KeeperOfTheZoo

Cool! So basically it's like fragging a mushroom then. I wasn't sure if the rics were tough enough to handle that.

I'm gonna let them split a few more times then I'll have to start removing the extras.

I feel kinda silly asking, but will different colored rics get along OK in close proximity? I'd like to add some more in different colors to the large rock my greens are on.

The zoas look beautiful in your tank James, I'm glad you like them! I've gotta change the color of my bulbs. When I have just my 50/50s on the more actinic lighting makes everything in my tank look prettier (than when I kick the other bulbs on with the 10k/65K)

I have a green ric I got from Laura back in, hmm, Dec. I think? It split once last month and then split again this month. Two of the larger rics already have 2 mouths a piece and one is in the process of splitting again. The original was on a round piece of shell which I glued to a large piece of base rock. ie- I can't pull any of them out of the tank.

I'm thrilled that the the rics are splitting so well. The question now is how do I go about getting one loose if I want to give one away down the road?

Totally awesome! A reef part sounds great. We'll come celebrate and enjoy your indoor saltwater swimming pool (for fish only of course).

How old is the tank?

If it's new, I'd give it time before adding anything to the bioload which very well could just make things worse (more critters= more waste=more available nutrients=more algae especially in an immature system). If the brown algae are actually diatoms, then they should pass as the tank matures. Just part of the cycle.

If it's not a new tank, then I can't say enough good things for conchs! I have a great big one, but he does more good for cleaning the sand than my army of hermits, snails and my mandarin that does sift some sand as it hunts for food.

I'd watch the number of hermits in a small tank, they are fun but they are destructive. In my experience, they do little for the sand and mostly spend their days picking algae off the rocks (and knocking over your corals). I have some nassarius snails but I can't tell if they are doing much to help the sand bed. I probably need more, they're neat if nothing else.

Also keep a keen eye on your water parameters... excess phosphates and nitrates are a great way to grow algae.

Thanks y'all!

It really surprised me how much the tank has changed. I knew it had, but I guess when we look at our tanks every day we loose sight of the magnitude of change that goes on (looking forward to the 1 year mark, are you posting pics somewhere ORD?). I can't believe the growth on some of the corals.

The pocilipora surprised me. The growth of the softies is fairly obvious, but I didn't realize I was getting so much growth on the few SPS frags I have until I looked at pictures.

Dave, a blog would be a good idea. Gotta find the time to get it going.

James, I noticed that just in the last couple days several of my corals are showing more color including the zoas you have (I kept a similar sized frag). They aren't back to their best, but do look better. I think everything is finally adjusting to the new bulbs. They are fast growers so keep an eye on them. That frogspawn taught me a lesson about coral placement... it stung the daylights out of a small frag of Miami orchid that I have. Thankfully it didn't kill the whole thing and I have another much larger frag that has more growth so it wasn't too painful of a lesson. At least not for me personally, the corals may not agree.

Again... a big thanks. Without the support of everyone here I'm not sure I would have made it threw the not so fun parts of a new tank to get to where I am now.

I hope y'all don't mind a little self indulgence on my part.

I was looking at pictures tonight and had a moment of realization.... my tank has gone through a lot of changes in the last 7+ months since I got it!

October... this was the original set up. The original fish and single mushroom rock that I bought. See how deep that crushed coral was. Yikes

January... all the big, mean & aggressive fish are GONE! We now have a little clown & a yellow tang. Also a few more corals. Watch the growth on the nepthea! At this point my mushrooms started budding like mad, the xenia took off and my single green ric has since split and one section has three mouths and is in the process of splitting more. Also reduced the CC bed, a lot.

February... Hmm, more corals. Seeing a pattern here yet? I also realized how fast my tang is growing.

April... cruddy picture, my digital camera grew legs while I was on vacation. Grr. This is a phone camera shot. You can get the general idea though. Massive growth in some of my softie colonies (crazy xenia, anthelia, nepthea, palys and zoas). More corals and a few more fish. Finally have a frogspawn (thank you James, I LOVE that coral it is just gorgeous), my candy canes are growing new heads almost as I watch, I finally ID'd my mystery SPS as fuzzy green pocilapora and both mini colonies I have are growing like mad. The CC is now gone in most of the tank replaced with a shallow sand bed. And check out the coraline growth across the back of the tank.

The cool thing is, I know in another 7 months it'll be even more amazing. I can't wait to look back then and see how it's changed.

Amen Eck. I'm gonnna just say it.. I think chalices are kinda ugly. I wouldn't trade my frogspawn for one.

Quit showing off Tim, I'm already jealous enough of your tank! You get my vote for the best aquascaping I've ever seen.

Thanks for the input y'all! James, I know what you mean about conservation. The longer I have my tank the harder it is for me to support anything that isn't tank/captive raised. Its really a dilemma.

What mix of hydrogen peroxide and water did you use Bill?

I'm not gonna bother with the flatworms I have unless they reach irritating levels. I hate killing things just to kill them. Not their fault they're not flashy and pretty enough for us to value. Hey, didn't we have a similar conversation about the little white star fish?

Every time I see one of those little guys cruising the glass in my tank munching algae I think about everyone who has said 'Kill them'. I've never seen one on a coral, but man to they munch the algae.

I have a green mandarin, I haven't seen him show interest in the flatworms though I've heard before that mandarins in general may eat them. Mine is too busy hunting pods.

Hmm, guess it could have metals. I kinda doubt it. As much of it as we've busted open around here (one of my sons is constantly on the hunt for geodes) I've never seen much 'streaking' of other elements. No geodes either sadly.

I just read a pretty good idea... pack a container with the rock and let it soak then add a few snails. If the snails live, doubtful there's contaminants. We already did this once without intent... the rock we soaked to test pH was in a container I threw some snails in after pulling them off some FW plants I'd bought. The snails lived for weeks... untill we went on vacation and my hubby let all their water evaporate. Oops. I could probably do the same thing and soak some polyfilter in the holding tank after a few days to see if anything showed up. Darn, I'm feeling more experimenation coming on.... I have access to SO much rock. I'd love to have a couple good sized rubble piles in my fuge.

Makes me wonder about the rock we add to our tanks in general. I've stopped following the latest updates about the oil eruption off the gulf coast. I just can't stand thinking about the ramifications and toxic effect it'll have.

Thanks for the thought James, made me research more and now I have more experiements the kids can run. I'm sure they'll be so thrilled.

I grabbed this chunk of rock while out hiking with the kids a couple days ago. It's about fist size and weighs .8oz. Living as rural as I do our property is riddled with good old TX limestone/holey rock. It's 'clean' rock, no pesticide or chemicals that I know of for 6+ years, doubt either were ever used out here directly. This area is mostly ranching, not farming so no fields being sprayed either.

Would it be worth cleaning some of this up (getting the dirt off) and throwing it in my fuge? This piece has quite a few holes, not all of it is this porous. My thought is simply to give the pods more places to hide and of course it'll provide more surface area for beneficial bacteria. As a science project the kids and I put a chunk of rock in water and measured the pH before we put the rock in and after 24 hours of soaking the rock. Can't remember the exact readings but the number went up a decent amount (not too high for a saltwater tank but too high to use in a freshwater angel tank).

The rock is plentiful and free... if it wouldn't hurt I'm going to throw some in.

Thoughts?

Exactly.... ones worth the effort $$$$ one isn't.

I have some little clear ones that came in on some mushrooms I was given. They appear harmless, never see them on anything but the shrooms. I have a different looking type in my sump that I've ID'd as mostly harmless. They do eat pods, but didn't seem to make a dent in my pod population.

ID the type of flatworms you have and go from there.

Hey Cyrus, I'll buy water from you at that price.

Kempner is closer to Killeen than Austin. Unfortunately.

The victory dance.... oh man.....the dance!

Barderer, do you have a culture going now? If so I'd be willing to start a second culture and keep it going. Can you detail your setup? I've done some reading online but I'm still contemplating the best way to grow phyto.

Neither. Hot pink to match the boa.

Everything I've read (in hope and anticipation of my clowns spawning ) says newly hatched brine are too big. You have to start with rotifers then wean to newly hatched brine, then other foods from there. Even then the success rate of raising the fry is pretty low.

The more I read the more I think I'd like to hatch live rotifers the feed my tank in general. Of course setting up the microplankton culture to then feed the rotifers is yet one more project I have to try to find time to start and maintain!

My 12,9 and 3 year old boys really liked that one Derek.

Hey Christian, talk to Mama before starting a business.

As for the nem, no way.

My Aunt said the same thing about my Great Grandma making coquina soup. She said they'd put the clams in tomato soup and boil them. I suspect that's the simplified version.

Just a word of warning before putting those coquina clams in a tank, they are heavy filter feeders. You'll need to feed them like any other filter feeder because they wont find enough just sifting the sand in a tank. They are more likely to die and foul up a tank than do any good. I found a ton if those on the FL side of the gulf but left them at the beach after researching and realizing that they aren't appropriate for most captive tanks.

I like the look of hanging lights. Can you get T5 pendants or is the pendant style just a MH thing? I'm thinking eventually here I'd like 2 pendants over my 6' tank but I'm not real keen on MH. Hmmmm... at the rate I'm going I'm gonna ponder lighting forever.

What a cute idea!