all very peaceful though and the definitely have their spots but they dont seem territorial about them.  Every now and then I will find them clustered together but generally they each have their favorite spots they stick to pretty closely.

Valerie has picked the area between the rics and acans and usually is on the big green and purple ric so it will be interesting to see the chosen spot of the new guy when I put him in!

 

10 hours ago, gena said:

Ugh, sorry to read about your delayed shipment and dead wrasse...poor thing .  In response to your question before this fiasco, I did get mine from Live Aquaria.  He came from the west coast (close) so luckily there was no issue with shipping.  I actually prefer ordering from LA as opposed to Divers Den because that always ships from Wisconsin.  Just a preference on my part.  Mine eats mysis shrimp and lots of pods.

 

I love your new GBGs and the pom pom crab.  They are adorable and will be perfect for your tank .

Yeah, pretty disappointing!  Good to know a future wrasse will probably eat fine if UPS doesn't lose it first.   Anywhere is far for shipping for me lol.  Unless I buy a Nano Box someday, that ships from NC!

 

I haven't actually seen the pom pom or one of the shrimp since I added them...hope they are ok!

 

9 hours ago, gone_PHiSHin said:

i know the 'correct' answer here but i honestly don't have the space to leave a QT tank set up in my little condo!  

 

i never quarantined years ago when i had my other tank and never had a problem but i said i would practice better methods this go around.

 

its bothering me and is a large part of the reason i haven't added another fish to my tank since it's startup 6-7 months ago...

I have the tank on a little end table from Walmart and the GBG's are in my little 2.3 which is currently set up underneath said table lol.  Not ideal but working with the space I've got (it's not much haha).  Part of the reason I chose to quarantine was because of the baby clownfish I bought back in May who was sick with I-don't-know-what from the nasty-tank LFS I should've known better than to buy from (that cute face did me in...).  So until the tank's been fish free for a good long while, I don't want to add anything that might contract whatever she had.  And I'm having to do that cause I didn't quarantine the first time around.  Derp.

 

In other exciting news, I now have a place to live (that does not involve couch surfing lol)!  And will be moving some stuff in tomorrow, and the tanks on Tuesday if all goes according to tentative plan.  Hooray!  It's also a good 20 minutes closer to work so that will be really nice.  I'm also really excited because I'm allowed to paint the walls!  I've never had that option before.  I picked out paint for the master bedroom and paint for the trim but anything else will have to wait...paint's expensive!