Red Sea Max Owners Club

[lpsluver]

Originally posted by reefsr4me
Reefmack: Thanks for the compliments, I have about 15 nasarrius snails that I know devoured him, because the shell was covered in their slime. Not saying they killed him, bud definatly cleaned him up

That's the perplexing thing about Clams. They look good for a long time and then, suddenly, they are dead. They take a while to fade but once you see the hermits near them and/or once they "eject" from the spot they were anchored to, they are gojng to die soon after (IME). My RSM is no longer a clam tank as I had some parasite wipe out about 10 of them over a period of about 6 weeks. Left with one Deresa now. Now I have Rosie the RBTA and Mr and Mrs Clarkii. Also got a decent amount of SPS frags too.

I also have 2 Peppermints, that wiped out all signs of aiptasia in my tank. When I bought them I made sure that they ate aiptasia before purchasing them. Otherwise it is hit or miss. They now eat whatever food floats by and they clean my fingers when I put my hand in the tank.

[Hodge]

The mystery polyp is a Zoa/paly and not a pest. The first picture was washed out and the polyp is extended funny. You see from this pic how much the Pocillopora has improved since I got it (this pic taken a week before)
Here's a better pic


Reefmack,
The coral is a Scroll coral (Turbinaria reniformis). Apparently, its somewhat uncommon to keep it's near perfect bowl shape. My clowns have claimed it as theirs.

reefsr4me,
Great looking tank. Nice corals and fish selection. Is that a tomato clown fish?? Is it aggressive??

After reading a great book on clown fish, I've decided not to pursue owning an anemone. The fish don't really need it and I don't need the stress of maintaining a delicate species.

[Reefmack]

On the sea cucumbers, there's some info. on Melev's ID pages:

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/crawls.html

"The Tigertail Cucumber - Holothuria hilla - is an excellent sand sifter for tanks using a DSB (Deep Sand Bed). However, it will burrow under your live rock as it processes sand looking for food, so you may have to readjust your rockwork from time to time, or support it with PVC to avoid its collapse. The main risk is when a cucumber gets too close to the intake of a powerhead or filter. Their death can wipe out a tank, so always know its location. Typically Reef-safe. "

They must release a toxin if they die? Just guessing.

reefsr4me - No idea on the star - if you get a pic of the top of it maybe that will help. Some of the bumpy, knobby ones aren't reef safe, but I don't recall why. It may just be a large Fromia or even a Linkia & those are OK.

[reefsr4me]

Yeah, He ejected from the rock, 1/2 way up, but then grew a foot back onto a rock in the sand. It was actually all the way attached, and I was going to move it back up and he bit the dust before I got the chance.

[Reefmack]

lpsluver - I knew you lost several clams but didn't realize it was 10 of them. Sorry about that. I always liked that top view of the tank with all the clams. My Crocea is gradually being shaded over by my fast growing yellow fiji coral - I need to think about trying to relocate one of them.

Hodge - mystery solved! My first guess was correct. I have a Turbinaria also - a green one - pagoda type. Can't remember what species though. Correct on the clowns - anemones aren't needed. Mine were being hosted by my feeding ring last night.

[reefsr4me]

Here is a pic of the star

and the top

In this picture, does anyone know what the small pinkisg purple spots are on him, maybe coraline, you can see it best just to the right of his center in this pic. There are about 6 of these 1/8" spots that appeared 2 weeks after being in the tank, they don't seem to move. The star has been in the tank about 10-12 weeks now with no bad signs

[reefsr4me]

Hodge, it is a maroon clown.

Here is an uptated FTS from 10 minutes ago.


Here is a pic of the syringe I use for coral feeding

[Hodge]

Here's a decent article on clam selection and care.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume...otTridacna.htm

I chose a Derasa as my first clam, based on it's hardiness and ease of placement over the others. I did have to mess with my clam last night, as the flat rock the clam came on also had a small Kenya tree coral attached. The kenya tree grew enough to start touching the mantle and irritating it...so frag time for the kenya tree.

[Reefmack]

reefsr4me - I'm not sure on the red star, and I'm sure no expert. I did some searching & thought it might be Echinaster echinophorus, but yours doesn't look exactly the same. I've read a lot of the knobby types are not safe with soft corals, but I think that's just a generalization. Keep an eye on it to be sure it doesn't munch on your zoas & softies in there - it may be just fine. Another nice tank pic - looks great! I've been using a Sea Squirt but I may try fixing up something similar to your syringe & air line - that may be easier to use for some of the things I need to feed. and it has to be better than a turkey baster - mine always leaked out half the food before I could get it where I wanted it!

[stephensturman]

here are updated pics of how well my skimmer is still working with the mod. and my water level for efficiant suface skimming.
and the white dots are pods not micro bubbles.

[Y-DesygnGuy]

stephensturman -- What skimmer mod are you talking about?

[donna53w]

Hodge & any others that are interested in clowns, this is the book that's been recommended to me. Has anyone read it? Clownfish by Joyce Wilkerson.

Reefmack: your clowns are silly ... hosting from one thing to another! I have seen the feeding rings, does it keep the tank cleaner? Do the fish 'share' the food?

[Fishy Something]

Reefmack - Most cucumbers are definately toxic - although some are considered a delicacy - and it is likely to be a protection mechaism to stop them becoming a quick & easy snack. There is also anecdotal evidence about cuke's dying unbeknown to their owner & wiping out entire reef tanks, however I must admit to being a little sceptical about that whole "cuke nuke" theory, but that is a discussion that often end in flames so I will leave it alone.

[Fishy Something]

Donna53w - Joyce's book is "the bible". My copy is so dog eared & tattered it is not funny. It glosses over the culture of rotifers - if you believed it was a simple as in this book everyone & their dog would be breeding clowns, so if you want to try breeding, you will need to get hold of The Plankton Culture Manual (Frank Hoff). Breeding the food was the hard part - the fish themselves were easy!

Having said that, it is a great book & well worth it for anyone interested in clowns.

James

[donna53w]

Thanks for the great endorsement of the book, Fishy Something! I am definitely getting one for my ever-growing library! And no, I don't think I'll be into breeding them although that would be a very, very interesting endeavor.
Donna

[Fishy Something]

Donna - "I don't think I'll be into breeding them " - famous last words...

you just wait, one day you will look into your tank & will see them tending a nice new clutch of bright orange eggs & you will be a goner...

I'm just waiting for the post... where can I get some rotifers...
;-)

[donna53w]

You are probably right ... just the vision you created got me excited about baby clowns!!! lol
Donna

[stephensturman]

y-desygnguy~ the mod i posted for everyone on page 8! its a gate valve mod but only works good if u have or do the mesh mod because an upgraded gate valve will actually work compared to the one that the rsm come stock with that cant completely seal!

[Hodge]

Donna,

The clown fish book I've been reading and referring to is "that" book.
I'd recommend it to any of the clown owners.

[Reefmack]

stephensturman - amazing what replacing the air valve will do. I can't tell from the pic where your water level is though - is it below the top of the gate opening? You have a "Podanza" in your tank! A fish would think it was in heaven in that tank!

here's a link to page 8. Has anyone else even tried the air valve replacement? It can't get any easier or cheaper. I'm holding out for news of the RSMD by mbdave, but if I hadn't already replaced the skimmer I'd have tried the air valve by now.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...5&pagenumber=8

Donna - actually the clowns usually sleep in the top right corner all night long. It just so happens that's where I relocated the feeding ring when I hung the fuge on the left side. So, I guess I can't say the ring is hosting the clowns! BTW, I put the ring in to isolate flake & dry food, till it wets out, sinks, and gets dispersed through the tank by current. Otherwise it floats on the surface and a fair amount gets skimmed through the back gate before it gets a chance to be eaten. Only a few of my fish will grab it off the surface. My clowns now think the ring is where food is born! Lately I just take my flake in 2 fingers and just release it under the surface. Kinda messy but it avoids long lines at the feeding ring

[gigs]

good job stephensturman I will be looking for a valve at the LFS this weekend. I have noticed my skimmer has been steadly droping in its skimmate production over the last week to now generating bugger all and with the vent full open position.

Thanks all for the clarification on the Zoa/paly.

[LaurentSeattle]

Before trying another valve, I have tried to run the stock skimmer with no valve at all.

No improvement at all. Same little foam production, same amount of micro-bubbles.

Therefore, I concluded that placing another valve would not help... Maybe I am wrong.

[Reefmack]

Good point Laurent. It's a cheap thing to try though. Maybe the valve is doing more than just controlling the air amount going in. I'll wait for another opinion or two before making any conclusions.

[stephensturman]

with the stock gate valve it is like having no valve because u really cant acurately control the air because u can push it and pull it off and it never seals. but when u take a valve that actually can cut off air flow it causes the pump to work harder to get air therefor raising the level of the water in the skimmer and pulling in great amounts of air without having to much. to much air will cause the water level to drop like it is with stock valve and the water level is below the gate on mine.

[stephensturman]

trust me some one else try it so they can see lol it take 2 seconds to install and costs less than 2 bux whats the harm?