Our Tbs - Page 11

BrianPlankis · #**251** 09/24/2005, 07:51 PM

Hey all,

Just thought I would report back in after the storm. We got lucky as it went east of us. We got 50mph sustained winds and 70mph gusts. We had some very brief power outages, but nothing longer than 1 minute.

We only got 2" of rain which sucks because we are in the middle of a HUGE drought. Oh well, I'll take the minor damage and little rain

We did lose our upstairs airconditioner, but the rest of the house is fine. Probably just a fried circuit that can be replaced relatively cheap.

We wanted to leave Houston but the traffic was snarled. Our assigned evacuation route was 290 and it was a parking lot. The police wouldn't let us take other roads, so we just stayed home and camped out in our closet

I'm getting plywood in the next 3-4 weeks and will precut it now. Next time we can plywood up and leave 3-4 days before it hits.

Thanks for the comments and support, made dealing with it just a little easier.

Brian

bkelley02 · #**252** 09/24/2005, 07:59 PM

Glad you made it through OK.

After 4 months of seeing ZERO Cirolanids, I see my White Cheek tang swimming around with a rather large hitchhiker on his tailfin. Looked almost bumblebee like with the coloration.

patsan · #**253** 09/25/2005, 07:20 AM

Brian, that's fantastic that everything worked out positive for you from Rita.

I'm so glad to hear you're okay.

Brian....That's horrible!

Did you get it off the tang yet?

bkelley02 · #**254** 09/25/2005, 07:43 AM

No, I haven't been able to catch him to get it off.

He keeps shooting behind all the rockwork. I'll have to check on him after the tank 'wakes up' today and see if it dropped off yet.

I still continually do that spot check at night with lights and have never seen any. Must have been hiding pretty well somewhere but have no idea what it was feeding on as I've never seen it on either fish before.

patsan · #**255** 09/25/2005, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bkelley02
No, I haven't been able to catch him to get it off. He keeps shooting behind all the rockwork. I'll have to check on him after the tank 'wakes up' today and see if it dropped off yet.

I still continually do that spot check at night with lights and have never seen any. Must have been hiding pretty well somewhere but have no idea what it was feeding on as I've never seen it on either fish before.

Gosh, hope you're able to so it doesn't kill the tang! That was the one thing that turned me off from the TBS. Around that time, it seemed like so many people had been finding them, and once I found that one in my tank, it took the pleasure out of it for me. I used to love looking in the tank at night and seeing all the creatures I didn't see during the day. Then I found one, and I was afraid to look, fearing I would find more. I forced myself to look numerous times each night, but was scared each time I looked. Luckily, I only found that one.
When I was setting up the new tank, I had to seriously think about them, and I have to say it was one of the 2 reasons I didn't go with the TBS with the new tank. (cost was the other) So then I thought about just getting the rock, and not the package. But then when I heard they live in the rock also and not only in the sand, it made my decision much easier.
I don't do well with bugs to begin with....but those c pods to me are as bad as roaches.

bkelley02 · #**256** 09/25/2005, 08:06 AM

I know what you mean. I'm just concerned now as the tank really seems to have stabilized and the coraline is taking off, corals are doing good and the fish seemed very healthy/happy. I was going to order a few clown fish and anemone this week but now don't want to. I'm afraid that all of a sudden, I'll see lots more of the parasites.

patsan · #**257** 09/25/2005, 08:16 AM

Yeah, I'd wait a little while for sure! Hopefully it's only that one.
Try and get a picture of it if you can.

lossman · #**258** 09/25/2005, 10:29 AM

Well, we're on day three (or is that four?) of no ac. Tank temp has been holding steady between 82 and 84. We've kept the canopy propped open for better air circulation of the fans in there, kept the light in the fuge off and only had one set of lights on at a very reduced schedule. The upswing is most of the red slime in the fuge is gone and there is no new algae growth in the main tank. I have not had to clean the front glass for two days. Inhabitants all seem to be doing well. I had just added two tiny ricordias and a small frag of zoa's to the tank and they all seem to be doing well. The only ones that seems slightly not happy is the royal gramma who has only come out to eat and the new condi who seems to be on the move again. I'm hoping the condi just wants a new place of his own and hoping he will settle on someplace in the front so we can see him better. He is extremely pretty and I hope to get a decent picture of him once he settles.

Brian - glad to hear you made it through the hurricane so well!!

Other Brian - so sad to hear about the c-pod!! What a shame to find that after so long. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it's the only one and that you will be able to remove it fairly easily.

jnb · #**259** 09/25/2005, 10:38 AM

do you have yours blowin directly on the water - it really makes a difference

Quote:

Originally posted by lossman
Bob, I am soooo glad you like it!!! I would have felt horrid if you had said "why the heck did I spend my hard earned money on this crud!!!"

On another note....I need a chiller!!! Both for the tank and me!! Our ac has been out for 2 days. Carla, I am so sorry for what you went thru with Katrina, but......I'm FREAKIN HOT AND SWEATY ...and we haven't even had a hurricane to blame it on!!! Sheesh!! Every time I call the ac repair people they say, another 45 mins...another 1/2 hour. I'm running out of patience!!! And I am sweating..I hate to sweat.

lossman · #**260** 09/25/2005, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jnb
do you have yours blowin directly on the water - it really makes a difference

Yes,we have two in the canopy that blow on the main tank and two in the sump that blow on the water there.

drk70 · #**261** 09/25/2005, 10:42 AM

Well, just got back from a week at Disney World early Saturday morning. Tank is doing fine thanks to my neighbor keeping a eye on it for me.

Glad to hear everything is going well with everyone.

Lossman - NO A/C!!! The humidity down there last week was unbelievable. I don't know how you can stand not having any A/C. We couldn't wait to get to the next ride to stand in the A/C for a short time.

Bob - Glad you finally got some rock!

Pat - How was the concert friday?

jnb · #**262** 09/25/2005, 10:42 AM

turns out is was lps - a goni something hard to keep apparently - its on the sand i need for my baby tang to carefully pick hair algae off first, the rest is up to the patient....

[QUOTE]Originally posted by H2OLUVSME
[B]are they SPS frags?

bkelley02 · #**263** 09/25/2005, 11:32 AM

Well, the C-pod is no longer on the tail of the tang, but now I have REALLY no idea how to catch it.

BrianPlankis · #**264** 09/25/2005, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bkelley02
Well, the C-pod is no longer on the tail of the tang, but now I have REALLY no idea how to catch it.

Brian,

I have been experimenting with a cheap trap. I took a 12" long piece of PVC that is 1" in outer diameter. I put a small piece of shrimp in the middle of the tube and stuffed both ends with a mesh material (I'm guessing filter floss would be best). Leave some room 2-3" on both ends of the pipe free of mesh materials so the c-pods can swim/crawl in. Basically you want something the c-pod will get stuck in while it attempts to get to the shrimp.

I put the trap in the tank with some low flow going through the pipe so the smell of the shrimp goes throughout the tank. I then put both end caps to the PVC pipe in the tank near the tube. I then quickly put both end caps on and took the trap out of the tank.

I caught 1 nass. snail, 1 cerith, a dozen amphiopods and one c-pod. I've tried the trap twice since then and no c-pods. It might work for you. I checked the trap 3 times each night.

I got all my material free, but I'm guessing it would cost less than $5 to make.

Since you have only found 1 in 4 months, you probably just have a single individual. Don't worry until you see two

Brian

bkelley02 · #**265** 09/25/2005, 01:01 PM

Thanks Brian. I'll have to run down to HD and pick up some PVC.

bobt2 · #**266** 09/25/2005, 01:31 PM

lossman, i can't stand a/c. my tank ran 85 all summer with no ill effects

lossman · #**267** 09/25/2005, 01:39 PM

I don't normally like ac, but when the house is 87, that's a bit much. We leave the house open all night an only close up during the day when the temp outside reaches 82. We have 4 fans on the tank and two on us. It's bearable, what with dunks in the spa (no heat on it) and cool showers. The heat is not so bad, it's the humidity that is horrid.

bobt2 · #**268** 09/25/2005, 06:25 PM

i bought a seachem ammonia alert and installed it a week ago in the tank. the amm according to the test kit is .4ppm. the alert still says zero. do i have a bad one? feel like i got ripped off, and yes i took off the protective plastic.

patsan · #**269** 09/25/2005, 06:26 PM

Welcome home Dennis! Glad to see you back.
The concert was awesome! He performed from 8 until 11:45. I also went down to Little Italy earlier in the day to the San Gennaro festival, so we put in a full day. I was exhausted yesterday and could barely walk. The muscles in my calves were killing me.
What gets to me is homeless people can sleep anywhere they want. I needed to sit down for a few minutes and I wasn't allowed to right at the Garden. So I had to find a bench somewhere, and the only one I could find had a homeless guy sleeping on it. I was so exhausted at that point I couldn't care less, and sat right there with him.

patsan · #**270** 09/25/2005, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bobt2
i bought a seachem ammonia alert and installed it a week ago in the tank. the amm according to the test kit is .4ppm. the alert still says zero. do i have a bad one? feel like i got ripped off, and yes i took off the protective plastic.

It's still totally yellow and reading safe? If so, you got ripped off. I had one on my new tank and it sure let me know when the ammonia levels got high. I didn't bother to test for ammonia the first week because it wasn't TBS rock, so I wasn't worried aboout the die off. One week later, it had gone into the "alert" zone (had been worse than that during the week), and I tested and the ammonia reading was .2 So, I think yours is bad.

bobt2 · #**271** 09/25/2005, 07:37 PM

yea pat,totally yellow

dwculp · #**272** 09/26/2005, 09:19 AM

New bulbs for your coral reef tank: $100.00
2.5 buckets of salt: $125.00
A few hundred gallons of distilled water: $200.00
Phosban Reactor: $30.00
Jar of Phosban: $15.00
Jar of Kalk powder: $15.00
Chemi-Clean: $8.00

Sparkling clean, algae-free coral reef tank: priceless.

Eating Ramen noodles for awhile: even more priceless.

krajacich · #**273** 09/26/2005, 09:24 AM

Looks great Dave...Congratulations!

skippy2 · #**274** 09/26/2005, 09:27 AM

That looks great.

dwculp · #**275** 09/26/2005, 09:29 AM

A lot of the rock has lost its luster and is still a dingy brown color, but it will purple back up in time!