Our Tbs - Page 5

lossman · #**101** 09/13/2005, 03:10 PM

When we first got our TBS rock (part one and part two), there were always those people who would say that the hitchikers on the rock would not live. Sponges would die, barnacles would never survive more than a week or so, any corals would shrivel up and die. I just wanted to share with all you believers (and non believers) in TBS rock that today I noticed that the tiny barnacle that has been on the rock that was in part one is still alive and well. Our sponges have had minor die back but are now reproducing. We currently have new star corals and tube corals showing up every day.

TBS ROCK ROCKS!!!!!!!

dwculp · #**102** 09/13/2005, 03:12 PM

None of my barnacles survived, but a large amount of the spongesn survived and are doing well and nearly all my clams survived also. I have had some die off recently because of this problem I have been having.

jnb · #**103** 09/13/2005, 03:21 PM

and you just might want to focus on getting females I was told and have not experienced a male - apparently more aggressive at eating stuff you don't want it to - its not proven to me - but I took the advice

Quote:

Originally posted by H2OLUVSME
Bob, I have two (now large) urchins that I have in my TBS tank. they don't seem to have any negative effect on the coraline and I don't have any other accessible algae for them.

the main reason I recommend emeralds is because of their diverse diet. I had one in with my mantis and it destroyed every kind of algae I tried to add (for nutrient export). it ate halmeida (sp?) multiple types of caulerpa, GHA, and everything else I tried. also, when I started getting a little die off and algae outbreak in my tank they handled it for me. I was adding to an established tank and knew it would be a while before I got my part two, so I added 5 emeralds to combat algae and dying sponges. within a few days there were no visible dying sponges and no algae. also, I think you'd be better off getting hungry ones from the LFS (as long as they aren't too expensive) then you are adding well fed ones from an established and fed tank. hungry crabs eat a lot more and are a lot less picky than well fed crabs

jnb · #**104** 09/13/2005, 03:23 PM

what kind of lighting do you have?

Quote:

Originally posted by lossman
We just finished having some plumbing work done on our tank. We had a more powerful return pump put on, all the returns replumbed with ball valves and a spray bar added to spray water down behind the rocks against the back glass. I'm really happy with the results. This is all going to add more flow to the tank and the spray bar will eliminate any dead spots down behind the rock work.

We also changed out half of our bulbs and the new ones really make the red and orange sponges pop. Before the predominant color in the tank was purple, now the red and orange sponges really show up and add a really nice visual touch to the tank. It also really makes the tank bright. I can't wait to see what happens when we change out the other set of bulbs!!!

lossman · #**105** 09/13/2005, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jnb
what kind of lighting do you have?

Combination PC and VHO.

H2OLUVSME · #**106** 09/13/2005, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jnb
what kind of lighting do you have?

they've got the ghetto rig!

lossman · #**107** 09/13/2005, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by H2OLUVSME
they've got the ghetto rig!

Bight me!!!!!

Hey, at least we can keep our sponges, corals, and other TBS hitchikers alive and thriving.....all on our GHETTO RIG!!! :Ã¾

LOL

phil519 · #**108** 09/13/2005, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dwculp
None of my barnacles survived, but a large amount of the spongesn survived and are doing well and nearly all my clams survived also. I have had some die off recently because of this problem I have been having.

I don't believe any barnacles survived either - but I was pretty inconsistent about dosing phyto. My other issue with barnacles (while fascinating critters) they do not lend themselves to "stability" when trying to place a frag on the bumpy rock.

Most of my clams /mussels are alive as well but I dunno if that is a good thing in light of the freak accident that happened with Landon's fish.

dwculp · #**109** 09/13/2005, 08:07 PM

What happened to Landons fish?? I must have missed something!

H2OLUVSME · #**110** 09/13/2005, 08:46 PM

it was totally freak, and i am not worried that it could happen again. my fairy wrasse was chasing a brine through a tight space and one of the oyesters closed. it pinned his head between the side of the oyester shell and the rock. 10 minutes later when the oyester got comfortable and opened up, i grabbed the fish and its little head was smashed

i dont think it could happen again i na million years. but then again i wouldnt have thought it possible if i hadnt of seen it!

H2OLUVSME · #**111** 09/13/2005, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lossman
Bight me!!!!!

Hey, at least we can keep our sponges, corals, and other TBS hitchikers alive and thriving.....all on our GHETTO RIG!!! :Ã¾

LOL

i was just kidding

glad you can tell

BrianPlankis · #**112** 09/13/2005, 08:52 PM

Hey all,

All my barnacles got eaten by my mantis shrimps. I had some sponge die off and most tunicates didn't make it, but most of my sea squirts, sponges, clams and all my Christmas tree worms (minus the one I killed) are all fine after 8 months in my care. I do see some sponges spreading as well.

Here are some pictures I took tonight:
This is a picture of a piece of dead rock I brought back from Hawaii that I finally put in the tank tonight(boring pic I know, but it is for a progression series as it gets covered in life):

Here is the full tank shot:

Here is the left side:

And the right side:

I made two agrocrete rocks for my tank and they are curing right now, once those are ready I can redo my rockwork as I'm not very happy with it at the moment.

Here is the mother colony under 10K of the latest zoas I got(not my colony, this is in the seller's tank):

Brian

dwculp · #**113** 09/13/2005, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by H2OLUVSME
it was totally freak, and i am not worried that it could happen again. my fairy wrasse was chasing a brine through a tight space and one of the oyesters closed. it pinned his head between the side of the oyester shell and the rock. 10 minutes later when the oyester got comfortable and opened up, i grabbed the fish and its little head was smashed i dont think it could happen again i na million years. but then again i wouldnt have thought it possible if i hadnt of seen it!

Actually, I have heard of this happening before. There was a thread about it a long time ago. A few people have lost fish to clams clamping on them. Still, a very rare event indeed!

lossman · #**114** 09/14/2005, 06:33 AM

Our christmas tree worm is gone.

Several days ago we noticed a bristleworm trying to get into the x-mas tree worm's tube. There was a lot of that spiderweb type stuff around it so we figured the x-mas worm had died and the bristleworm was eating it. Next day the x-mas worm was out in all it's glory and the spiderweb stuff was gone. Yesterday the x-mas worm's tube was again covered in spiderweb stuff and a slimy bubble thing. After the hermits and snails cleaned that stuff up, the tube looks empty. I have not seen the x-mas worm since. I'm so sad as that was a really pretty x-mas worm, deep navy blue. Such goes the way of the reef, I guess.

bobt2 · #**115** 09/14/2005, 07:59 AM

with the weather in fla. being good i wonder if tbs has been in the water

patsan · #**116** 09/14/2005, 08:59 AM

Well, I guess I haven't been as lucky as everyone else who posts here. I had quite a bit of die-off. The barnicles, tunicates, the really pretty colored sponges, most tube corals and some of the brain corals did not make it.
The clams, the bland sponges, 1 brain and one tube coral are thriving.
I see new growth with some sponges. I do have a baby star coral that wasn't there when I got the rock. My 2 Christmas tree worms are gone too. I have no idea where or when they disappeared. I haven't seen them in a few weeks now. I still have one sea squirt alive and little patch here and there of colorful sponges, but nowhere near what it was when I got it.
The inverts continue to live on. All in all, I'd say about Â½ of what I got died or don't look like they did when I got it.

When I got it, I don't think there was a thing that could compare to how awesome it looked. Now it just looks okay.

bobt2 · #**117** 09/14/2005, 09:05 AM

pat, imo you underfed. other than a star coral all my stuff is still alive

H2OLUVSME · #**118** 09/14/2005, 09:29 AM

i underfed also. i have lost a lot of my stuff, but the TBS rock still has 10 times more life than the other rock i have.

Stormtrker · #**119** 09/14/2005, 09:29 AM

Well thought I would report in. We just got phone service back last evening so now have internet here at home. We also now have electricity after 2 weeks without. It is a miracle we have all these services so soon and it is due to the thousands of volunteers/workers who arrived soon after Katrina to help. They had over 9,000 arrive from all over the United States to get the electricity back up!

My tank is thriving after 2 weeks of using a generator sev times day for circulation. Remember I had just received my TBS part 2 one week prior to the hurricane. My purple condy has almost doubled in size and seeing lots of new sponge growth etc. The most surprising of all I found a small 1 inch hitchhiker fish yesterday. From searching on line I think it is a rock blenny. Is a mottled brown and white and living in a small hole on top of a rock. It darts out frequently to catch copepods. I am just so thrilled everything in the tank is doing so well as I was fully prepared to lose everything and didn't know how it could survive without electricity. So now I am back and trying to catch up on all the posts here on RC!

Carla

krajacich · #**120** 09/14/2005, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by carlab
Well thought I would report in. We just got phone service back last evening so now have internet here at home. We also now have electricity after 2 weeks without. It is a miracle we have all these services so soon and it is due to the thousands of volunteers/workers who arrived soon after Katrina to help. They had over 9,000 arrive from all over the United States to get the electricity back up!

My tank is thriving after 2 weeks of using a generator sev times day for circulation. Remember I had just received my TBS part 2 one week prior to the hurricane. My purple condy has almost doubled in size and seeing lots of new sponge growth etc. The most surprising of all I found a small 1 inch hitchhiker fish yesterday. From searching on line I think it is a rock blenny. Is a mottled brown and white and living in a small hole on top of a rock. It darts out frequently to catch copepods. I am just so thrilled everything in the tank is doing so well as I was fully prepared to lose everything and didn't know how it could survive without electricity. So now I am back and trying to catch up on all the posts here on RC!
Carla

That's great to hear Carla. Glad your tank is doing well!

lossman · #**121** 09/14/2005, 10:35 AM

Carla, I am so glad to hear things worked out so well for you!!! Keep us all posted on how the tank does and when you get a chance, post some pictures!!!

Sally

BrianPlankis · #**122** 09/14/2005, 11:08 AM

Carla,

That is awesome to hear most everything survived! How much did you pay for your generator?

Pat and Lossman, did you ever target feed your christmas tree worms phyto? I've been reading online that they slowly starve over 6-8 months if they aren't target fed. I've been target feeding mine once a month and so far they look OK, but I'm approaching 8 months with them, so I might still lose them. I'm going to try to target feed once or twice a week once my rockwork is completed.

Brian

patsan · #**123** 09/14/2005, 11:22 AM

I tried target feeding mine, but most of the time they retracted when I did it, so I'm not sure how much they actually got.

Carla, That's really good news! Glad to hear you and the tank survived!!

lossman · #**124** 09/14/2005, 12:06 PM

We target fed ours too. The worm looked great right up until yesterday when it disappeared. Right after the first time the bristle worm attacked it, when the x-mas worm came out of it's tube again, it was limp and it's "feathers" were not extended, but the next day you would not have known anything had ever bothered it.

ratherbediving · #**125** 09/15/2005, 02:00 AM

Carla
With all the bad news about the hurricane, it's nice to hear about someone getting back on their feet! Glad things are working out for you.

OK I don't have TBS, but the 'other' (or one of the other) Florida aquacultured rock. Can I still post anyway

I thought it was nice that you guys were compiling a list of invertebrate hitchhikers that we still have in our tanks. For me, I still have:

Christmas tree worm (1) doesn't look as good as it did earlier on, but is still hanging on. (6 months)
A few other different kind of worms (I have to post a couple of these blurry photos). These have really taken off recently.

Yellow sponges that are popping up all over the place

Turkey wing clams
Sargassum algae
Aiptasia (just saw a new one today. After being aiptasia free for about 3 months! Unreal

)
Featherdusters (reproducing! But strangely, declining at the same time....)
Cup corals
A few other things that I don't know what the heck they are...

Things that AREN'T doing well or that I lost....
Tunicates (lost all of these guys)
Losing red/blue/ orange encrusting sponges
????