PeeperKeeper

Sorry, I was out of town and didn't see these replies until now. Thanks to all of you! I especially appreciate the donation, Kristie. You're right. It could happen to any of us. It's a scary thought. I'm afraid to ship coral because I've never shipped anything live and wouldn't know how to package it. I'd hate for it to die. Maybe someone is travelling to Dallas in the near future and wouldn't mind bringing them to you? Yes, I still have all of them and I'd be happy to hold one for you, Sean. Rufus, there are four total, so whatever's leftover after Kristie (if we figure out transportation) and Sean pick theirs is yours. Unfortunately, Dave is still not coming around. The doctors are becoming pessimistic, but we're still holding out hope that he'll come back to us. The place I went out of town to was a meet up of glider folks from the board I know Amy from. The meet up is called the SGGA and we do it every year in a different state/part of the country. We held a raffle for Amy and Dave and were able to raise $1000 for them, not counting what everyone just put in a piggy bank that will also be given to them. Also, the SGGA is supported by another raffle everyone participates in and so many people put in tickets to that raffle with Amy's name on them that Amy also won a bunch of glider accessories (toys, pouches, etc.) from the main SGGA raffle even though she wasn't there to enter herself. As I said, it's a really generous community. This one is too! I'll PM all of you who expressed interest in these corals, but if you want, feel free to call me. My office number is 512 339-2020. I'll PM you my mobile number, rather than posting it. Thanks! PK

Sean, it's back behind Northcross Mall. It's really hard to find the first time, and I was looking when they actually had a sign. Hopefully the new owners will invest in some advertising because it's not a good location, but it's a beautiful store. Speaking of the new owners and advertising, where are they? Has anyone told them about ARC? This would be the best place for them to start.

I have GOT to get rid of a bunch of halimeda. Where is Deep Blue? I hadn't heard about you yet. I see you're on Burnet.

Wow. I'm really surprised, and kind of disappointed. Over 60 views but not a single reply to this post. C'mon guys. I need your help. Where's your heart? These are nice frags. Is $10/head unreasonable? I think that's about what I paid for the mother colony a little over a year ago when it was the size of these frags, and now it's softball size!

I'll try to make it. I've missed attending the meetings. I was at the first two, I think and none since then.

First, as short a synopsis of what I'm doing as I can manage: I have a friend whose husband was in a bad car accident in the wee hours of the morning of July 6th. He's in a coma and she's stuck sleeping at the hospital in a straight back chair in the waiting room, with no car. I want to do what I can (along with a bunch of people on another board where she's a member) to help her pay for hotel and the basics while they try to get through this. I had been planning to frag my gorgeous neon green candy cane and put the proceeds into my "tank fund" for future tank purchases, but I've decided to use it to help AmyMichelle instead. So, I have 4 nice frags, which I would like to sell for $10-$12/head. I'll take $10, but if you're feeling generous any extra you throw in will go to Amy. At the end of this post, I will put some links to her story. For now, I know what board I'm on and I know you want me to get to the goodies. Frag #1 (3 heads) Frag #2 (5 heads, several are almost split in two already) Frage #3 (5 heads, again several splitting) Frag #4 (4 heads, but all 4 are almost split) And here's one of the mother colony under actinics. No, she's not for sale, and if I ever lose her before getting more frags, PLEASE let me have a frag off of one of these I'm selling! She glows like a nuclear reactor! Back to AmyMichelle and Dave. Here is a link to a webpage that's been set up for them: http://faerieflyers.com/PrayingfortheOsadchuks.html And here are links to two of the threads about them at the other board: http://www.sugarglider.net/ubbthreads/ubbt...6636#Post336636 http://www.sugarglider.net/ubbthreads/ubbt.../332736/fpart/1 From there you can find links to some of the news reports about the crash, etc. It is a sugar glider board I've been a part of for about 3 years. As you can see from the posts, the members are very close and very generous. One of them even jumped on a plane to go to Amy's side and bring her some of the collections because she couldn't get to her paypal account, being in the hospital with no computer. I've met many of them, including Amy and Dave, at various "glider gatherings" all over the country and it's an amazing community to be a part of. Amy was on the phone with Dave when the crash happened. He was not at fault and was using a hands free bluetooth device. A drunk driver hit him from behind and caused his car to flip. Amy heard the whole thing, including his scream, the car flipping and whoever discovered him in the car right afterward talking to him. It's been a week and a half and last I heard they haven't been able to wake him (I'm checking for updates daily). They don't have a lot of money and Amy is probably going to have to get out of their apartment lease and move in with her mom (when she's not at the hospital). So if you decide to get some nice frags, you will also be helping out someone going through a real tragedy. PM me or call me at work at 339-2020 if you're interested. You can pick up the frags at my office (the tank is in the waiting area) in North Austin. It is Parmer Eye Care, in the HEB shopping center at the intersection of Parmer and Mopac. Office hours are M, Tu, Fr. 8am-6pm and W, Th 8am - 7pm. We're also there some Saturdays (usually the 1st and 3rd Sat of the month) from 9am - 2pm. Thanks, Sundra

Sorry I missed the meeting (again). I've been busy moving and such, so I've only had time to come to ARC sporadically. So how many people were there at the meeting? When's the next one?

I wondered what the name of that calcareous macroalgae that's going wild in my tank was. For some reason, it just recently decided to grow like crazy out of a piece of live rock I've had for many years (several pieces, actually). I guess my calcium must be doing better too. My coralline is becoming a pain on the glass too, but it doesn't seem that much thicker on the rocks than it used to be. Just more on the glass.

I'm not sure if it is actually "pom pom" but I have some pumping xenia you are welcome to. You can come by my office to see if it's what you want. The tank is in the waiting room at Parmer Eye Care, in the HEB shopping center at Parmer and Mopac.

My biggest/oldest zoa colony seems to go through phases of looking unhappy periodically. I have several other smaller colonies, both of the same type and of different types and the rest don't seem to be affected. In the past, I've taken it out and done a zoe dip and it's perked up a couple days later, but I wondered if that was even necessary or if it would have perked up anyway. Any of you zoa experts have any thoughts? Should I take him out and dip him again (it's happening now) or do they just go through phases?

I accidentally brushed against a bristleworm as I was cleaning the tank earlier and I wondered, what is the best way to get rid of the little bristles that stick in your fingers? I'm at my office and was able to look at my finger under the biomicroscope (usualy used for looking at eyes) and tried to pull them out with a pair of tweezers, but they just broke off as soon as I tried to grip them with the tweezers. Finally I just gave up and washed my hands and kinda brushed at them, but I think that just broke off the part that was sticking out and the bristles are still in there. It doesn't hurt badly, and I'm sure they'll work their way out, but I wondered if anyone has come up with a better thing to do? Maybe use something sticky to pull them out? Elmers glue, maybe?

Well, I wish that had been the case, but I'm sure I lost him. The last time I saw him was Thursday and I was encouraged because he actually came out and swam around briefly. But alas, he never did eat, and he went back in the rocks never to be seen again. I'm sure he's gone because I saw a little piece of what could only be part of his skeleton Tuesday. What a bummer! I asked the guy at Aquatek about them and he said part of the reason they're so hit and miss is that because they're "sand divers," when they are collected, they tend to dive into the sand so forcefully that the sand damages their gills. He said if you can get one that they managed to catch while it was still above the sand, they do well, but you can't ever tell if that's the case. I don't know if that's true, but it sounds reasonable.

Yes, as I said, normally I research before buying, but we all get caught up sometimes. I have researched and/or kept many other wrasses, so I at least had some idea of the type of fish. Wrasses always freak me out with their little lying on the bottom habits and I just needed some reassurance. I've had reef tanks for the past 13 years, at home and at my office with the exception of 4 or 5 years when my tank was just a FOWLR for the most part. This tank has been up and running in my office for about 8 years. I have one refugium connected to it and another separate one with no fish which is teeming with pods so I occasionally move a rock from there into the main tank. I understood from Carlos and Randy that Leopard Wrasses normally eat PE mysis and that this one did eat at the store before I picked it up. As far as an update, he was lying with just his head buried in the sand at the FRONT of the tank the whole time I was at the office today, which was just a few hours in the morning. Several patients commented that we had a dead fish, but I assured them he was definitely breathing, and is just stressed. One of my staffmembers suggested stress management counseling for him. I'm wondering if he's up at night. It was suggested in the link referenced above at RC that they may "have their days and nights mixed up" initially after being shipped from elsewhere in the world. He has been in a different location each morning from where I last saw him with the exception of yesterday. I also noticed when looking at him today that he has a bulge where I suppose his stomach might be, indicating he may have been eating when I wasn't there to see. The bulge does seem kinda low to be his stomach though. I think it's right in front of his cloaca, or whatever you call a fish's "exit orifice". I hope he's not "irregular".

Okay, you're probably right, John. I'll just hope for the best and stop buggin him. That makes me feel better that you've had them go so long.

Well, he still hadn't come out this morning, so I started worrying that he was stuck under the rock he had gone under. I could still see his tail and it still moved. I put some food in the tank and the tail started moving more, like he smelled it and was interested, but he didn't come out. It wasn't like he was struggling, just flipping the tail a little. So I decided to make sure he could get out. I moved all the rocks around to get to where I could just lift the one he was under straight up. When I did, he came out and looked stressed of course, but generally intact. He was out in the front while I put all the rocks back, but then went back in to hide in basically the same place when I was done, only now I can't see him like I could before. While he was out, he swam okay, but also layed down across a rock at one point. I could actually move him with my hand without him darting away like a normal fish would. Is that normal wrasse behavior? I'm just worried that he hasn't eaten yet. Carlos said he ate some mysis before I picked him up, but that would have been either Friday night or Saturday morning.

When I tried to delete the cookies, I got this error message:

Safari browser checking in here and it works for me!

Andrew, I had a similar thing going on. Looked like I had more PM's than I can see. Also, I sent a PM to Joe the other day and I don't see it in my sent box. Does that mean it didn't go through or do I have to tell it to put mail in the sent folder? One other thing, it doesn't seem to want to remember me and keep me logged in anymore. I just tried clearing my cache so we'll see if that works.

Okay, so I usually don't buy a fish I don't know pretty much about already, but I was very taken with a blue Leopard Wrasse at Rivercity last weekend and gave in to the impulse. Carlos is a good guy and I trust him, so he said it will be a cool fish for my eight year old well established 75G reef and I believe him. But now I want to find out more about them. It's such a gorgeous fish! I put him in Saturday late afternoon. The tank's at my office so I figured it would be good since Sunday no one is there and it would have time to get used to the new surroundings before it has an audience. Today, it's still hiding under a rock, but it's a different rock than the one it went under initially and I can see it's tail move every so often and know it's alive. I know wrasses like to lay on the bottom, so I'm trying not to get too nervous, but I'm anxious to see it swimmin' around. Carlos said several of the big show tanks around here have these fish so I wanted to hear from some of you who have one. What do you feed? Any quirks or things I should know? Thanks in advance. *edited to add: This post at RC makes me feel better about him not being out yet: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=1069059 Both people who posted that theirs had been hiding said they eventually came out, and it sounds like it's common for them to do this when new. The only thing that did make me worry a little is that they said it was hard for them to survive shipping.

I wish I could take it, but I'm not sure I have enough light. I've got a std. 75G with the top totally covered with HO T5's. I don't remember the wattage, but I think it's four 4' bulbs and two 3' bulbs. As far as SPS, I only tried one acropora and it didn't last long. I do have a montipora that's still living and growing after over 6 months, but it bleached shortly after I got it. All my LPS and softies are doing great though.

Hey Robert! I've been away from the forum for a while too. Beautiful little girl. They make it hard to keep up with the tank, huh? Are you getting another? Tank, not baby.

Your rock, etc. could have absorbed the phosphates from the crummy water and is now leeching it back into the new water. I agree large water changes and phosphate sponge would be a good place to start. Also, what kind of lighting are you using? Are your bulbs old? My tank had a horrible year in pretty much all of 2005. I was about ready to take the whole thing down, then as a last ditch, I did a 100% water change and at the same time took every piece of rock out and scrubbed it with a toothbrush to get as much of the HA off as possible. I then added LOTS of snails and hermits. Like 100 snails and 35 crabs (on a 75G tank) I think. That did the trick. When I saw things were improving, I invested in a T5 light set up with about twice as many bulbs as my previous PC set up.

Looks great Clint! So glad to see you getting your dream tank! Love the stand and canopy.

Congrats on the goal achievement, Andrew! I haven't been around much lately, but I'm very impressed to see how much ARC has grown since I joined almost a year ago. Great job! thumbsup.gif

Thanks, Tim Hanson came by. Didn't really find a leak, but now I think the float switch for the top off tank had gotten stuck, and I guess the power failed for the main pump, causing an overflow. Not sure how both bad things happened in one weekend, but that's what it looks like. My staffmember who filled the top off on Saturday said it looked like the water level was higher than usual in the main sump.