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#76
03/04/2006, 06:54 PM
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 If you get a mantis (or two or three) don't dispose of them. There are plenty of people willing to take them off your hands for frags etc. Do get rid of the gorilla crabs asap. Those stupid things pop up in your tank at the timewhen you think you finally got rid of all of them. A year after we put our first rock in the tank, we are still dealing with those spawns from h***!! LOLTo sum it all up, take and post a ton of pictures and enjoy the heck out of the whole process. Don't stress too much and ask questions constantly. This is the best thread for you to be in. The people here are awesome and will help you through the whole process. And, to top it off, we all have the most wonderful reef rock in the world.....TBS!!!!
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Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) |
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#77
03/05/2006, 08:19 AM
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Congrats on the news about Part 1! You will have fun!
1. Tarps or towels are a good idea. No matter how hard you try you will make a mess. 1.A Get help! Even if they are there to just take pictures and make sure they know how to work the camera. If my brother wasn't here when I got Part 2 I would have never got one of the rocks in the tank or I would have had to break it all apart and I didn't want to do that. 2. Get a Brute trashcan and only Brute. They are NSF approved and won't leach anything into the water from the plastic the can is made from. How many 5g buckets do you have? IMO you need at least your tank capacity on hand of fresh SW that is up to temp for water changes. More for swishing the rocks because after swishing you strain for hitchhikers and dump that water. 3. I got some plastic bins that were about 12" tall to put the rocks in before they went in the tank. I put the fresh SW in them so I could swish them and examine them better this way than in the bags. It is also easier to pick them up and down because the rocks usually aren't too light. 4. Smell every rock! and rotate it as you smell it! Anything that doesn't smell right rub it off. You will know if it is dead because there is no mistaking the smell. I made sure I did this and I had virtually not ammonia spike on either part. 5. Remove any know bad hitchhikers. They are harder to get out later and no matter how hard you try you won't get them all. Anything questionable keep them separate or put them in your sump (if you have one) until you know for sure. Dispatch of any gorilla crabs right away!  Porcelin crabs are the only crab I would let in my tank. Any other crab you will want out later and it can be a real pain. Since I'm on the crab thing, IMO when you call for part 2 ask them for something else or more snails instead of hermits. You don't need them and they cause more trouble then they are worth. If you must have some only get a couple.6. HAVE FUN!!!! I remember how exciting it was when my rock came. 6.A Look at the rock well before you put it in to determine what side is the bottom. You don't want to bury any cool stuff on the rock in the sand. 7. Don't be surprised if you want to keep rearranging the rock around the tank because after it goes in you won't be able to see a thing. 8. TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES and the most important part DON"T FORGET TO POST THEM!!!!!!
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Dennis |
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#78
03/05/2006, 08:23 AM
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I think it has been about 10 months for my TBS and I think I only just saw a mantis last night. Not sure if that is what it was but it sure looked like it. I have always heard the popping but never saw anything until last night.
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Dennis |
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#79
03/05/2006, 08:38 AM
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Pat |
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#82
03/05/2006, 08:52 PM
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OK....here we go!
Tomini Tang. Still recovering from being taught his place in the tank. Him and Mr. Powder Blue are now chums.
 Pink/Red Cap pic for Pat  Torch Coral.... My favorite in the tank. Doubled in size since I got it from Dr. Mac's.  Second Cap pic for Pat... not very good though. Called Mayday at lasps.com. Much better/different color in person.  Mr. Powder Blue. No longer stressing and eating like a pig. 
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#85
03/05/2006, 09:06 PM
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Brian, I loved all your pictures, but the last is the BEST!!!!
 I never heard of a Tomini Tang. I guess they're not so common? The caps look great. I really like the color of the pink/red. Is that a true color? Also what fish is the first picture? Your entire tank looks beautiful. I vote like your daughter, and think daddy needs a bigger tank too! 
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Pat |
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#86
03/05/2006, 09:17 PM
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Thanks Pat. She's only 9 months old but enjoys watching the fish swim around as much as I do!
The first fish is a Male Lyretail Anthias. I have him and two females in the tank. The females are a bright orange but I couldn't get any really sharp pics of them. Very very pretty fish though. Eat like pigs! The Pink/Red caps color is true to the pic. Kind of surprised it came out as close as it did. Sorry it's not the clearest. I just can't seem to get clear pics of most of the corals with the lens I have. Don't have that finite control of the focus that I would with a true Macro lens. I was too embarassed to even bother posting the other cap. The Green with Blue/Purple edges. I'll keep trying. 
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#87
03/05/2006, 09:39 PM
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What settings are you taking the pictures with? I take mine on Large (fine). Then when I d/l them to the computer, if I don't crop something out of the picture, I just reduce the picture to 25% of the original size.
When I open my pictures, I use Paint Shop Pro, and they show up as ¼th the size of the picture...so I have to literally scroll my mouse thing to see the full picture. Now, I think you'd be able to get a nice clean crisp shot, and then zoom in on it and crop out the focused cap, even with the regular lens. I also took some pictures today, but they're not as nice as yours. Blue zoas:    monti cap frag. I said this hasn't grown since I put it in the tank in December....I lied. It's actually doubled in size and I never realized it until I saw a picture from January.   
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Pat |
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#88
03/05/2006, 09:56 PM
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I've been using all different settings. My problem isn't so much the cropping, it's actually getting the camera/my eyes to focus on the polyps the same way. Even when using a tripod, it's coming out blurry. I can see the polyps clearly, just can't seem to find that sweet spot with the camera. Just seems to slip away from focus on me.
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#92
03/06/2006, 11:04 AM
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Thanks!! She may only have 4 teeth ( only 2 are showing in this pic ) but she definitely knows what's going on!
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#93
03/06/2006, 04:59 PM
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For those of you using kent salt - you need to know there is an alk issue in some batches in case this was not addressed further up in this thread
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=793269
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the only time i see my firefish is when i look down.... - behind the tank |
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#95
03/07/2006, 12:38 PM
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I got my rocks yesterday! Didnt have time to do any picture editing before i went to sleep last night. Ill take some more pics when I get home. Macro lense should be there waiting for me.
Anyways I have a few issues: cup corals: I got 7 or 8 small to medium sized colonies of cup corals. Some of them appeared to be pretty banged up when I added them last night with as much as 80% looking pretty dead. Some of the ones that are doing better had as much as 60-80% of their polyps extended last night after turning my pumps on. This morning I noticed that the ones that looked pretty bruised up last night had a lot of tissue reccesion showing around the dead polyps. Some of the "dead" cups were completly devoid of tissue and were showing a lot of the white skeleton underneath. I used the baster to blow off their surfaces before I went to sleep last night. Is there anything else I can do to help these guys rebound? Will they ever grow back or are the dead parts gone for good? Starfish: I noticed a brittle star on my sand after putting all the rocks in. At first he didnt look like he was going to make it. He had like a dusty white layer covering part of him, but later that night he started to shed it and looks normal now. He hast moved more then a few inches since I first saw him. I also noticed a few small striped brittle stars that were dead when I turned my pumps on last night =(. Popping noise: One of my rocks started making little popping noises at me when I put it in to the "swish" bucket last night after taking it out of the box. Looks like I might have my first tank rival. It wasnt that loud, but I guess Ill see in the coming days who it is. Only had time to run one test this morning before I left for work. Ammonia: >.25 Cant wait to get home and take some pics and check things out. only 12 hours more of work.. =P Peace |
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#96
03/07/2006, 01:27 PM
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As far as the cup corals, those things are very difficult to kill. I've had a few die off, but most are still very healthy and I've even found a couple of new ones. When they are stressed out they will withdraw completely to where you can see the skeleton. Mine do this all the time, especially if cyano starts growing on them. The best thing to do is gently turkey baste and sediment/algae off of them and they should recover. Brian
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Currently redesigning my 90 gallon tank system to support coral and invertebrate breeding. Click on my red house to see the thread with the progress. |
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#97
03/07/2006, 02:04 PM
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 Bob, I don't know about the pistols. Maybe Richard would be able to help with that question. (or perhaps even Dr. Brian) Jesse, it's hard to say if the noise you heard is a mantis or a pistol. They are both pretty loud. I had a pistol that couldn't have been more than ¼" long total, and let me tell you....that thing made popping sounds that could be heard in different rooms! I'd try the red flashlight trick and keep watching until you see what it actually is.
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Pat |
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#98
03/07/2006, 02:10 PM
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It is entirely possible the pistols could mate, do they appear to be the same species? Whether or not the eggs survive to babies is another story entirely and not very likely. Pat, Who is Dr. Brian? Good point about the clicking, it could be a mantis or pistol, only visual confirmation will tell for sure. As far as cup corals, I have lost a couple, but do you feed yours? When I first started my tank I was hand feeding mysis to my cup corals. They never looked happier. Now I target feed a few of the obvious ones, but the rest are left ot fend for themselves when I feed mysis and cyclopleeze to the whole tank. Brian
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Currently redesigning my 90 gallon tank system to support coral and invertebrate breeding. Click on my red house to see the thread with the progress. |
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#99
03/07/2006, 02:19 PM
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Brian is currently pursuing his doctorate in Instructional Technology at the University of Houston. I've never direct/hand fed the cup corals...just tank fed.
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Pat |
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