Madcat's Fluval Evo 13.5 - new shrimpy

[jesseatam]

aww Jeff looks like a real cutie  can't wait to see him settle in.

[fishfreak0114]

Love that macro!  And Jeff, well... 

[Madcat]

Jeff's been hiding nonstop (though I can see him moving). I know that's surely normal (especially considering he was in the TINIEST tank, like 0.25-0.5gal sized section of tank, for who knows how long, so my tank must seem really big to him), but of course I keep worrying that I did something wrong like the temp or drip acclimation... Maybe he's just really tired. He had a big day. Everyone's blennies hide at first, right? 

ETA: I guess I've also kept the lights off except to peek at him, so like, why would he swim around... right?

 

ETA2: HE MOVED! Now I'm worried because he's out in the open! Does he look okay to you guys?

 

 

He looks like he pooped - that green thing was not there before. Is my son okay?? ...Now he's in a little rock crevice. He's probably fine, right? He's just exploring (and pooping)?

 

....I swear I won't report his EVERY movement all night, I just need reassurance that this little dude is doing okay in my tank!

[schgr.cube]

He is probably okay. I just picked up a tailspot last week myself, and it is taking a little time to adjust to the new tank(s). Give it a few days and see how things are, but temperature acclimation was probably all it needed. 

[Madcat]

15 minutes ago, schgr.cube said:

He is probably okay. I just picked up a tailspot last week myself, and it is taking a little time to adjust to the new tank(s). Give it a few days and see how things are, but temperature acclimation was probably all it needed. 

:') Thanks. He's my first SW fish ever and I want SO badly for everything to go well. Your tank and your cats are very pretty.

[xEL Chupacabrax]

Give him a week and he will be prancing around like he owns the place 

[schgr.cube]

26 minutes ago, Madcat said:

:') Thanks. He's my first SW fish ever and I want SO badly for everything to go well. Your tank and your cats are very pretty.

I know, it is super nerve wracking to start buying life for your little box, and worry about its survival. After 9 years of reefing, I feel like I don't even worry anymore lol. 

 

And thank you, I appreciate it!!!

[fishfreak0114]

22 minutes ago, xEL Chupacabrax said:

Give him a week and he will be prancing around like he owns the place 

^This.  Mine still gets shy sometimes when I approach the tank though.

[TinyOcean]

Jeff! I have fallen in love!

[Lula_Mae]

Awww Jeff is such a cutie pie!  I don't think that is hypnea (I think hypnea is usually blue), it looks like a serrated caulerpa or something.  Maybe Weetie or someone can chime in with an ID!  It's very pretty though!

[Madcat]

50 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Awww Jeff is such a cutie pie!  I don't think that is hypnea (I think hypnea is usually blue), it looks like a serrated caulerpa or something.  Maybe Weetie or someone can chime in with an ID!  It's very pretty though!

I don't think it's hypnea either. I hope it's not caulerpa! The guy at the store told me it was slow growing, but he's probably the one who labelled it hypnea...

 

Thanks for all the reassurances, guys! Jeff has been exploring more today. Look at this fricking cutey.

 

 

[Lula_Mae]

1 minute ago, Madcat said:

I don't think it's hypnea either. I hope it's not caulerpa! The guy at the store told me it was slow growing, but he's probably the one who labelled it hypnea...

 

Thanks for all the reassurances, guys! Jeff has been exploring more today. Look at this fricking cutey.

 

Just keep it out of your main rock work.  It should be fine if you prune it regularly.  Different species of caulerpa grow at different rates, and as far as I know, this is not one of the super fast growing varieties (actually, in my tank, I found cactus caulerpa to be faster growing than C. prolifera, so I stuffed it in my AC70 fuge because I don't want it taking over lol).

[Madcat]

YOU GUYS. Jeff is EATING! I AM A SUCCESS AS A BLENNY MOTHER!

[schgr.cube]

10 minutes ago, Madcat said:

YOU GUYS. Jeff is EATING! I AM A SUCCESS AS A BLENNY MOTHER!

Horay!!!! Mine started eating today too! My wife named mine "Blenny, the Jet, Rodriguez"

[Madcat]

3 hours ago, schgr.cube said:

Horay!!!! Mine started eating today too! My wife named mine "Blenny, the Jet, Rodriguez"

 That's amazing.

 

I went to remove the seaweed I put in for Jeff, and one of my nosy snails was eating it! Get lost! You're a carnivore, have some self-respect.

 

Jeff is hilarious. He's claimed that little cave, which is pretty cool because when I bought that rock, I picked it in part because I thought that hole would make a perfect fish cave. Anyway, I angled myself so he couldn't see me, but I could see if he came down to eat some seaweed. He didn't move, and after a minute, his little face inched into view sideways. Like he was checking to see if I was still there! We just stared at each other before he wiggled back out of sight.

 

Here he is trying to look inconspicuous (I took this this morning):

 

 

Some coral update shots before bed! The new clove polyp is sooo close to opening.

 

 

All the zoa polyps seem happy which makes me happy. One of them has a ring of green around its center and is super pretty.

 

 

The ugly paly remains ugly. It also shows no signs of new heads, though the main one has grown noticeably.  I guess it likes me.

 

 

Accidentally rotated the blasto when I moved it so I can't see its baby head. But the second head continues to grow and grow - look! I love this coral. 

 

 

New blasto, looking like a fat balding dude:

 

 

Also: I caught Claudette munching on my macro! She nibbled away part of the stem. What a weirdo, I thought most macros were supposed to be unappetizing. Also also: see how clean my rocks are? I got brown spots ALL over them, for like two minutes. Now the diatoms are almost all gone. I expect they'll come in waves. (Speaking of which, new pump should be here tomorrow. )

[Lula_Mae]

7 minutes ago, Madcat said:

 That's amazing.

 

I went to remove the seaweed I put in for Jeff, and one of my nosy snails was eating it! Get lost! You're a carnivore, have some self-respect.

 

Jeff is hilarious. He's claimed that little cave, which is pretty cool because when I bought that rock, I picked it in part because I thought that hole would make a perfect fish cave. Anyway, I angled myself so he couldn't see me, but I could see if he came down to eat some seaweed. He didn't move, and after a minute, his little face inched into view sideways. Like he was checking to see if I was still there! We just stared at each other before he wiggled back out of sight.

 

Here he is trying to look inconspicuous (I took this this morning):

 

 

Some coral update shots before bed! The new clove polyp is sooo close to opening.

 

 

All the zoa polyps seem happy which makes me happy. One of them has a ring of green around its center and is super pretty.

 

 

The ugly paly remains ugly. It also shows no signs of new heads, though the main one has grown noticeably.  I guess it likes me.

 

 

Accidentally rotated the blasto when I moved it so I can't see its baby head. But the second head continues to grow and grow - look! I love this coral. 

 

 

New blasto, looking like a fat balding dude:

 

 

Also: I caught Claudette munching on my macro! She nibbled away part of the stem. What a weirdo, I thought most macros were supposed to be unappetizing. Also also: see how clean my rocks are? I got brown spots ALL over them, for like two minutes. Now the diatoms are almost all gone. I expect they'll come in waves. (Speaking of which, new pump should be here tomorrow. )

lol watch the hermits, they can and will decimate macros they like.  My zebra hermit ate my sargassum hitchhiker down to the nub it sprouted from, and then ate the nub.  Stupid crab.

[Madcat]

Just now, Lula_Mae said:

lol watch the hermits, they can and will decimate macros they like.  My zebra hermit ate my sargassum hitchhiker down to the nub it sprouted from, and then ate the nub.  Stupid crab.

Oh my gosh.  Hopefully there's way too much of it for one little hermie to devour. And hopefully Edouard doesn't develop a taste for it too.

[Lula_Mae]

7 minutes ago, Madcat said:

Oh my gosh.  Hopefully there's way too much of it for one little hermie to devour. And hopefully Edouard doesn't develop a taste for it too.

One can hope!

 

He was kind of a jerk crab anyway.  Got himself banished to solitary confinement eventually.  That'll teach him to harass everything in the tank!

[Madcat]

You guys were right! Jeff is zipping around today like he owns the place. Ahead of schedule, too! He seems as curious about me as vice versa, and will come wriggling out to peek at me. This morning he was all over the place! I snapped this pic as he zoomed past:

 

 

Peering out at me. He has so much character! And I love his little bug antennas.

 

 

[Lula_Mae]

2 minutes ago, Madcat said:

You guys were right! Jeff is zipping around today like he owns the place. Ahead of schedule, too! He seems as curious about me as vice versa, and will come wriggling out to peek at me. This morning he was all over the place! I snapped this pic as he zoomed past:

 

 

Peering out at me. He has so much character! And I love his little bug antennas.

 

 

He's sooooo cute!

[Madcat]

Kinda worried about one of my snails. The one with the kinky snoot - it seems like his snoot curls down now instead of sticking up? That can't be a good sign. I thought it looked shorter this morning, like someone had taken a chunk off of it, but now I think he's just not sticking it out like he should. I have a hard time finding him lately (probably because his snoot is barely sticking out) and today when I turned off the powerhead and filter to do some feeding, the other snail came bursting out of the sand as usual, but the other took a lot longer to appear. I guess my unpleasant question is, if he dies, will I know? I'm guessing I should get him outta there pretty fast if he croaks. Fingers crossed he's okay. 

 

I was trying to do a headcount last night and spotted Jeff in his usual cave. Had to look through the side of the tank to search for everyone else, and while I looked, Jeff's little face appeared in a crevice next to the clove polyps! I moved back around to the front of the tank to figure out how he was doing that (turns out there's a tunnel right in his cave), and he darted around to meet me. He's so curious! Also, he poops a lot for a fish who hasn't eaten that much since he got here. I tried him with flakes today (soaked them in tank water and used a pipette to gently direct them toward him... he watched the flakes swirl past his face blankly. Come on, Jeff!).

 

Now that's a media basket!

 

 

I made one, didn't love it, decided to make a second one since I'd gotten into a groove. The second one is perfect and fits like a dream into the filter chamber. My family room looked like a snow globe from all the tiny egg crate shards I snipped off so the edges would be smooth... that pic is only a glimpse of the carnage. But it's all clean now and I'm pretty darn pleased with my new basket. Much better than the old one!

[jesseatam]

If the snail does pass odds are your hermits will get to it before you do which isn't a bad thing since it'll give them another shell to mess with and a nice meal as harsh as that sounds. Also that racks looks awesome!

[Weetabix7]

On 8/6/2017 at 5:37 PM, Madcat said:

First off, new scape. I kind of REALLY like it, mostly because I can actually see the back of my tank now! Something was still not right, though... until I added the macro. I was kind of on the fence about it on the way home, and I was like, meh, it was cheap, if I hate it I can just bring it back. But I put it in and I like it way more than I expected to. It gives my scape exactly what I wanted - a splash of colour, and height.

 

 

My live rock fragment is also back there - I sort of festooned it with the macro like a Christmas tree, and the macro seems happy to stay put. The LR piece did exactly what I wanted it to - provided food for my inverts when my tank was still mostly barren (it's still Claudette and Edouard's favourite place to snack!). Once my tank is more established, I may just remove it. It's done its job.

 

Close up of the macro. Again, it was labeled Hypnea.

 

 

Now... my fish!!  He was, of course, still there when I went back today. I asked the LFS guy what he's been eating, and the guy said they give him frozen food, pellets, and seaweed. So I'm hopeful he'll have no problem eating for me. I grabbed some seaweed for him.

 

His name is Jeff. I just released him into the tank. He disappeared immediately into the macro, never to be seen again.

 

Just kidding. Here he is, not as well hidden as he thought:

 

 

Not blue and orange, but still a real cutey. He has some nice blue on his face, too. I'll have to get a better pic later when he's more comfortable. Every time I've seen him at the store, he's had tiger stripes. I've read that this is them being nervous and trying to camouflage. I wonder if he'll de-stripe in my tank.

 

I love him already! I really really hope he does well in there!

Can't remember if I commented but that's definitely not Hypnea. Maybe razor blade Caulerpa? Harder to tell on my phone.

[Madcat]

20 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

Can't remember if I commented but that's definitely not Hypnea. Maybe razor blade Caulerpa? Harder to tell on my phone.

I was suspecting Caulerpa serrata. Should I worry about it in terms of growth or anything?

[Lula_Mae]

37 minutes ago, Madcat said:

I was suspecting Caulerpa serrata. Should I worry about it in terms of growth or anything?

I'm not sure of its growth rate, so I'd just keep it isolated away from the main rockwork, and observe it to see what it does.