Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

fanaglethebagle posted:

Be careful with the green star polyps, they can take over a tank.

This is VERY correct. I have a rock covered in GSP in my 90G that is loving quarantined from the rest of the tank. Every once in a while I see it grow a tentacle towards other rocks as it tries to spread. I take the rock out and prune the GSP at that point.

If it spreads to your main rock structure, you're pretty much hosed on it. My roommate had to take half of his rock structure out, dry it, and scrub it before he could put it back in his tank.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

SERPUS posted:

Morally speaking, fish don't belong in anything below 20 gallons.

Your avatar speaks volumes. Ocellaris clownfish do wonderfully in 10 gallon tanks. They don't grow much over 2 inches at most. Jawfish are also fine in a tank smaller than 20 gallons. Royal grammas, black cap basslets, chromis fish, shrimpgobies, firefish, etc etc etc

They all do well in tanks under 20g.

Chappy
Feb 12, 2002

wooom wooom vroooom ksh ksh vooom

Psimitry posted:

I'm a fan of crabs myself. I have a ton in my 90G. But avoid them like the plague if you want to keep your firefish. Firefish seem to be the prey of just about anything even slightly carnivorous (I've even heard of cleaner shrimp killing and eating them).

I like watching them just demolish each other over loving shells. I have tons and tons of empty shells all over the tank for them to pick when they grow, but they would rather just slaughter each other.

It's sad and awesome at the same time.

supercheesy
Jun 12, 2006
Psimitry, I know I will have to clean the glass. Thats not a big deal. I have a magfloat that makes it super easy. I just want something to keep up on all the algae on the sand in between my water changes. I stir it up when I do wanter changes, but if I have snails in there I obviously won't do that. If they keep the sand stirred up then I don't have to worry about the algae having a chance to grow on the sand. And your jawfish is so freaking cute. I don't have $100 bucks to drop on a light right now but I would love to go all out and get a super light someday to have a full blown reef tank.

Thanks for the info on cleaner shrimp everyone. I was very mistaken in thinking they eat algae. I don't have a problem with hair algae right now, just a green carpet-like algae covering everything. I will look into getting some nassarius snails for now and adding a little more sand to the tank. Then maybe I will get a goby of some sort just for fun. :)

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978

supercheesy posted:

if I have snails in there I obviously won't do that.

Why not? I stir mine every water change and I have nassarius snails, a sea cucumber and brittle star that all live on or in the sand. You just have to be reasonably careful and only do it with something like a turkey baster.

quote:

If they keep the sand stirred up then I don't have to worry about the algae having a chance to grow on the sand.

Crap will always settle on the sand. Unless you have something that REALLY gets into the sand like a sand-sifting star, crap WILL settle. It's just life. That's why my sandbed gets stirred every month or so. It's also really good for people who have corals if you stir the sandbed. It liberates bacteria and phytoplankton that the corals feast on.

supercheesy
Jun 12, 2006
^^^ Because I use a gravel vac when I do my water changes to lift and drop the sand. I don't want to suck up or hurt any of the snails. I will have to invest in a turkey baster to stir it up. I realize that some crap will settle on the sand, but I get a ridiculous amount of algae on it in a matter of a few days. They have got to help with that a little. Thanks again for the help.

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978
A gravel vac is never a bad idea. But nearly just as good is to stir the water, get the water all nice and mucky, then do a good water change (20% or so).

Chappy
Feb 12, 2002

wooom wooom vroooom ksh ksh vooom
I've a ball urchin that looks like some of his spines are missing. I tested the water and everything checks out. Will they grow back or is something really wrong?

Cordelliah
Jun 22, 2008

Chappy posted:

I've a ball urchin that looks like some of his spines are missing. I tested the water and everything checks out. Will they grow back or is something really wrong?

Urchins (inverts for that matter) are the first creatures to react to changes in water parameters. This includes spikes in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and temperature fluxes. Spines falling off is not a good sign. Do you have numbers for the water quality? Ideally it should be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, temperature around 80F and a salinity of about 8.2. Also, do you have any urchin eating fish such as triggers or puffers? An obvious question, but I want to make sure we're on the same page.

Chappy
Feb 12, 2002

wooom wooom vroooom ksh ksh vooom

Cordelliah posted:

Urchins (inverts for that matter) are the first creatures to react to changes in water parameters. This includes spikes in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and temperature fluxes. Spines falling off is not a good sign. Do you have numbers for the water quality? Ideally it should be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, temperature around 80F and a salinity of about 8.2. Also, do you have any urchin eating fish such as triggers or puffers? An obvious question, but I want to make sure we're on the same page.

Sorry I don't have the numbers, I went by the colors on the strip, and it was all in the acceptable range. According to our hydrometer, the salinity was at 1.023.

The complete list of livestock is a Finger leather coral, a Trumpet coral, the previously mentioned urchin, 2 peppermint shrimp, 1 cleaner shrimp, numerous hermit crabs, a Yellow Tang, Coral Beauty, Mandarin, and one male oscillaris clown.

The urchin still moves around and gets things stuck to him, and he still eats. Will his spines grow back if everything is ok?

Cordelliah
Jun 22, 2008

Chappy posted:

Sorry I don't have the numbers, I went by the colors on the strip, and it was all in the acceptable range. According to our hydrometer, the salinity was at 1.023.

The complete list of livestock is a Finger leather coral, a Trumpet coral, the previously mentioned urchin, 2 peppermint shrimp, 1 cleaner shrimp, numerous hermit crabs, a Yellow Tang, Coral Beauty, Mandarin, and one male oscillaris clown.

The urchin still moves around and gets things stuck to him, and he still eats. Will his spines grow back if everything is ok?

Just noticed that I said the salinity should be 8.2. That is the ideal pH. Salinity should be around 1.025 for a reef tank. 1.023 is fine though. If the shrimp (especially the cleaner shrimp) are doing well, then it may be that the urchin is just ripping them off on accident (from moving around and getting stuff stuck to him). What size tank do you have? You mentioned that the urchin is eating. What is he eating? His spines should grow back as long as the urchin is healthy. I love mandarins. They are super cute. Do you have a green or spotted one?

Chappy
Feb 12, 2002

wooom wooom vroooom ksh ksh vooom

Cordelliah posted:

Just noticed that I said the salinity should be 8.2. That is the ideal pH. Salinity should be around 1.025 for a reef tank. 1.023 is fine though. If the shrimp (especially the cleaner shrimp) are doing well, then it may be that the urchin is just ripping them off on accident (from moving around and getting stuff stuck to him). What size tank do you have? You mentioned that the urchin is eating. What is he eating? His spines should grow back as long as the urchin is healthy. I love mandarins. They are super cute. Do you have a green or spotted one?

It's a 55 gallon. The mandarin is posted in the first post of this thread, hes a green one. We've had him for a year, he's my favorite fish ever. I've never seen a spotted one in a store yet. The urchin is mostly eating the corraline algae that's on the live rock, and the odd bit that ends up on the glass.

Cordelliah
Jun 22, 2008

Chappy posted:

It's a 55 gallon. The mandarin is posted in the first post of this thread, hes a green one. We've had him for a year, he's my favorite fish ever. I've never seen a spotted one in a store yet. The urchin is mostly eating the corraline algae that's on the live rock, and the odd bit that ends up on the glass.

Were you able to get the mandarin to eat anything other than copepods? Since all you're other critters are doing well, I wouldn't worry too much about the urchin. If he does start to deteriorate (such as all his spines coming off) then you'll probably lose him, but let's hope for the best!!

Cordelliah fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Jun 23, 2008

Chappy
Feb 12, 2002

wooom wooom vroooom ksh ksh vooom
Nah, the mandarin only eats pods, but I buy them from the LFS every so often to keep the tank stocked. It helps that the tank was established for about 3 years before we added the mandarin.

Cordelliah
Jun 22, 2008
I used to work at a petstore and we had a mandarin in a display tank that would eat frozen mysis shrimp. I was shocked, but he would eat the smaller pieces.

muggins
Mar 3, 2008

I regard the death and mangling of a couple thousand toy soldiers as a small affair, a kind of morning dash
My tank:

Elephant ear coral

Paly's

Green Star Polyp

Yellow polyp




Pink tipped bta 1


Pink tipped bta 2


Green chalice coral


Pink tipped bta 3, and the first one the clownfish settled in


Finger leather


Ocellaris and Coral Beauty


Pajama Cardinalfish


Male ocellaris


Full tank shot


Nepthea


Green star polyps


Green pipe organ


Pink tipped bta


Candy Cane Coral

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
Well, my Clean Up Crew is in the mail, should be here Wednesday. Expecting:

Blue Leg Hermits
Orange Claw Hermits
Astrea & Cerith Snails
Dwarf Sand Shifting Sea Cucumber :3:

Yellow-Eyed Zoanthid
Red Mushroom
Oddball Ricordea (Can't wait to see what color I get!)

Until then, here is a better picture. You can see my algae collection. :downs:

tgijsola
Apr 27, 2008

orange
Pillbug
Found a creepy hitchhiker crab in my tank tonight!

He's in the center of this pic, chilling on the rock.





Looks like some sort of Xanthid, probably not good to keep in there, eh?

Chappy
Feb 12, 2002

wooom wooom vroooom ksh ksh vooom
From what I've been told, crabs will gently caress with anything that comes near them. He looks pretty cool though, do you have like a 10-20 gallon you could put just him in?

Star War Sex Parrot
Oct 2, 2003

This question isn't restricted to saltwater, but I don't see a general aquarium megathread so I'll just ask here. I'm considering getting a small tank, maybe just a 6 gallon to place on my desk. Would I be torturing whatever pour souls I put in there by placing them near my speakers that are frequently pumping music, movies, and video games?

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
Finally got my wonderful order from https://www.sealifeinc.net

Ken included a free second oddball ricordea and some extra snails/hermits. His animals and corals are very healthy and colorful, and I recommend them highly!

Yellow-Eyed Zoanthid, hopefully it'll open soon.


Blue Ricordea


Pretty Green-Blue-Purple Ricordea


Sea Cucumber, he's the size of a fat cashew. :3:


Full tank shot


I'm happy. :)

Edit: Whoops, forgot picture of Red Mushroom. It's very pretty, but hard to get a picture of because it's in a shady area. I'll try tomorrow.

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978
The yellow-eyed zoos, while cool, are pretty common. The blue rics are not. Well actually, they are common, but pricey. Nice going. They look awesome and if you decide to get rid of them at some point, you could probably get 15 or so per polyp.

MoCookies
Apr 22, 2005

strwrsxprt posted:

This question isn't restricted to saltwater, but I don't see a general aquarium megathread so I'll just ask here. I'm considering getting a small tank, maybe just a 6 gallon to place on my desk. Would I be torturing whatever pour souls I put in there by placing them near my speakers that are frequently pumping music, movies, and video games?

I wouldn't do it. My angelfish expired very quickly during/right after we had our housewarming party, and I think the music was what sent him past the point of no return.

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you

Psimitry posted:

The yellow-eyed zoos, while cool, are pretty common. The blue rics are not. Well actually, they are common, but pricey. Nice going. They look awesome and if you decide to get rid of them at some point, you could probably get 15 or so per polyp.

Yeah I paid $11 for one ric, and he sent me two, one of which already has two mouths on it. They're much prettier in person, very rich blues and purples, but in the pictures they seem more green than they really are. I'm very, very happy with what I bought from him. I'm already picking out more of his high-color rics to add, and maybe another zoo.

Oh, and a featherduster. :3:

Desert Bus
May 9, 2004

Take 1 tablet by mouth daily.

strwrsxprt posted:

This question isn't restricted to saltwater, but I don't see a general aquarium mega thread so I'll just ask here. I'm considering getting a small tank, maybe just a 6 gallon to place on my desk. Would I be torturing whatever pour souls I put in there by placing them near my speakers that are frequently pumping music, movies, and video games?

When I had a 2.5g Betta tank on my desk, and when I upgraded to a 6.6g as my desk tank, the only fish that seemed to have issues with the music (possibly just the subwoofer vibrations), were my male and female Bettas. My current tank is far enough away from any source of sound that the fish appear completely unaffected.

muggins
Mar 3, 2008

I regard the death and mangling of a couple thousand toy soldiers as a small affair, a kind of morning dash
Yeah those ricordeas are really nice. They are so expensive and seem to be the 'in' thing right now. That sea cucumber looks cool, but don't those things kill everything in the tank if they die?

Re: fish near speakers, please don't do it. The vibrations could be pretty horrible.

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978
They CAN nuke the tank if they die. But it's pretty darned rare for them to die and go ballistic. Sea apples are a different story, but the cukes are pretty safe.

DAT RAM
Dec 28, 2003

Laissez les bons temps rouler
I hope this isn't considered thread necromancy, but here's my tank.


Click here for the full 1280x960 image.


It's a 44 gallon pentagon shaped tank. Right now it's fish only, and I need to add about 15-20 lbs more of live rock before I want to move into corals and such. Right now I only have a pair of false percula clowns that I've had for about 3 years. The female is an rear end in a top hat, and I can't reach my hand into the tank more than a few seconds without being bit, and if I take the lid off she charges the top and tries to attack my face. I had some green chromis in the tank, but the clown attacked and killed them. Other than that I have 4 hermit crabs and 4 turbo snails.

Unfortunately I started the tank on some really bad advice and I'm trying to recover from that and I think I have it headed in a better direction. I don't plan to add any more fish until I get the live rock where I want it and everything else right. I have the algae issues that I had under control and better lighting.

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
I'm glad someone woke this thread, I have more pictures that'll be up here soon. I got more Rics, plus next week I'm getting some sponges and fans and a feather duster.

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
New pictures of old and new critters, I'm out of town until Sunday and my co-workers have been schooled in the care of my tank. Then I'm getting my next shipment!

Some of these haven't colored up yet, but I'm still calling them their advertised names.


Click here for the full 1272x1272 image.

Green Mushroom


Click here for the full 1026x1026 image.

Oddball Ricordea


Click here for the full 1302x1302 image.

Large Oddball Ricordea


Click here for the full 1560x1560 image.

Orange Ricordea


Click here for the full 1410x1410 image.

Yellow-Eyed Zoanthids (Though they're completely blue, which is fine too.)


Click here for the full 1824x1824 image.

Peppermint Shrimp


Click here for the full 2000x693 image.

Full-tank shot, about 9 weeks old.

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978
Good lord! I don't think your sandbed is deep enough! :)

Desert Bus
May 9, 2004

Take 1 tablet by mouth daily.

Psimitry posted:

Good lord! I don't think your sandbed is deep enough! :)

That tank goes down another half in or so. The bottom is cut off in the last pic Hood Ornament posted.

Psimitry
Jun 3, 2003

Hostile negotiations since 1978
So like what...7 inches??

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
Haha, I've got about 2.5 inches of sand.

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
Well today my tank is starting to look like I'd planned originally, with the arrival of my featherduster, sea plume, sea whip, and tree sponge.

Hopefully will have pictures up soon!

Edit: I also discovered a load of copepods crawling around!

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
I WILL NOT LET THIS DIE RAAARGHHH!

The thread, that is.

Hello my nano tank, you are 10 weeks old.


Click here for the full 1077x616 image.


What's this? It's getting crowded in there!


Click here for the full 918x689 image.


Mr. Featherduster worm is adding to his tube. (I like this photo a lot.)


Click here for the full 816x612 image.


Yellow Sea Whip


Click here for the full 536x612 image.


Purple Sea Plume



My Peppermint Shrimp has an interesting view of the world.


Click here for the full 642x642 image.


One of three Sexy Shrimp. Dance!


Click here for the full 615x615 image.


Orange Hermit looks like he's gazing out a window on a rainy day.


Click here for the full 705x705 image.


Pom-Pom Crab vanished as soon as he was in the tank. Yes, I realize he has no pom-poms, and LiveAquaria has recieved my irritated email about it.


Click here for the full 740x740 image.


The newest jewel of the tank, a Royal Gramma. Poor thing hid up under some rockwork as soon as I put him in. You can see a bit of my Red Tree Sponge in the back. Before anyone says anything, I had several experienced nano-reefers tell me he'd be just fine in my tank.

I want more pictures from everyone! Grr!

csammis
Aug 26, 2003

Mental Institution

Hood Ornament posted:

I want more pictures from everyone! Grr!

I will post pictures...in four or five weeks when my brand new tank gets constructed and cycled v:shobon:v

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you
Just take pictures at your LFS and say they're yours. :3:

Yeah I'm nuts.

tgijsola
Apr 27, 2008

orange
Pillbug

Hood Ornament posted:

Pom-Pom Crab vanished as soon as he was in the tank. Yes, I realize he has no pom-poms, and LiveAquaria has recieved my irritated email about it.

I'm pretty sure this isn't all that uncommon (both the vanishing and the lack of anemones). I had one who only had one anemone, and my friend had one like yours without any at all. They both did just fine.

They're nocturnal so you probably won't see him unless you check out your tank at night. Get some moonlights if you don't already have some :)

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Aphelion Necrology
Jul 17, 2005

Take care of the dead and the dead will take care of you

tgijsola posted:

I'm pretty sure this isn't all that uncommon (both the vanishing and the lack of anemones). I had one who only had one anemone, and my friend had one like yours without any at all. They both did just fine.

They're nocturnal so you probably won't see him unless you check out your tank at night. Get some moonlights if you don't already have some :)

I have a very small moonlight that I plan to upgrade, and the tank is actually in my office at work so I'm not there so often at night. :) I do like the little fella even without his anemones, but LiveAquaria did give me a full credit for him which I will gladly use on another purchase, probably more coral frags.

  • Locked thread