Hitchhiker's Cove - Mini-re-boot

[jesseatam]

The mystery snapper could still be a pistol shrimp even if there are no burrows, the one in my tank seems to be a rock dwelling species and mostly peeks out of holes in it's  rock. It does appear to have a single burrow entrance in the back although I've never seen the it use it.

[Thunder Goose]

The last mantis I pulled her favorite hiding rock from the tank and pestered here with probing and blasts of water until she came out. I may try that again this weekend to confirm identity of the mystery snapper. I hope she's a snapping shrimp although when I posted the last mantis shrimp I did get several people who wanted her so it wouldn't be hard finding her a new place to live.

 

If I can get her out of the rock.

 

 

[lkoechle]

I hardly hear my mantis.  My pistol shrimp is far more snappy.  so it probably is a pistol.  I hardly see mine.  he is very reclusive.

[lkoechle]

oh and he doesnt burrow.  He is usually in the rock.  or under it but doesnt shovel tidy little holes like shrimp pairing pistol species.  

[Thunder Goose]

6 hours ago, lkoechle said:

I hardly hear my mantis.  My pistol shrimp is far more snappy.  so it probably is a pistol.  I hardly see mine.  he is very reclusive.

I hope you're right. I'm going to try to get eyes on her this weekend, before I add anything else to the tank.

[Lula_Mae]

On 9/14/2017 at 12:52 PM, Thunder Goose said:

It's been a long time since I've updated. Let's see, what's happened?

 

I got rid of a mantis shrimp.

 

I added a two spot blenny.

 

 

I moved some acan frags into the tank.

[picts coming soon - NR doesn't want to add any more even though I'm under the limit]

I returned some of the gorgonians.

[ditto]

I spotted a mystery crab in one of my sponges.

[ditto]

BUT - I'm still hearing snapping and my green clown goby vanished, as have my larger crabs (although they might be hiding, I don't always see them).

 

 

Could I have another mantis shrimp? I've searched for a snapping shrimp and haven't found one or found a good burrow as evidence of one. I think whatever is snapping is in the same holey rock the last mantis was in - which means it will be hard to get at. I guess I need to pull that rock out and try and chase everything out of it to see what's snapping.

 

 

 

Your blenny is so cute!  I wish mine had made it.

[Thunder Goose]

3 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Your blenny is so cute!  I wish mine had made it.

Mine hides a LOT. Of course right now she's the only resident. I'm hoping to add a more outgoing fish to make her feel more comfortable. Haven't decided what yet. Since KP is planning to be back soon I may wait and get another goldline blenny. The one I had got moved into the "big" tank during the Mantis Shrimp Excitement and she's awesome! She was fun to watch in the nano and she's still fun to watch in the other tank, too. Very active little girl.

[Lula_Mae]

12 minutes ago, Thunder Goose said:

Mine hides a LOT. Of course right now she's the only resident. I'm hoping to add a more outgoing fish to make her feel more comfortable. Haven't decided what yet. Since KP is planning to be back soon I may wait and get another goldline blenny. The one I had got moved into the "big" tank during the Mantis Shrimp Excitement and she's awesome! She was fun to watch in the nano and she's still fun to watch in the other tank, too. Very active little girl.

Ooh I've never heard of a goldline blenny, I will have to look them up!

[debbeach13]

That blenny picture is just adorable

[Thunder Goose]

2 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Ooh I've never heard of a goldline blenny, I will have to look them up!

If you want personality, they're great. If you want color, eh, not so much. KP Aquatics has them pretty regularly and their site says they hope to be back up and running by the end of the month (they're in the keys) so you can check them out.

[Thunder Goose]

I've had some issues with this tank.

 

First the discovery of a mantis shrimp - who killed off most of the tank invertebrates and has since been rehomed.

 

Second I went to Africa for the month of October and left the tank in the care of The Husband. He's sweet and he tries but he's not a reefer so I came home to a major algae issue and the demise of most of my remaining invertebrates at the claws of a gorilla crab (probably a hitchhiker now a resident of Dexter's Sump, Dexter being the hermit crab that was convicted in the Great Snail and Hermit Massacre of 2017).

 

So now I have a few red and blue reef hermits (the tiny guys), some snails and limpets, one tough (or lucky) sexy shrimp and one firefish who hides all the time.

 

 

It looks pretty good but it's lacking activity. I am open to suggestions.

 

In an ideal world I would get the goldline blenny, sailfin blenny and peppermint shrimp that used to be in this tank out of my big tank (where I put them for safe keeping while dealing with the mantis shrimp) but I'm not sure I can catch them. I haven't had much with most fishes I've tried. Some of that blame goes to the mantis shrimp but other times I'm not sure (maybe the gorilla crab?). They just tend to disappear. 

 

I'm asking for suggestions. Invertebrates? Hardy fishes? What do ya'll have that are out a lot and would fit in this 14 gallon tank?

[WV Reefer]

1 hour ago, Thunder Goose said:

I've had some issues with this tank.

 

First the discovery of a mantis shrimp - who killed off most of the tank invertebrates and has since been rehomed.

 

Second I went to Africa for the month of October and left the tank in the care of The Husband. He's sweet and he tries but he's not a reefer so I came home to a major algae issue and the demise of most of my remaining invertebrates at the claws of a gorilla crab (probably a hitchhiker now a resident of Dexter's Sump, Dexter being the hermit crab that was convicted in the Great Snail and Hermit Massacre of 2017).

 

So now I have a few red and blue reef hermits (the tiny guys), some snails and limpets, one tough (or lucky) sexy shrimp and one firefish who hides all the time.

 

 

It looks pretty good but it's lacking activity. I am open to suggestions.

 

In an ideal world I would get the goldline blenny, sailfin blenny and peppermint shrimp that used to be in this tank out of my big tank (where I put them for safe keeping while dealing with the mantis shrimp) but I'm not sure I can catch them. I haven't had much with most fishes I've tried. Some of that blame goes to the mantis shrimp but other times I'm not sure (maybe the gorilla crab?). They just tend to disappear. 

 

I'm asking for suggestions. Invertebrates? Hardy fishes? What do ya'll have that are out a lot and would fit in this 14 gallon tank?

Whew! Just caught up on a few pages.....sorry about all the notifications. lol   

 

The tank looks nice, especially the gorgs. I love those sponges..... I gotta look into those. 

 

i say leave the other dudes in the big tank and do something new. 

[Thunder Goose]

Hey, Christy

 

Thanks for all the likes!

 

You can get sponges of your very own from Gulf Coast Ecosystems (at www.live-plants.com - the big ones are called Ear Sponges. They seem to be doing great. Be sure you don't expose them to air! That seems to result in eventual fatality. I feed mine SpongePower and add SpongExcel silica to the tank. I don't know if they're necessary but these guys have been going since June. I may end up getting some more for my other tank since I've been so pleased with these.

[Christopher Marks]

Hey @Thunder Goose! Is the hitchhikers cove IM 14 Peninsula still up and running these days, how has it been doing? Hope you're well! ☺️

[Thunder Goose]

Thanks for asking. Hitchhikers Cove is still up and running. The bright sponges eventually died off. I've added more gorgonians, some Dragon's tongue macroalgae and I've finally got some activity - masked gobies, a rusty goby (lots of fun), Pederson's shrimp, sexy shrimp, plus I still have all the small crabs that came as hitchhikers. It's doing well and keeping me entertained as I sit at my computer and procrastinate on actually doing work.

 

Almost everything in the tank is from the southern Florida area [mostly from KP Aquatics] .

 

Except for my flaming prawn goby (no photos unfortunately). My LFS got one in and couldn't sell it and couldn't sell it and finally sold it to me for an insanely low amount of money. If you've ever wanted one - don't waste your money. I see mine for several days in a row about once a month, usually as it scoots back into hiding. 

 

 

 

 

And speaking of hitchhikers... I had a mystery mound in my sandbed. It took a good bit of research and sneaking up  on it at night to find - I have a peanut worm! Now that I know what it is I like to leave the mound alone when I clean. It gets really big before the worm decides to move to another part of the tank.

 

[Christopher Marks]

Glad to see it's still running, how cool it's almost becoming a Florida biotope now! 🙂

 

Do you feed the gorgonians specifically?

That pederson cleaner shrimp is really neat! I could see some Florida ricordea doing well in there... 😉 

[Lula_Mae]

7 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Glad to see it's still running, how cool it's almost becoming a Florida biotope now! 🙂

 

Do you feed the gorgonians specifically?

That pederson cleaner shrimp is really neat! I could see some Florida ricordea doing well in there... 😉 

+1 on the rics.  They are some of my favorite things ever!

[Thunder Goose]

I do, sort of, feed the gorgonians. I spread phytoplankton and add sponge power routinely and when I target feed the corals in my other tank I'll put the leftover Reef Roids in this tank.

 

I'll have to try the rics. That would add some color. I do miss the sponges I had at the beginning. They lasted for months and were really spectacular. It's tempting to order some more, even knowing their time with me would be limited.

[vlangel]

I second the ricordia. I have heard that the yellow ball sponges are hardier.  I know they are not as dramatic but still might be nice.