Red Sea Max Owners Club - Page 19

Titans · #**451** 12/13/2007, 11:46 PM

The lights are only 95 watt PC's.

mbdave · #**452** 12/14/2007, 02:25 AM

Hey people I'm in CA right now on business havent had a chance to check in. On flamehawks, they rock, great fish I collected several hundred. Most people though are unaware thier natural habitat is among the branche of the big pocilopora heads on exposed reefs in very often strong currents. In Guam we caught them in areas we had to dive between tide changes. If we were late getting in or out of the water it could be bad news. Also they have no swim bladder thats the crazy sitting they do all the time and the weird treading this though made them the perfect fish to collect did not have to decompress them.
Chow,
Dave

stephensturman · #**453** 12/14/2007, 07:49 AM

titans~ the lights are a type of t5 not your normal pc so u can keep more things in the rsm than what most people think!

Y-DesygnGuy · #**454** 12/14/2007, 08:49 AM

Complete lighting system

2 x 55 watt T5 power compacts (1 watt-liter/4 watt-gallon)
10,000K/Actinic lighting
Electronic ballast
High polish, textured aluminium reflector
Blue LED moonlights
Fan-cooled hood for extended life of electronic components
High transparency, polished lens

Reefmack · #**455** 12/14/2007, 09:05 AM

stephensturman - I'm not trying to tell you what to do. Just offering opinions. When I set up my tank I had such faith that my rock was fully cured, and that the Bio-Spira had done it's job, that had 4 fish (2 clowns & 2 pajama cards) in the tank within a week, besides some snails & peppermints. I really pushed it and was lucky enough to have it work for me. I still have the original fish too, and like I said only had a diatom phase and barely any green algae other than on the glass. But, what worked for me is the exception rather than the rule.

Titans - why not keep something like a chromis in the QT tank? If you put a mantis in and find you need to use it as a QT tank again the mantis may be a problem. Plus if you ever had to treat a fish with meds, having it set up as a mini reef tank would rule out using medications in it. The mini nano tank sounds nice though!

Hodge - I think the Tunze does sit lower than the recommended water level for those that have mounted it on the heater pane, but they still have success with it. I haven't heard of any problems with the pump restarting, or a lot of noise - there's a Tunze forum in Reef Central in the sponsors area - try a post in there on that problem. I only had the 9002 in my tank for maybe 30 minutes (till I lost the air screw in my rock) but it was much quieter than the RSM skimmer - a bit of a hissing noise was all I remember.

mbdave - you confirmed what I thought I remembered reading on the flame hawks - that they have no swim bladder & that's why the hop around, rather than swimmimg.

Reefmack · #**456** 12/14/2007, 10:26 AM

I just remembered that I was taking a last look in the tank last night with a flashlight and saw something I'd never seen before. I took a couple of quick flash pictures as I figured I'd have a better chance of an ID from a zoomed in flash picture than with my eyes. I'm thinking this is a bristleworm. Any confirmations on this? The second pic does show what look like bristles. Taking a picture in the dark is hit and miss as far as the camera focusing on what you want it to.

This thing has to be a good 4 inches long! You can see the back portion on the lower right, and that still wasn't the end of it. I never knew these things got this long. It's the first bristleworm I've seen in the almost 8 months I've had the tank. I always figured I must have some, as I threw away a few that were in the bottom of the container my rock came in, but with all of my looking for them this is the first sighting of one.

donna53w · #**457** 12/14/2007, 11:39 AM

Reefmack, that is a pretty big worm. I think it's a bristleworm too. But, I don't know ... could it be a fireworm? It's kind of scary-looking, & another good reason to wear gloves when working in the aquarium.

Is it possible for a blue tuxedo urchin to hide in the rocks for almost 2 weeks????

Reefmack · #**458** 12/14/2007, 11:51 AM

Donna - are fireworms bristleworms? I think they are but dunno really. Yep - it's a big worm alright. That is why I always wear gloves when doing anything that involves moving rock (or working near the frogspawn). I'm still surprised I haven't seen one before this as I'm always looking in the tank the last thing every night, trying to spot one. This one is definitely not a newborn baby! I have little knowledge on the urchins so maybe someone else can answer your question. I hope it's alive & well and just out of sight.

Any ideas on that pretty black & white snail? It appears to have a striped proboscis. I see it fairly frequently and can't remember if I bought it or if it was a hitchhiker.

donna53w · #**459** 12/14/2007, 02:14 PM

You're probably right about fire/bristle worms being the same! I thought the Fireworm was even worse than a bristleworm as far as the sting .... just a notion in my noggin! They are good janitors, but I think if they good too big, they become a problem ... eating things you don't want them to!

Maybe someone can help with the snail ID. It is different from any that I have ordered for custodians, so I'm thinking it may have been a hitchiker?

Stuart60611 · #**460** 12/14/2007, 02:58 PM

Well, my new livestock arrived today. Everything appears to be ok. My green banded goby is so tiny and measures less than 1/2 inch. He is so small I could barely see him in the bag and did not even see him exit the bag into the tank. Hopefully, he got in their ok? The black sailfin blenny, ricordia mushroom rock, and replacement bubble coral are all acclimated and in the tank. We shall see how everything is doing tonight.

Reefmack · #**461** 12/14/2007, 04:27 PM

Donna, all: the snail has been correctly identified from a post I put in the inverts forum, by a member, pagojoe, as a juvenile Engina species, probably Engina histrio. It's a predatory snail - just what I needed! Now I have to decide if I want to pull it out next time I see it. Here's the post:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1271471

Stuart - good news on the livestock arriving OK. I hope the little teeny goby reappears soon. I've has that situation with some things I've purchased - so small I was hoping they all made it out of the bag. I'm sure you scrutinized that bag to the nth degree so it has to be in there somewhere!

martinphillip03 · #**462** 12/14/2007, 05:07 PM

Reefmack, There is a thread somewhere on RC where a guy pulled an eight foot or larger) worm from his tank. I believe he had Tonga rock. It was eating his coral. I have no idea what it is. Myself, I would take it out. Even if it was useful, you could always replace it. But what if it was attacking the corals?

Marty

Quote:

Originally posted by Reefmack
I just remembered that I was taking a last look in the tank last night with a flashlight and saw something I'd never seen before. I took a couple of quick flash pictures as I figured I'd have a better chance of an ID from a zoomed in flash picture than with my eyes. I'm thinking this is a bristleworm. Any confirmations on this? The second pic does show what look like bristles. Taking a picture in the dark is hit and miss as far as the camera focusing on what you want it to.

This thing has to be a good 4 inches long! You can see the back portion on the lower right, and that still wasn't the end of it. I never knew these things got this long. It's the first bristleworm I've seen in the almost 8 months I've had the tank. I always figured I must have some, as I threw away a few that were in the bottom of the container my rock came in, but with all of my looking for them this is the first sighting of one.

Y-DesygnGuy · #**463** 12/14/2007, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by martinphillip03
Reefmack, There is a thread somewhere on RC where a guy pulled an eight foot or larger) worm from his tank. I believe he had Tonga rock. It was eating his coral. I have no idea what it is. Myself, I would take it out. Even if it was useful, you could always replace it. But what if it was attacking the corals?

Marty

This article you mean? http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

Bristle worms are good for your tank ive read. They eat the stuff in the sand bed you don't want there. Of course other types of words are bad, bad!

Y-DesygnGuy · #**464** 12/14/2007, 05:31 PM

So I think I might need to move this brain coral to the RSM now. It has grown so large for the 14 gallon its bulging against the rocks. I've only had it in the 14 gallon for like 2 months maybe 2 and half months and its grown so much!!! Goes to show was feeding can actually do. I was never really one to feed at night and just wanted things that the light would feed. But ive been feeding this guy regularly and I think it shows! But I think it will look nice in the rsm, I just might have to move it this weekend.

stephensturman · #**465** 12/14/2007, 06:12 PM

reefmack~ its ok i just picked up some of my cuc today which consist's of 10 blue leg hermits and 6 nassarius snails. i will get the rest of my cuc after xmas and it will be 10 more nassarius snails and 2 cleaner shrimp and a serpant star later on after the clowns.

Reefmack · #**466** 12/14/2007, 07:01 PM

martinphillip03 - I'm pretty sure it's a harmless (unless you touch it) bristleworm, and they're supposedly good for cleanup. Since it's obviously been in the tank for quite a while, and no signs of anything affecting the corals I'll just leave it. In addition to the link above here's one I found today on another guy that pulled out a Eunicid worm - just a "baby" at 4 foot long. This kind I do not want to ever see in my tank!

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1268265

Y-DesygnGuy - beautiful brain coral! I agree - it looks like it's running out of growing space.

I just shut off the RSM powerheads and fed coral frenzy for the first time. Several of the zoas had grabbed food and closed up a bit to digest it. The nasarrius snails all popped out of the substrate screaming "I smell food!"

I was trying to get a picture of something that looks like a weird life form, but I never could get it in focus:

I'm not even sure it's alive, but it looks like something with legs. It didn't move though when shining a flashlight on it or taking a few flash pics (which were even worse than this picture).

While I had the camera out I took a couple general pictures. Here's one I thought was nice:

I'm still amazed at how clean my substrate has gotten. I don't know if it's related to adjusting the powerheads to create more flow in front (my substrate has been blown back a bit from the front), going to a true RO/DI rather than the little carbon/DI unit I had used, the fuge, or a combination of all these things.

mbdave · #**467** 12/15/2007, 01:25 AM

Reefmack its a bristle worm if everything is ok I would not worry about it. If you want to get it get a 3/4" pvc tube around 4" long put caps on the end, drill holes just big enough for it to get through, bait it, leave it overnight and the worms go through the holes, eat the bait , and are then to big to slip out. That was in TRA 1 I tried it and it works very good.

Chow,
Dave

kmjoen230 · #**468** 12/15/2007, 02:17 AM

Anyone running stock lighting and have a clam?!

donna53w · #**469** 12/15/2007, 03:11 AM

Reefmack & anyone else interested in bristleworms or fireworms, here is a good read.

http://www.nano-reef.com/invertebrates/?id=4

Reefmack · #**470** 12/15/2007, 08:04 AM

mbdave/Donna - thanks for the info. Based on the article, referring to a greater sensitivity to light for the fireworms, I'd say I have the more common bristleworm. I guess I'll consider trapping the thing, especially if I see signs of any fish or coral being attacked.

On that "mystery critter" it was gone last night, but in the vicinity was a small hermit with whitish legs, so I'm thinking it was the hermit that was in the picture. I'll keep looking though.

stephensturman · #**471** 12/15/2007, 09:11 AM

good place to buy clown pairs online?

abyall · #**472** 12/15/2007, 09:13 AM

kmjoen230 I am running stock lights and have very good sucess with my clam I have had over a half inch of groth since March.

Reefmack · #**473** 12/15/2007, 09:57 AM

stephensturman - do you have any local LFS with young clowns available? If you get 2 young ones, and get one that is a bit bigger than the other you'll normally get a pair. When young they're all one sex (can't remember which), and as they get older one will change to the opposite sex. In the end I think the one that remains smallest is the male. But, you may know all of this already. I followed that rule and believe I have a pair - one remains a bit smaller, and they follow each other everywhere, and sleep side by side at night.

Reefer82 · #**474** 12/15/2007, 10:00 AM

If there is anyone lurking out there considering getting an RSM, BigAlsonline.com has the RSM, stand, and starter kit in your choice of color for $749.00. One of the better deals I've seen. Just FYI.

Reefmack · #**475** 12/15/2007, 10:10 AM

Reefer82 - does that include shipping? If so it is a good deal, assuming you get the latest tank with all the upgrades. If not, superfishstore.com still has a good price - $699.95 ($700) for the tank & cabinet, delivered, with the starter kit another $70. When I got mine from there it was shipped direct from Red Sea in Texas via FedEx freight - arrived within a week. Maybe bigalsonline has them shipped direct from Red Sea too. If so it's the best deal out there I think.