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I've got a 29 biocube reef I'm lucky to live near the best fish store I've ever seen (Gerber's in Dayton, OH) and picked up a ricordia frag there yesterday. One of the stowaways on the frag is something that looks like an SPS or maybe a weird tube worm. It's translucent blue, apparently hollow, slightly wider at the tip than the base, and it has yellow ridges at its tips. It looks like it is growing another part, so I don't think it's a worm. I've been trying to figure out what it is. If this sounds familiar to anyone, please let me know what it might be. I'll try to post a decent photo of the thing tomorrow afternoon. e: if you go to http://www.saltwaterwarehouse.com/Gerbers_Saltwater_Warehouse/Home.html there's a pretty cool video embedded. They have a gigantic stars & stripes puffer that acts like a dog (around 5:30). It will look you in the eye, approaches anyone near its tank, and seems to enjoy being petted. I feel really lucky to have this place nearby. Every time I visit, I see stuff I never knew existed. theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 04:24 on May 17, 2010 |
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May 17, 2010 03:52
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Here's a pic of my tank. Click here for the full 1095x688 image. And here is the mystery item I was asking about before.  Click here for the full 987x819 image. Anybody know what that thing is?
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May 17, 2010 23:02
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optikalus posted:It looks like a zoanthid dying for some light if you ask me. If it is, it looks like a pretty cool morph if you can save it. I had some red people eaters do that when they started getting smothered by Xenia -- ie. stretching /way/ thin and extending >2" trying to find light. Thanks for the thought. It is butting up against some baby ricordea, maybe that's bugging it. The light level is actually very nice, the whole tank is brilliant. It didn't come through that way on camera, though. I'll keep an eye on it and move it up in the tank if it starts to look worse, maybe scrape off that tiny ricordea and see what happens with Mr. Blue. Did your zoo turn see-through when it was stressed? e: I scraped off the baby ricordea and pumped some diluted phytes into the blue thing's top. Hopefully it won't turn white and fall off. I'll post in here if I figure out what it is. theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 02:55 on May 18, 2010 |
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May 17, 2010 23:49
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Grumio posted:Would it be possible to get a sharper picture? It would be a lot easier to make a judgement if everything was clear and in focus. Sorry about the photo quality. The hitchhiker is pretty small, I took a dozen careful pictures, and I think that's as good as I can do with an auto-focus camera. Thank you very much for your expert opinion! One of the dudes at wet web media corroborates your suspicion: WetWebMedia.com posted:This is almost assuredly an Ascidian... a Sea Squirt... Not harmful... indeed, testament to the good care all have lavished on the Ricordea over time. Read here re: http://wetwebmedia.com/ascidfaqs.htm Thanks again and thanks for the awesome pics. I love the surprises that come with having a reef tank.
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May 19, 2010 22:03
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khysanth posted:Any ideas? Do we need more cleanup crew? Everything seemed to be fine until we added the anemone - do they really produce that much waste? That could just be a coincidence in timing, though. Do we need more cleaners? I agree that the stuff in your tank looks like cyanobacteria, but it doesn't look like there's very much of it, so that is good. Remember to check and clean/change your filters. What, how much, and how often are you feeding the tank? And how long do you run your lights? What kind of water do you use? If it's from the tap or a shady pet store, it may contain phosphates. Phosphates can feed cyano. Regular water changes usually help to solve the cyano problem, if the water you're adding is pristine. Have you found your fish yet?
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Jun 5, 2010 05:02
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khysanth posted:Feeding just some brine shrimp right now, 1/2 of a "cube" (smaller than an ice cube) a day. So you're out of fish for now? You might want to pick up another cheap one to generate some poop for your detrivores to eat. Until then, you might consider getting some of the small sinking pellets and toss in very few per day. Your hermits and snails probably have a hard time catching floating brine shrimp if your tank has any flow at all. If it's getting stuck in the rockwork, that's good, but half a cube is probably too much for the livestock you currently have. You can feed like three small fish on half a cube, and they're actually able to catch the stuff. Have you checked your filters to see how much extra food ends up in there? Food decaying in your filter can create ammonia and ruin yo' poo poo. But to answer your question, you can probably go a couple days without feeding if all you have is your cleaner crew and you're trying to kill the cyano. I would definitely cut back on the lights. Everybody has their own recommendation, but I say 7.5 or 8 hours. It's not a big deal to leave them on too long unless you're afraid of bleaching a coral or something, but Cyano is photosynthetic, so if it weren't for your anemone I'd recommend leaving the lights off for a couple days. Sounds like your water source is pretty legitimate! And exotic! In the end, cyano doesn't really matter all that much. It's just an indicator that your water conditions aren't ideal, and can't really hurt anything other than the aesthetics of your tank (as far as i know). So don't freak out about it or anything, just consider it part of the fishkeeping adventure.  SIDE NOTE: chromis are schooling fish. You'd ideally have a nice group of them to keep them from stressing out, so in a small tank you might consider getting something else like a gramma/blenny/goby/hawk/whatever. I would also recommend avoiding pretty much any damselfish. They are cheap, pretty, and hardy, but most damsels seem to turn into territorial, coral-nipping assholes when they mature. theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 23:16 on Jun 6, 2010 |
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Jun 6, 2010 22:44
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khysanth posted:Thanks for all of the advice! No problem! I've made tons of minor blunders with my tank, returning damsels and a wrasse, and I've had to figure out how to get rid of a huge pad of cyano in my own 29 gallon biocube, so I have learned from plenty of mistakes. I also understand your fish selection problem. I've never kept chromis myself, but from what I understand they're pretty hardy. Clownfish and chromis are considered compatible and easy to keep, but three medium-sized fish might be close to the limit for a healthy reef tank of your size, so take time to research and choose stuff you really like. 2 Chromis will probably do fine together. You're probably okay with only one, if you don't want to get another. I'm sure plenty of folks have kept a single chromis. Edit: next time you buy frozen food, consider picking up the mysis blend, as brine shrimp is considered a sort of junk-food for most fish. And if you really wanna get crazy, drop some pellets and cyclop-eeze in there once in a while, too. And if you want a clown to pair with a wide selection of anemones, look for a Clarkii. theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Jun 7, 2010 |
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Jun 7, 2010 03:50
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I have a cleaner shrimp of which all my fish are mortally fearful. The shrimp is getting pretty big, and he's been chasing a new clarkii around so much that the clown stays way up at the waterline all day. Is there a solution short of selling the shrimp? I really like him.arioch posted:
Why'd you go for the central-drain? theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Jun 12, 2010 |
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Jun 12, 2010 04:53
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arioch posted:Latest update: Interesting to see a tank set up like this. it appears your sandbed is kind of shallow. Do you have plans to hide the plumbing? I like it. I have never seen a tank like yours before. What are you going to put in it? Sorry if i missed that. e: man, nothing is as exciting as a brand new clean tank. You have so many possibilities ahead. I envy you. also, what is that port on the far right side of the photo, top of the tank? Also, where is that fancy powerhead you were talking about? theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Jun 23, 2010 |
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Jun 23, 2010 02:23
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Desert Bus posted:Do any salt water people keep Crown of Thorns? The gigantic sea star? e: A little googling leads me to believe there aren't many people who would keep this, it would be interesting if anyone here does. theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 20:08 on Jun 23, 2010 |
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Jun 23, 2010 20:06
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Would it be hard to just build your own LED fixture? Buy the LEDs from some place (I know Edison makes a bunch of different types, just need to find a retailer) and wire them up? It can't be that hard or expensive to do yourself with some electronics knowledge. I don't understand why these LED fixtures cost so drat much. I ask because I used to wire up stupid easy LED arrays with little science kits my dad got me when I was a kid. LEDs are not hard to understand. The Edison site even tells you what color they burn and how many watts they are. Has anyone tried this with their tank? e: I guess what I really want to know is what I am missing. How is a handful of LEDs with an AC adapter worth five hundred bucks? theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 07:23 on Jul 15, 2010 |
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Jul 15, 2010 07:17
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Amaterasu posted:I've had freshwater for years and I currently have a 60 gallon freshwater setup with live plants. I've also done brackish water but changed to freshwater because brackish fish are almost impossible to find. I'd really like to get my hands into saltwater. Doing a nano tank (5 gal - 40 gal) seems like the best bet since I don't really want to spend an ungodly amount of money and then kill everything by accident. I also want to know if I like it before I spend big money. I don't have any books to recommend, but tossing any questions into google brings up a LOT of forums where you can find answers. I would recommend doing a shitload of research. Figure out what kind of tank you want. Fish only? Reef? Inverts-only? Modern saltwater tanks use live rock and sand for biological filtration, and filter pads + protein skimmers for mechanical filtration. Protein skimmers catch little animals and slime in the bubbles and get them out of your water. You want these animals and slime in your tank, but the protein skimmer helps remove the excess. There are also carbon or calcium reactors, for those who need extra pristine water. You can get by with a filter pad and live rock/sand, but after a while you will probably have the urge to upgrade. There are No biowheels in a saltwater tank. The plastic balls ("bio-balls") are supposed to provide a place for biological filtration to happen, and having them in a place where water falls helps oxygenate your water, but I haven't met anyone who really thinks they are worth anything. You don't need them (IMO). I only keep my bio-balls because without them the water falling makes too much noise. I've had a 29 biocube for almost a year now, and I really like it as a beginner reef tank. It was a good relatively-inexpensive place to start experimenting and comes with almost everything you need at about the same price it would cost to buy everything separately. If you go with anything bigger, you will want to build a sump, which is like buying an even more expensive, smaller tank to hold all the filters and stuff. DO CHECK AROUND for predrilled used tanks on craigslist. I spent too much on a brand new biocube, but the thing has served me very well. Don't go out and buy anything until you figure out exactly what you are trying to do. Start saving up and plan everything out, then save a little more because unexpected stuff always happens with saltwater tanks. It can be an expensive adventure I was happy to see that someone had posted in this thread. I am not the most experienced person here, but I would love to help you figure out what you're doing.
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Aug 9, 2010 06:13
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Amaterasu posted:I originally meant to say but accidentally deleted that I will not be setting this tank up any earlier than the end of the year. I actually just got a 130gal tank on Saturday for $75 off craigslist but I think that will either be turned into a terrarium with dart frogs or day geckos or a large freshwater tank. I've never had a tank that large before but it seems perfect for an awesome cichlid tank. If you get a large tank for your saltwater aquarium, you might consider investing in an RO/DI unit so you can filter your own water at home. It saves you from having to run to the fish store every week, and guarantees you're actually getting RO water. Something like this http://www.melevsreef.com/ro_di.html is what I am talking about. That site also has a lot of interesting info about keeping a marine tank.
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Aug 10, 2010 06:07
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Wo Sind Sie posted:A friend gave me a shell that he got at the beach several days ago. In it, to his surprise, was an aquatic hermit crab. He's been incredibly active, eating shrimp pellets like nobody's business and he's been fitting himself for a new shell amongst the ones we put in with him. He's been in a small tank for the past day or two, with water collected at the beach, but we need some help setting up a tank. You're going to have to cycle the water in the ten gallon tank before you will be able to reliably keep anything alive in it. This could take a few days or a few weeks. Invertebrates are considered more sensitive to poor water quality than fish, so unless you have a friend who has an established tank where you can keep your crab while your new tank cycles, don't get too attached to him. Also don't expect him to live very long in a small container if the water is stagnant. It needs to be oxygenated and filtered somehow. Also, what ludnix said.
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Aug 12, 2010 06:02
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Billy Black posted:My office is setting up a saltwater tank. A guy who has several saltwater tanks at home is in charge, so he's taking care of it and making sure it's all set up properly. Get a diamond goby! They have great personalities, keep your sand clean, and aren't typically agressive.
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Sep 29, 2010 04:18
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I've got a question, if someone could help me out. I just picked up a coralife 24 gpd RO unit and hooked it up to my bathroom sink to test it out. The blue tube is outputting a lot of water really fast. Like it's a straight pipe from the faucet to the output. Almost nothing is coming out of the red tube (waste water) isn't this backward? Do I have to run it for a while before it starts acting normal? Edit: NEVERMIND! I just had to re-seat the filter membrane. Sorry! theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Dec 4, 2011 |
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Dec 4, 2011 23:08
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I've been tearing apart my 29 gallon biocube. I took the rim off and pulled the filter box out and drilled three holes in the back glass for a beananimal overflow. I'm going to have to build the box out of acrylic. I'm also trying to figure out whether to try to fit a sump inside the tiny stand (17" wide x 18" deep x 27" H max) or put something behind it. I've seen some guy's custom sump that he fit inside the stand but I don't know if I wanna deal with putting together all that expensive acrylic for such a cramped setup. I feel like i've done most of the dangerous poo poo, minus actually filling the thing with water, but I'm wondering if anyone has any warnings or suggestions about any of this.
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Dec 18, 2011 01:07
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GenericOverusedName posted:This is a bit of an odd request, but I'm having trouble convincing my autistic brother that coral reefs are in fact made up of living animals, and not just weird-colored plants and rocks. Check this out, man http://www.youtube.com/user/CoralMorphologic
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Feb 20, 2012 03:04
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edit: nevermind!
theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Sep 21, 2013 |
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Sep 21, 2013 05:01
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I know this must have been covered a while back in this thread, but what's the consensus on bristleworms? I thought they were good guys. What harm can they do?
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Nov 11, 2013 02:00
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MrYenko posted:I've caught mine munching on zoanthids more than once. I've thinned them out quite a bit. Oh, I thought they just ate detritus. The more you know!
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Nov 11, 2013 02:35
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there's a nudibranch out there that purportedly subsists on aiptasia http://saltyunderground.com/category/berghia-nudibranch
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Aug 10, 2017 02:39
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It's like ten thousand spoons
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Dec 12, 2017 05:42
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I haven't had an aquarium in a few years, but last time I was in it the current wisdom was there's no reason to run a UV filter because there's no reason to want to kill all the microorganisms in the water. It just makes a bunch of ammonia and reduces the bio load the tank can handle.
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Jan 4, 2018 12:34
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