Llj's 8G... Yuma/zoanthid Garden

[lljdma06]

Bleh... I broke the fuge. When I tried to assemble the uptake tube that had been modified to the slot, the tube was too wide for the slot and the slot just snapped ruining it. Back to the drawing board. Man those cute refugiums from Drs. Foster and Smith are looking really good right now...

You could go for a HOB

It was an HOB that I broke. Now that I know what to do, I just purchased another one and will try again. They were on sale!

Look good choices of them all I prefer the clown goby but I'd go for

The symbiotic pair
Clown goby
And a open water fish

Although damsels can / are aggressive I do like them all so I'd go for the yellow tail ( you'd have to watch for aggression to the goby but should be fine )

I figure if I did the above order with a yellowtail damsel I'd go with the yellow goby first, then the shrimp/high-fin pair, then add a very small, very young yellowtail damsel last.

You could go for one of the more timid Damsel's like am Pomacentrus alleni or P. auriventris. Shrimp gobies can look after themselves quite easy.

They not as purty.

 

[ALW]

Are you open to any Damselfish?

 

[bae1994]

Yeah it's best to add the least aggressive fish first and the most aggressive fish last

But you'll have to watch the pair and the damsel as they both are hugely territorial so if they do clash it would be a a fight of wills and could end in death or serious injury

So if the damsel went and tried to take territory near the tunnel openings you may have to rescape abit so it picks a new spot

 

[lljdma06]

Are you open to any Damselfish?

Do you mean what I think you mean by "other" type of damsel? The thought has crossed my mind. It may be the best way to have my cake & eat it too.

Yeah it's best to add the least aggressive fish first and the most aggressive fish last

But you'll have to watch the pair and the damsel as they both are hugely territorial so if they do clash it would be a a fight of wills and could end in death or serious injury

So if the damsel went and tried to take territory near the tunnel openings you may have to rescape abit so it picks a new spot

Yes, that's in the back of my mind.

 

[lljdma06]

This tank's getting some diatoms now. It's so fun to just let things go and have things take care of itself. I'll see where I am in another week and then invest in a clean up crew. We've got a Hurrican Irene being a potential threat, so I'm glad I'm not in a heavy stage with any of these tanks.

fts - big difference in color

Two videos...

Mojito my majano... He will die when the cycle is complete. Look for him in the middle of the shot, little brown Mojito...



Colonial tubeworms, lovely marroon tenticles. Some people think these are pest but I kind of dig them.



Thanks for looking. I really need to get the MH up. That's Saturday's project. But with this diatom problem, maybe not...

llj

 

[bae1994]

I'd suggest you turkey bast the diatoms off the rock as it will be suffocating the lr abit


Tanks looks good aswell

Hope the hurricane doesn't get were you are

 

[@ombomb]

for the 8G what about a rainfords goby or a possum wrasse?

hard to find in the UK, but should be easier in Miami

keeping the temperature under control once the halide is on might be a challenge...

 

[lljdma06]

for the 8G what about a rainfords goby or a possum wrasse?

hard to find in the UK, but should be easier in Miami

Interesting choices, I'll look into them.

keeping the temperature under control once the halide is on might be a challenge...

Yeah... The plan, because it's really a good amount of light is to suspend it by at least a foot. I'd like to make the mount adjustable to some degree. The tank, right now uses a heater and can only get up to around 76. Without a heater, it's at 74 (it's in a cool part of my bedroom, right under the AC vent). While normally, I'd consider this poor placement, but with the MH, this may actually not be a bad placement for the tank.

Well... I'm redoing the refugium for this tank (and making one for my 2.5g too), I need to get the MH up soon. I did the water tests, as it had been over a week since I added LR. The results... Again, like the 2.5g, nothing, not even Nitrate, and believe me when I say, I shook that bottle like nobody's business. Threw it around, beat it on the table. Then, tested my planted tank, which did show a nitrate reading, which tells me that the test is working. So either...

A) cycle hasn't started yet... or

B) Not much died and I got me some nice, cured LR

I've also got a lot of diatoms in this tank. I got a turkey baster (thanks Bae, works like a charm ) and have been removing the algae from the LR. But I need me some help so, I'm thinking I'll order my CUC very soon. Like the 2.5g, this CUC isn't going to be big.

Banded trochus snail - 1
Nassarius - 2
Mithrax crab - 1, but only if it behaves, otherwise it dwells in quaranteen (would be really happy with one that wasn't green. I've seen red ones, purty.)
Calcinus elegans (Electric blue hermit) - 2 (I really love the color, I'll deal with any agression, the orange is less agressive supposedly, but I like blue!)

I'll have to look at the numbers more. I figure about 2x the amount that I got for the 2.5g & with the MH, I'll indeed have the potential for a lot more algae. I'll also have to check for availability as I'm going to order the CUC for both tanks at the same time.

Need cheato for both tanks for the tanks' refugiums so will order that as well. If not, will see if my lfs sells cheato. I'll also need extra shells for the hermits.

Thanks for looking and if you have any comments or suggestions, I'm all eyes...

 

[Donya]

Calcinus elegans (Electric blue hermit) - 2 (I really love the color, I'll deal with any agression, the orange is less agressive supposedly, but I like blue!)

Odd...I haven't had a lot of experience with the species, but they've seemed one of the more passive of the Calcinus species commonly in the trade. One of the bigger ones certainly, so plenty of bulldozing ability, but I haven't seen or heard any evidence of the sudden and catastrophic intolerance for other individuals that C. seurati sometimes exhibits. Perhaps it exists but is just much less frequent. Since it'll be the only hermit species involved though, I'd be surprised if you see any hermit-hermit aggression. Do keep an eye on the snails though given the can opener claw.

In case you weren't already planning on it, make sure you get the smallest individuals you can find. Not for any aggression reason, but because it will maximize the odds of a young individual. Only reason I bring that up is that some stores I've run across seem to prefer ordering big individuals of big species when size can be specified (sells better maybe? Who knows), so it makes it more likely to end up with a crab that has already lived out most of its life. That can be only on the order of 4 years or so for a number of big species I read about recently in that regard, although I don't recall whether C. elegans was one of them.

 

[lljdma06]

Geez, I didn't realize it got to two inches. I was looking at the shipping size not the max. I may change it... I've got one C. seurati planned for the 2.5g, but it's just the one. No more room for other hermits IMO in that little tank.

Was planning on ordering the CUC online and opting for the smallest sizes I could

 

[@ombomb]

if you have diatoms in there it suggests that you've got a cycled tank to me, they only show up once there are nitrates to feed off

you could try adding a little ammonia (if you have any / some fish food if you don't) and watching the levels for a couple of days

 

[lljdma06]

if you have diatoms in there it suggests that you've got a cycled tank to me, they only show up once there are nitrates to feed off

you could try adding a little ammonia (if you have any / some fish food if you don't) and watching the levels for a couple of days

Nah... I don't think I want to add ammonia to the tank. LOLOLOL I think I'm good to go.

 

[lljdma06]

Well scrap the previous plans... Though I will always say, it is very good to plan. All the research I did helped me a lot today because I knew what to ask for when they didn't have what I wanted and I was able to recognize species by sight. Go me! I got my CUC for both my picos. I ended up going to that really good lfs again. They are drip acclimating now. This is the 8g's drip acclimating setup... Got started late, will be here a while. I'm using gang valves. Very efficient. I have Monochrome5's as a spare, though. You can never have too many.

The setup...

Don't laugh at me, the guy at the lfs kept laughing at me and saying that's it? LOLOL Here's what I got...

Banded trochus snail. Haha! They thought they didn't have any, but I found this one.

Electric blue hermit - I know I had changed my mind and said no to this guy, but I saw him and he sooooo purty, I wanted it. I'm terrible. But I know what to expect.

Emerald crab - another one that I'll watch. If he screws up, he gets fed to the cats.

Nassarius snails and an Astraea snail - I didn't love the idea of an astraea, but I thought let me try & see.

So six things total, not too bad. I almost got shrimps but decided against it. The thing I love about Marine? That you can go super slow. It's neat getting things a little at a time. I got empty hermit shells too and scattered them about. Must name them soon and buy them food before they run out, but now they have plenty.

llj

 

[bae1994]

Looks good I had a blue leg hermit and he was out ten times more in my big tank than any of the orange legs or algae hermits in there

 

[lljdma06]

Happy inverts in their home. I love these guys. I must name them.

fts, before...

fts, so much cleaner now.

Ok, just a lot of peeeechurs now.

Videos.

Electric blue hermit



Banded trochus munching away. I just keep thinking Spaceballs when the vacumn cleaner is sucking the air from the Planet Druidia and President Scroob, Dark Helmet and the other guy are just saying "Suck, suck, suck..." LOLOL



This weekend's BIG project is hooking up the MH and then buying little sunglasses for everyone 'cause it'll be BRIGHT!! I also have to get cheato for the refugium and put rubble in it. A waterchange is also in order wether the tank needs it or not. Might as well start good habits now. I must also look into auto top-off. With the planned corals, I may not trust my DIY skills on this one and just invest in one. Thanks for looking.