apex003's 18g Via Aqua (Dial-up beware...)

[Anonymous]

Better watch what you post, Matt, or I'll have Uchida's mom, The Swedish Chef, come after you with her Super Soaker. :lol:

P.S. Are you saying the hermits are not reef safe, or the pistol shrimp? Also, can't you keep Yashas in pairs? I think I've read that somewhere. The LFS is ordering a couple, so I may try to get 2 together with 1 pistol. Twice as cool, and hopefully that'll make them a bit less timid about exploring the tank. They may not be able to get the shrimp right away. Any feedback on introducing the pistol later and still pairing? Doesn't seem like it would be a problem...

Marillion- Yeah we've grown up together from wee lads... We actually got started doing saltwater tanks together in college, but Matt's obviously been a bit more active in the last couple years.

Ricky- Yup. That's Matt, but he photochopped that picture to make me look 3 feet tall...

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, pairs of gobies okay. You should be able to add the shrimp later.

I don't think emerald crabs are very reefsafe. I've just heard horror stories of them munching on corals and what not...but keep it well fed and it should be fine.

When hermits get bigger they will kill snails and catch small fish (like yashas). Remember the one that caught my scooter blenny? I don't let them get any bigger than pea sized.

As for the cleaner, emerald crab, and pistol getting along, I really don't know. I know my pistol killed an anemone crab I put in with it, so...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. I try to keep my crabs and shrimp well fed by dropping pellet food in every other day. So far everyone gets along, but I have to find a source of shells for my hermits before they start killing each other. If they get the pistol, I'll probably just drop him in and see who's fittest. I like the hermits b/c they're detritivores that keep the rocks clean. If I catch one with a Yasha in his mouth, I'll crunch him with my hammer...

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I would have added more, but I had to call an old friend up earlier. See, I was trying to get out of work by faking a broken arm, so I needed Kevin Seto's advice on making a fake cast out of toilet paper and masking tape. His advice was invaluable.

Anyway, the logic I've heard is "An organism's reefsafeness is a function of how hungry it is." If you do a search here on "Emerald AND reefsafe" you'll find some good threads on the subject.

Just another suggestion, you may consider adding another cleaner shrimp. They are a bit less shy in pairs, and if well fed will spawn regularly. They're sequential hermaphrodites. The eggs appear as a green mass under the abdomen of both shrimp. As the eggs mature they turn tan in color, and then the shrimp releases them. The larvae make good food for your corals, yasha goby, etc.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah. I thought about adding 2 shrimp to the tank, but since it's pretty new, I wanted to see how 1 did first. He looks very good, so maybe I'll go back and buy another one soon. Since they're not too territorial, I don't suspect there should be a problem with different intro times.

Didn't wind up ordering any zoos. The free shipping was over. "Blane" is suppose to have some new stock on the site this weekend, so maybe I'll order some then. $40 for shipping really cramps my style though. That's like another frag right there. Oh well... No one said this hobby's cheap; especially if you want your tank to look purty. I've emailed a couple people about buying some frags, but everyone pretty tight-handed with really nice frags, unless you have something they want. I figure I could "invest" in some really nice ones that I like and watch them grow out (hopefully) and trade later. Kind of like Magic cards, but less geeky and without the funny names.... except for the ultra rare zoos of schiznod.

I did a check on emerald crabs before I bought this guy and, like just about everything else, the reviews were mixed. I think the hungry=not reef safe is definitely leaning in the right direction though. I feed mine often to keep him sated. I also bought the smallest one they had. I have seen him pick at my zoos and rics, but without any real interest. I wanted to keep any hair algae in check before it even had a chance to become a problem, and emeralds seemed like a fair option; although those opinions are equally diverse. Seems to have worked so far. I think that once hair gets out of control it's too late, but if you can get the small patches before they grow, you have a chance. The combo of snails, hermits, emerald, and adjusting the photo period to about 10 hours, have kept any unwanted algae out, and coralline is really starting to take over now.

The other day I saw something popping in and out of a tiny hole in my LR picking off amphipods and I'm praying it's not a baby Mantis. Probably is though. Very akin to the video you posted of the fluorescent mantis in the sand picking off fish. NOT good... I tried to smash him with a nail in his hole, but obviously he was able to avoid that. Haven't seen him since. He's only copepod sized now, so not too worried, but in a couple months he may be a problem, especially if I get a Yasha. May have to try the water bottle trap method or fresh water dip, if I can find him again.

Anyways, this is turning into a freakin' dissertation on my tank, so I'll end here.

 

[Anonymous]

whoops. double post...

 

[Anonymous]

Well... I ordered some zoos from thesea.org. Got 3 frags of the Phillipine "exclusives". Better be damn good for those prices! I'll keep ya'll posted and let you know how Blane's operation is. So far he's been pretty responsive by email, and the pictures look awesome. We'll see how that correlates with the actual frags...

 

[Anonymous]

woo hoo! got my tracking number from thesea.org today. i'll post pictures once everything's in the tank. it's my first online order, so wish me luck and pray for healthy zoas...

 

[Anonymous]

Got my order from Blane on Wednesday and I'd say things are turning out so-so, at best. Of the 5 frags I ordered, 3 are looking pretty good. The other 2 (and of course the 2 most expensive) may be DOAs. He "threw in" some nice orange yumas and a couple zoa frags, but one of the zoas looks almost exactly like the pink center zoas I already have. Bummer... These are just okay, since I asked him to make my freebies a bit nicer if I let him keep an extra $31 that I had to submit as double shipping on two separate orders placed through his site. Oh well... I'll probably be shipping the 2 DOAs back early next week if there's no improvement and hopefully I can get a refund or credit towards a future order. Anyways, here's some pictures:

 

[Anonymous]

more...

 

[Anonymous]

and more...

 

[Anonymous]

P.S. The order also came with a great bonus: NUDIS!!! Hoo-frickin-ray. Now I'm nudi hunting cause I don't have a QT tank. Pray for me...

Overall rating of my experience so far: 6 at best.

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't give up on those zoos just yet. Sometimes it just takes a while for them to come out. Sucks about the nudis....

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Matt. Actually a couple of the Florida blues opened up tonight. Can't wait to see their color in the day lights. There is some response in those Philippine polyps as well, so I hope they open up soon. They don't look so happy, but maybe once they're really acclimated to their new home, they'll fatten up.

 

[Anonymous]

Received a shipment from Dr Foster and Smith today. Skunk cleaner shrimp DOA, 3 Trocus snails DOA. I got 4 Margarita snails that are eating very well and this guy:

 

[Anonymous]

Also made a couple modifications to the tank:

 

[Anonymous]

One more

 

[Anonymous]

The wrasse is doing pretty well. He's cruising all over the tank and ate some mysis this morning right after being acclimated. Looks very comfortable and healthy... for Day 1.

I reported the DOAs to DFS and they said I should have a credit card refund by Monday. WOW!!! That's fast.

Unfortunately I had to evict my emerald crab yesterday for tearing about a third of my zoas up off the rocks. I know he's just looking for food, but bad habits gotta go. I glued all the loose polyps to rocks so at least I'll have frags, I hope...

 

[Anonymous]

Nice! That's good he's already eating and out and about.

I like that little Iceprobe addition. Did you just cut a hole in the AC top?

 

[Anonymous]

Yup. Very easy to drill the AC150 top. I also found that if you position the Iceprobe so the metal gills are perpendicular to the back of the tank, the fan for the Iceprobe blows over the tank and keeps the temp down even more by blowing across my lights; increases evap though. It works great. With the Iceprobe and heater, I can keep a very constant 77 versus the 80-84 I was dealing with pre-probe.