Hitchhiker's Cove - Mini-re-boot

[Thunder Goose]

My pencil urchin was out this afternoon so I snapped a couple picts. Can you find the decorator crab in this shot?

 

[Weetabix7]

27 minutes ago, Thunder Goose said:

My pencil urchin was out this afternoon so I snapped a couple picts. Can you find the decorator crab in this shot?

 

 

I found the crab, it looks pretty cool.

[lkoechle]

royal gramma or a chalk bass are both fl native.

[Thunder Goose]

Photo dump. Really enjoying watching the critters.

 

The decorator crab seems to choose a location and hang out there all day.

 

Mini brittle star hanging in the red sponge.

 

 

Cup corals. I love their polyps.

 

I've found a second tiny decorator crab. See her on the coral? Sorry she's out of focus.

 

 

My bigger urchin may not be a pencil urchin but she moves around the "log" rock regularly.

 

I ordered some shrimp from KP Aquatics and a rock flower anemone for them. If the anemone is too large I have some ricordea I could move over from Tranquility Base. This weekend I'll set up my QT and decide on some fish.

[Weetabix7]

25 minutes ago, Thunder Goose said:

Photo dump. Really enjoying watching the critters.

 

The decorator crab seems to choose a location and hang out there all day.

 

Mini brittle star hanging in the red sponge.

 

 

Cup corals. I love their polyps.

 

I've found a second tiny decorator crab. See her on the coral? Sorry she's out of focus.

 

 

My bigger urchin may not be a pencil urchin but she moves around the "log" rock regularly.

 

I ordered some shrimp from KP Aquatics and a rock flower anemone for them. If the anemone is too large I have some ricordea I could move over from Tranquility Base. This weekend I'll set up my QT and decide on some fish.

 

Really beautiful. 

I love the decorator crabs. 

Is this fulfilling your expectations of what you wanted for this tank so far?

 

[samnaz]

39 minutes ago, Thunder Goose said:

Photo dump. Really enjoying watching the critters.

 

The decorator crab seems to choose a location and hang out there all day.

 

Mini brittle star hanging in the red sponge.

 

 

Cup corals. I love their polyps.

 

I've found a second tiny decorator crab. See her on the coral? Sorry she's out of focus.

 

 

My bigger urchin may not be a pencil urchin but she moves around the "log" rock regularly.

 

I ordered some shrimp from KP Aquatics and a rock flower anemone for them. If the anemone is too large I have some ricordea I could move over from Tranquility Base. This weekend I'll set up my QT and decide on some fish.

Gorgeous! I love cup corals. They look especially incredible under actnics. I have two that hitchhiked on my live rock and they're my absolute favorite of all my corals. And they were free!

 

I'm transferring to a new tank with dry rock soon, and honestly I'm more worried about how to get the cup corals transferred than anything else. I think I'm going to try to break off the piece of live rock they are on and hope they survive. 

[Thunder Goose]

13 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Really beautiful. 

I love the decorator crabs. 

Is this fulfilling your expectations of what you wanted for this tank so far?

 

This is a fantastic tank - exactly what I wanted. Now I wish I had used TB Saltwater for my first reef tank (Tranquillity Base). I used dry rock and I just don't have as much diversity of life.

[Thunder Goose]

Hitchhikers Cove is in my home office so I get to look at it all day while I'm at my computer. Which means I can grab my phone and snap a picture if anything interesting happens.  

 

Translated: more pictures!

 

 

Urchin feet!

 

 

Serpent star came out - so I grabbed some clam and gave her a treat for posing for me. Isn't she gorgeous? 

 

I do need to break out my DSLR and take some quality pictures, though.

[Lula_Mae]

10 minutes ago, Thunder Goose said:

Hitchhikers Cove is in my home office so I get to look at it all day while I'm at my computer. Which means I can grab my phone and snap a picture if anything interesting happens.  

 

Translated: more pictures!

 

 

Urchin feet!

 

 

Serpent star came out - so I grabbed some clam and gave her a treat for posing for me. Isn't she gorgeous? 

 

I do need to break out my DSLR and take some quality pictures, though.

Wow, she is gorgeous!  And the urchin looks so cool, too.

[Thunder Goose]

Got crabs.

 

 

Emerald crab

 

 

Unknown crab

 

 

My big urchin seems to be growing like a weed. I'm beginning to suspect she's a long spine urchin and will get BIG. Fortunately I can move her into my "big" tank (50 gal) when she outgrows the nano.

 

Also spotted (but not photographed) was a small shrimp. No identification on her yet. I just got a glimpse of her hiding in one of the sponges. AND I found one of the other urchins, a much, much smaller one. I found her because I thought it was odd that a shell kept moving around. It was half a bi-valve so you can understand my confusion. I tried to pull it out for a better look and, ding ding ding! It's an Urchin Hat (the name of The Husband's next band).

 

This week I've ordered a rock flower anemone, two Pederson shrimp and a goldline blenny (all from KP Aquatics). I have some space for a few small corals but I'm not sure what to get. I have a lot of ricordea and zoas in Tranquility Base. I don't want the tanks to look too similar. What other kinds of corals might be found in Florida waters? Or corals that would help replicate the look of a Florida reef? I'm open for ideas.

 

Ok. More posts in Lula Mae's post about her delayed shipment. Gotta check and see if anything survived! Fingers crossed (sorry for any typos).

[Lula_Mae]

50 minutes ago, Thunder Goose said:

Got crabs.

 

 

Emerald crab

 

 

Unknown crab

 

 

My big urchin seems to be growing like a weed. I'm beginning to suspect she's a long spine urchin and will get BIG. Fortunately I can move her into my "big" tank (50 gal) when she outgrows the nano.

 

Also spotted (but not photographed) was a small shrimp. No identification on her yet. I just got a glimpse of her hiding in one of the sponges. AND I found one of the other urchins, a much, much smaller one. I found her because I thought it was odd that a shell kept moving around. It was half a bi-valve so you can understand my confusion. I tried to pull it out for a better look and, ding ding ding! It's an Urchin Hat (the name of The Husband's next band).

 

This week I've ordered a rock flower anemone, two Pederson shrimp and a goldline blenny (all from KP Aquatics). I have some space for a few small corals but I'm not sure what to get. I have a lot of ricordea and zoas in Tranquility Base. I don't want the tanks to look too similar. What other kinds of corals might be found in Florida waters? Or corals that would help replicate the look of a Florida reef? I'm open for ideas.

 

Ok. More posts in Lula Mae's post about her delayed shipment. Gotta check and see if anything survived! Fingers crossed (sorry for any typos).

Urchin Party Hat! Aww, thanks for following along!  It means a lot to see how much other people care about these little critters, too.  A few survivors but not the one I wanted most, unfortunately.  Will keep updating the thread.

[Thunder Goose]

I haz a disappoint.

 

My Live Aquaria order got here bright and early this morning (well, 9:30). I had a few things I wanted to order from them and since they were having free shipping on orders over $99 I added on a "Blue Plating Sponge." Everything else looks good and is in QT. The sponge, not so much.

 

It looked a bit limp. And not blue. But I tried anyway, drip acclimatization for 2 hours, no exposure to air.

 

This is what it looks like now.

 

 

Not pretty.

 

I emailed LA. I expect I'll get a credit but even if I don't it's still cheaper than the shipping would have been (I ordered from both LA and ORA via LA so shipping was from two locations and the sponge was from a third!).

 

I just hope I didn't introduce a disease that will wipe out my other sponges!

[WV Reefer]

16 minutes ago, Thunder Goose said:

I haz a disappoint.

 

My Live Aquaria order got here bright and early this morning (well, 9:30). I had a few things I wanted to order from them and since they were having free shipping on orders over $99 I added on a "Blue Plating Sponge." Everything else looks good and is in QT. The sponge, not so much.

 

It looked a bit limp. And not blue. But I tried anyway, drip acclimatization for 2 hours, no exposure to air.

 

This is what it looks like now.

 

 

Not pretty.

 

I emailed LA. I expect I'll get a credit but even if I don't it's still cheaper than the shipping would have been (I ordered from both LA and ORA via LA so shipping was from two locations and the sponge was from a third!).

 

I just hope I didn't introduce a disease that will wipe out my other sponges!

 

 

Ew. Hopefully it was just stress.  

[debbeach13]

That is disappointing. I hope every thing else does well. 

[lkoechle]

I'm sorry.  I bet you whoever packed it exposed it to air.  all transfers need to be done underwater.  A tiny air pocket can kill it.  Some are more tolerant than others, but its always best to play it safe and keep them totally submerged.

[Lula_Mae]

Oh, what a bummer!  If you don't get a response to email, call them.  They're very helpful in my experience and they refunded me the money for the pink streaked wrasse that UPS killed by keeping in the warehouse in a trailer all weekend (not even a credit, it went straight to my Paypal).

[lkoechle]

10 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Oh, what a bummer!  If you don't get a response to email, call them.  They're very helpful in my experience and they refunded me the money for the pink streaked wrasse that UPS killed by keeping in the warehouse in a trailer all weekend (not even a credit, it went straight to my Paypal).

yeah they did the same for my PSW. They just refunded it back to the card.

[Thunder Goose]

The thing totally dissolved overnight (in a separate container), I'm still waiting for a response to my email. I'll call this afternoon if I don't hear anything soon. I'm not too chuffed. I added it to qualify for free shipping, not because I'd been lusting after it.

 

I have two fish in QT for this tank right now - a goldline blenny from KP and a green banded goby from LA. Fingers crossed they do well. I like the personalities of blennies and gobies!

[Thunder Goose]

Friday Photo Dump!

 

 

BEHOLD! FOR I AM ELPHABA, HOLDER OF THE CLAWS OF MITRAX, DESTROYER OF WORLDS! 

And, possibly, killer of decorator crab. I haven't seem my decorator for a few days now and I saw Elphaba eating something that only had a small claw left. 

 

But I said I'd take what I got.

 

Even if it includes a killer.

 

Anyone know the lifespan of an emerald crab?

 

 

I think this sponge is doing ok. The pore sizes change through the course of the day. It's fun to watch. I hope that algae doesn't become a problem. I have seen Elphaba munching on it.

 

 

This sponge I'm not so confident about. You can see she's lost some tissue I'm taking a wait and see approach here. If nothing else she is a good hiding place for a bunch of the micro-brittle stars.

 

 

This gorgonian is also questionable. She opens some polyps every day but has only opened all of them once that I've seen. But she's still striking and the hermit crabs are enjoying climbing her. Again, we're waiting to see.

 

 

And the obligatory FTS. The wall behind the tank is, indeed, painted a pale blue. Makes for a nice backdrop. I wish I could have positioned the tank so I could observe the back side, too, but it just doesn't fit that way. At least the side with the equipment (the black side) blocks light from the window. Mostly.

 

[Lula_Mae]

Maybe the gorg is annoyed at being a crab jungle gym lol.  Shame about the sponge, could you maybe try some live phytoplankton?  I just got some from Mike's Phyto, tank seems to like it!

 

[lkoechle]

The gorgonian is NPS.  I notice the most polyp extension on mine when the water's dirty.  It will also close up or only half will be open when its shedding its skin which it does almost twice a week.  Make sure you have enough flow for it to shed.

[Thunder Goose]

NEW ADDITIONS!

 

One of my fav vendors, KP Aquatics, notified me they had common starfish in (finally). I'd been wanting one for Tranquility Base so I had to order. Well, you know how THAT goes. So let me introduce my new buddy - the porcelain crab!

 

 

Isn't she a beaut? I put her in the tank and she immediately started feeding! Well, as soon as she got to a "hiding" place.  I also got a new Gorgonian (pictures tomorrow) and some Mangroves (see Mangrove Manor in the journals feed).

 

No, I'm not addicted, why would you think that?

 

On 7/7/2017 at 9:18 PM, lkoechle said:

The gorgonian is NPS.  I notice the most polyp extension on mine when the water's dirty.  It will also close up or only half will be open when its shedding its skin which it does almost twice a week.  Make sure you have enough flow for it to shed.

 

I added some flow, per your suggestions, and she did open up! She's not open all the time but she is fully open a lot more often. Thanks!

[Thunder Goose]

Friday update. I've added a few things this week. Things are mostly going good. I haven't seen the shrimp in a few days (none of them) but I'm not worried. Yet. If the peppermint shrimp can hide for days (which she does) the smaller shrimp probably can, too. I'm a bit worried about my sponges. The finger sponge is showing some white on the surface. Not sure if it needs to shed, it's growing, it's dying... and when I compare my two orange elephant ear sponges one is much brighter in color than the other. I may need to get a slightly larger power head for current. Ikoechle has a larger on in her tank (my inspiration) but the larger sized one I have sitting around is much too large for this small tank.

 

Enough of the talkin', let's get to the lookin'!

 

First up FTS July 13, 2017

 

 

 

Now the fishes:

 

Goldline blenny (massive personality! Love her!)

 

Green Banded Goby:

 

Couldn't resist when I saw this one on Diver's Den - a squat lobster:

 

One of the porcelain crabs:

 

One of the urchins - not one I saw when I initially set up the tank. You'll notice, if you look very closely under all the shells she's carrying, her spines appear to be white. I wonder what she is...

 

Now for the possible problems... Orange finger sponge. What is all that white? Do I need to be worried? Do I need to do something different?

 

 

 

This one is hard to see. The left hand orange elephant ear sponge is much brighter in color than the right hand orange elephant ear sponge.

 

 

You can also see my yellow ball sponge has some algae and my red *unknown* sponge seems to have stabilized after initially losing some tissues. Fingers crossed.

 

Well, that's my update for this week. I'm still very, very happy with this tank! It's a lot of fun to sit and watch - so much life!

[Weetabix7]

48 minutes ago, Thunder Goose said:

Friday update. I've added a few things this week. Things are mostly going good. I haven't seen the shrimp in a few days (none of them) but I'm not worried. Yet. If the peppermint shrimp can hide for days (which she does) the smaller shrimp probably can, too. I'm a bit worried about my sponges. The finger sponge is showing some white on the surface. Not sure if it needs to shed, it's growing, it's dying... and when I compare my two orange elephant ear sponges one is much brighter in color than the other. I may need to get a slightly larger power head for current. Ikoechle has a larger on in her tank (my inspiration) but the larger sized one I have sitting around is much too large for this small tank.

 

Enough of the talkin', let's get to the lookin'!

 

First up FTS July 13, 2017

 

 

 

Now the fishes:

 

Goldline blenny (massive personality! Love her!)

 

Green Banded Goby:

 

Couldn't resist when I saw this one on Diver's Den - a squat lobster:

 

One of the porcelain crabs:

 

One of the urchins - not one I saw when I initially set up the tank. You'll notice, if you look very closely under all the shells she's carrying, her spines appear to be white. I wonder what she is...

 

Now for the possible problems... Orange finger sponge. What is all that white? Do I need to be worried? Do I need to do something different?

 

 

 

This one is hard to see. The left hand orange elephant ear sponge is much brighter in color than the right hand orange elephant ear sponge.

 

 

You can also see my yellow ball sponge has some algae and my red *unknown* sponge seems to have stabilized after initially losing some tissues. Fingers crossed.

 

Well, that's my update for this week. I'm still very, very happy with this tank! It's a lot of fun to sit and watch - so much life!

 

The tank continues to look gorgeous. 

I wish I knew what to tell you on the sponges, you already have more experience with them than I do. 

I suspect that adding more flow is a good idea, as you were thinking. 

You've been feeding them, right?

I know that @lkoechle has an additive for sponges that she puts in, something with silica, and she feeds them. 

[lkoechle]

I would say the finger sponge looks like its dying.  I pulled mine, but I set up "markers" to see if it was dying.  I woyldnt worry too much about alage growth on the ball sponges.  Mine have a fair amount and seem to not really care. But I cant say for long tern yet. just 9 weeks lol  And I do have sponges in different colors and it doesnt seem to matter much either just individual variation.