Our Tbs

[Stormtrker]

Originally posted by bobt2
still don't have a positive id of my fish hitchhicker but the closest i can find is a yellow line goby

I have several hitchhikers on my Keys rock that I have never seen posted on TBS thread or on the TBS site. I think the small fish I found is also a goby. He has little tufts above eyes that looks like eyebrows and spends all day darting out of small holes in top rocks catching what I assume must be copepods. He is very fast! I also have an urchin with long very thin black and white spines and one with dark pink short thick spines. These have been moved to a 24G tank I have set up for "bad boys" that I have found on the Keys rock. I also have a small lime green mantis in this tank. I have a couple of Keys rocks in this tank and so far all are thriving. Now if I could just catch some of those crabs from the 75G to add to smaller tank!
Carla

[patsan]

Carla, I think all tanks with sand beds get that gross color on the front. At least it's there and not all over the sand bed. There is also pink coralline along the front underneath the sand bed which you can't see in those pictures.
The condy that I took a picture of today is not the same one I got from TBS. Sadly, that one didn't make it and was gone a week or so after we got it.
The one in today's picture we got in June when I placed an order for some snails from reeftopia. It has grown since we got it, and has moved all around, but seems to go back to where it is in today's picture.

[BrianPlankis]

Originally posted by carlab
Brian Rita's winds are already 120mph sustained. Even if it doesn't strengthen the winds will be about 100mph still at 60 miles inland. I think you should at least board windows. Even small objects become projectiles that will easily break windows. I have now been through at least 2 major hurricanes and will never go through one without boarding windows. I have known people who didn't board and they did receive broken windows with lot of water damage. Remember to set your fridge and freezer at highest settings several hrs prior to storm arrival. Buy enough bottled water and nonperishable food to last at least 3 days. Also buy 1-2 large tarps and have several 5gal buckets on hand if you are staying home. Katrina knocked down a large tree on our house causing a 3x3 ft hole and we were able to prevent major flooding of floor using those buckets. Just had to spend a couple of hrs constantly emptying them into tub. Don't want to scare you but always take one of these storms seriously! Best of luck and will be praying this thing will not come ashore at a populated area!
Carla

Thanks everyone for the comments! I'm getting more prepared here. I started running carbon on the tank and I'm doing a 10gal WC after I type this. I'm going to make up another 15 gal of SW immediately. I managed to get 8 more D cell batteries and my wife is going to look for more today at lunch.

I do have one large tarp and plenty of 5-15 gal containers for leaks. My problem is plywood. I went out at 6:30am this morning and there was already a line of 150-200 people in front of me. I talked to Lowes employee and they said they had one truck coming in with approximately 1000 sheets and they would allow each person 10 sheets. Hum...150 x 10 = 1500....I was out of luck. Same thing at HD, even worse actually. I guess I'll have to pray for more plywood tomorrow. My wife is going to check HD by her work, but I've called over 20 Lowes, Ace and HD and all sold out with most not getting more in. You would THINK they would plan a little better for people who need plywood.

So I have some plywood flooring in my attic and I'll probably pull some of that up tomorrow and try to figure out which few windows I have enough to cover.

I'm praying the hurricane goes farther south...but too early to tell. Of course it would be nice if it just dissappated over the gulf Stay safe everyone.

Anyone know how many watts a typical dial timer uses? If I leave I was thinking of putting air pumps on separate timers to run 12 HR shifts.

Brian

[patsan]

Brian, don't know what you mean about how many watts a typical timer uses.
I just got the box for mine and it has this written on the box:

Rated Capacity:
10 Amps (1200 Watts) "R" Resistive

10 Amps (1200 Watts) Tungsten

120 Volts AC, 60Hz

MAX 23 hr 30 min

MIN 30 min

This was off the box of an Intermatic Outdoor Timer

[lossman]

Pat, I was looking at older pictures of our tank from back when we put part one and two in. That's why I wanted to compare yours. It looks like you have lost the same kinds of sponges that we did....the tree and wood sponges as well as some tunicates and sea squirts. Our tank still looks so colorful probably because we had so much encrusting sponge covering the rock and this has survived and even spread. I'm also wondering about your tube corals not doing so well. I can't recall if you had any hard and/or consistent algae problems like we have. I'm wondering if ours are doing so well because we have so much nutrients in the water fueling the algae that it's also fueling the sponges and corals? Just a thought. Anyway, I still think your tank looks awesome. You may have lost some of the yellow and oranges but you have really gained a lot of wonderful coralline algae!

Carla, I think everyone gets those colors down in the sand against the glass. Ours looks like a color combination similar to all the algae problems we have had......red slime, brown and green. Guess it adds interest to the front of the tank.

BTW, the little crab you have next to the condy is most likely an anemone crab. They form symbiotic relationships similar to the clownfish and anemone.

Bob, by your description of the little fish (without a picture) I was thinking more like a spotfin goby. The yellow line does not have a spot on it's dorsal fin according to my picture book.

[bobt2]

lossman, your right, it doesn't have a spot but the stripes and colors are close. it's not a spotfin, no stripes

[BrianPlankis]

Totally forgot, nice pics Pat! I love seeing pics of those brains. Your TBS tank is looking great. I just wish I could come over and flip over that beautiful arch

Brian.

[patsan]

Originally posted by CirolanidHunter
Totally forgot, nice pics Pat! I love seeing pics of those brains. Your TBS tank is looking great. I just wish I could come over and flip over that beautiful arch

Brian.

I'll let ya! We're not having any hurricanes here! It's safe.
I really still wish I could re-scape that tank. I do think I could make it look a LOT nicer than it does now.
Unfortunately, Bob said no, and I can't physically lift those pieces. They're just to heavy for me to do.

*Edit* Sally, no we haven't had all the algae problems like you've had. Maybe there is something to the extra nutrients and the corals living or dying.

[H2OLUVSME]

i think you have to have the right balance of nutrients and its hard to have "enough" and not get algae problems. you would have to provide the exact amount (of each) that is being consumed.


Carla, your fish sounds more like a blenny if it has eyelash looking things. im sure Sally could come up with some names from her FL fish books for you to search on. from what i hear barnacle blennies are plentiful in the gulf, and the actions you describe could be a barnacle blenny (i guess they really could describe a lot of blennies though ).

the stuff in the SB is just bacteria or algae. neither are harmful IMO.


Pat nice pics! i love the progression pics.


just for Ss and Gs heres a before after of mine. this is after about a week with part 2.....after i got it organized and settled.


and here is a shot from the other night.


here is a shot of the only thing ive added to my tank recently.



ive been really slack with my tank lately and ive payed for it. ive been working 10-12 hours for 7 days a week for the last month and a half and it shows. ive lost the star corals and brains from my TBS. the last few tube corals that were hanging on, passed. i lost my angel and clown. both were found stuck to a SEIO, but i really doubt that it could catch either of those fish if they were healthy. i think all of my deaths could be chalked up to lack of feeding. i just havent had the time. by the time i get home i practically fall in the floor until my wife drags me into bed, then i just get up the next morning and rush to work to wear myself out again.

[patsan]

Landon, just send me all your corals and I'll take care of them for you. problem solved!
I'm still loving your red mushrooms, your pink hammer and your neon green candy canes. Probably most of your zoanthids too!

[jnb]

whew - i just read your thread to dr ron - you were mis treated - one guy (i assume it was a guy) needs a serious adjustment

anyway - I'll assume your water movement is good, you use a filter sock? if so clean it every day for a while. and feed dt every three days turning off heavy water movement when dt'ing for a while and maybe not so much (for a couple of weeks or so at least) maybe take your lights off line for a one hour less - and be patient - this is just my instinct based on what I read - let just a tad more food fall down near your vicious brittles perhaps

I have seen my algae drop down numerous new tank syndrome times - what a relief when it starts to happen - get a Kole Tang - they bite algae all day long and get along with everyone if your tank is less than 100 gallon try to get a smaller one (i don't want the tang police after me which I have noticed is almost impossible) - but they want/accept food from you once they eat your troubles away -.....

Originally posted by lossman
Pat, I was looking at older pictures of our tank from back when we put part one and two in. That's why I wanted to compare yours. It looks like you have lost the same kinds of sponges that we did....the tree and wood sponges as well as some tunicates and sea squirts. Our tank still looks so colorful probably because we had so much encrusting sponge covering the rock and this has survived and even spread. I'm also wondering about your tube corals not doing so well. I can't recall if you had any hard and/or consistent algae problems like we have. I'm wondering if ours are doing so well because we have so much nutrients in the water fueling the algae that it's also fueling the sponges and corals? Just a thought. Anyway, I still think your tank looks awesome. You may have lost some of the yellow and oranges but you have really gained a lot of wonderful coralline algae!

Carla, I think everyone gets those colors down in the sand against the glass. Ours looks like a color combination similar to all the algae problems we have had......red slime, brown and green. Guess it adds interest to the front of the tank.

BTW, the little crab you have next to the condy is most likely an anemone crab. They form symbiotic relationships similar to the clownfish and anemone.

Bob, by your description of the little fish (without a picture) I was thinking more like a spotfin goby. The yellow line does not have a spot on it's dorsal fin according to my picture book.

[lossman]

Originally posted by jnb
whew - i just read your thread to dr ron - you were mis treated - one guy (i assume it was a guy) needs a serious adjustment

anyway - I'll assume your water movement is good, you use a filter sock? if so clean it every day for a while. and feed dt every three days turning off heavy water movement when dt'ing for a while and maybe not so much (for a couple of weeks or so at least) maybe take your lights off line for a one hour less - and be patient - this is just my instinct based on what I read - let just a tad more food fall down near your vicious brittles perhaps

I have seen my algae drop down numerous new tank syndrome times - what a relief when it starts to happen - get a Kole Tang - they bite algae all day long and get along with everyone if your tank is less than 100 gallon try to get a smaller one (i don't want the tang police after me which I have noticed is almost impossible) - but they want/accept food from you once they eat your troubles away -.....

LOL, thanks for the backing. I admit, I get very defensive when people start questioning things I am doing when that was not even a part of what I was asking. Brett says I can be a b*&^%. LOL

Great water movement. Just added a larger return pump and a spraybar to eliminate dead spots behind the rocks. We also have 3 maxijets 1200's in the tank running on a wavemaker. We have a small ph down in the sump blowing directly on the area that is growing the red slime. It just makes the red slime wave nicely in the current.

We have filter socks which I have always changed out at least every other day. And we use RO/DI water exclusively.

The algae really is not a big deal. We understand it's all part of the new tank cycle. We're just trying to minimize it's affect on our tank.

Feeding is just enough for the two fish to eat in about a min or so and dt's about every three days. Once per week we target feed the corals, the stars and anemones.

My original question there was how do you know if you are feeding enough. No one deigned to answer that question, just addressed other issues that we did not consider a problem. Since everything in our tank is doing well and the algae has not completely taken over, We will assume that we are doing ok in that department. It's just nice to get confirmation.......when you can get it!!!!

The only tang in our biotope is the Atlantic Blue and even though we have a 150g tank, with 300 lbs lr, we are not sure there is enough room in the tank for the guy to get behind the rocks to hide once it grows.

Thanks again for confirming I did not overly overreact.

[patsan]

BOB'S KEYS ROCK PICTURES:

[H2OLUVSME]

Bob is that some sort of gorgonian in the first and second pic?

looks like a lot of plant life on that rock shot what do you think now that the smoke has cleared a bit?

[lossman]

Bob!!! You got sea rods!!! You lucky dog!!! I had to go out and buy mine separately and now that TBS will no longer have the Tampa store, I will have to order almost all my stuff sight unseen.

Looks like you also got some halemida and some gracillaria. I can't recall if you have a tang or not, but if so, it will love the gracillaria. If not, if you have a mithrax or two, put them in with the Keys rock and they will clean it up nicely in no time.

It really looks nice so far.

[BrianPlankis]

Hey all,

We are stuck in Houston! All the roads are jammed, everyone is running out of gas and traffic isn't moving. Sigh. We are waiting for the 4pm hurricane update and hopefully it will continue to turn to the east.

It still seems more logical to stay in a house built to withstand 125mph winds than to be stuck in a vehicle on a roadway. This is really freaky and scary! I did get some lumber and all the east and south side windows are boarded as are some of the west side. About 1/3 of windows covered, there just wasn't any lumber to be found.

Brian

[lossman]

Brian, you will all be in our thoughts and prayers. We wish you the best and hope this hurricane ends up making landfall at one of the least populated areas. Take care of yourself.

Sally

[Jocko]

Wow thats some fine keys rock! I should stop being so prejudiced against it.

What's this about TBS getting rid of the Tampa store? Is it because the keys is going to be the only rock source for a long time and it is so far form Tampa?

[lossman]

Originally posted by Jocko
Wow thats some fine keys rock! I should stop being so prejudiced against it.

What's this about TBS getting rid of the Tampa store? Is it because the keys is going to be the only rock source for a long time and it is so far form Tampa?

Not really, they have had a horrendous year due to red tide and all the storms and it seems they can't get the stock to keep at the store nor do the have the personnel to man the store since they have to spend hours driving down to the Keys and back for rock for their shipments. I will sorely miss them and hope they will be able to perhaps open again next season.

On another note, our ac crapped out today. It's WARM here!!!!

[bobt2]

my impressions on keys rock. when i first opened the boxes it looked bland, of course i was trying to compare it to gulf. big mistake! the sand is a finer grade{ some turbo snails and 2 4" serpent star hitchhickers] the rock has some cup and tube corals, but not a lot. less coraline and only a few sponges and bivalves.only the 2 big pieces have plant life, and yes i have a beautifull sea rod. also have a fish hitchhicker. no crabs yet and some light clicking. all in all i'm VERY HAPPY. one of the problems with gulf is no place to put corals, and after all this is supose to be a base for that purpose. i wonder what pt 2 will look like. richard always saves the best for for than

[H2OLUVSME]

Bob, im glad you like what you got. im looking forward to more pics and of course part 2

Sally, is a "sea rod" in the gorgonian family?

Brian, i will be praying for you and your neighbors. good luck!!

[lossman]

Originally posted by H2OLUVSME
Sally, is a "sea rod" in the gorgonian family?

Yes, if I am not mistaken (and I certainly can be!!) his sea rod is like mine, a warty sea rod. This is an Octocoral, a eunicea calyculata. I have mine up at the top of the tank where it gets good flow. Mine has a small brain and some sponges as well as a couple of feather dusters on it. When it feeds, it's tentacles stick out making it really fuzzy looking. The calyces (the round parts where the tentacles come out of) have a green center on mine. My sea rod bleached a bit at first but has since regained it's tan color, although it does have a couple of dead branches on it. I'll try to get a decent picture of it later.

[bobt2]

sally i could be wrong too but my id is plexaurella,corky sea finger or slit-pore sea rod. if you have sprungs book its on page197

[lossman]

I don't have sprungs book. I'm looking at Reef Coral Identification - Florida Caribbean Bahamas by Paul Humann & Ned Deloach. Mine is definitely not the slip-pore as my apetures are round, not slit or elliptical. But it's definitely a sea rod. When I picked it out, I asked Mark at TBS what it was and he said it was a eunicia. If yours has the elliptical openings, then yours is more likely the plexaurella. Either way, I love it!!

[bobt2]

they appear elliptical to me, hope it survives the cycle. with so few sponges it should be an easy one. after 48hrs amm is at .4