CaptainBob

I like it when people actually listen to what I tell them. welcome to the board

if it has spots on the base it's not a condy, I honestly think it looks more like a dieing long tentacle anemone... what kind of lights is it under? -edit if it's in the same tank with your SPS and clam the light should be sufficient, might just be a bad picture. But if it stays pale like that and it was green in the store I'd make sure it's eating enough, whole krill and silversides fed at least every other day are a good balanced diet for large predatory anemones like condys and long tentacles.

if you want to swing by aquatek tomorrow to check out our new stock we got in today I'd love a little piece or two, we got a lot of nice LPS and zoos in today, you'd do well to come see some of this stuff.

we've got plenty in stock right now, if there's any slime algae on your macro you can just shake it vigorously and it all comes right off, we try to avoid doing this when we sell it just because the macro is loaded with pods and you'll want those in your tank.

we get them in occasionally at Aquatek, but most species are pretty tricky to find since most reefers are terrified of them and kill them on sight, it's one of the biggest misconceptions in our hobby that mantis shrimp are guaranteed to obliterate everything in your tank up to and including the tank itself... they're as reef safe as turbo snails and safer emerald crabs IME... the most they'll ever do to corals is move them, they'll never freak out and decide your favorite zoanthids would make a nice snack. They will eat small snails and hermits though, but not at such an alarming rate that you can't replace the ones the mantis decides to munch on, and if you are pretty good about feeding them they won't even go after your inverts most of the time. *edit* we do have a medium sized peacock mantis, O. scyllarus, she's actually quite tame, we're able to put our hands in her cube and she's content just to watch us... bear in mind though that a peacock will need a much larger tank given time.

the vast majority of stomatopod species are small enough to live in a 10 for life, the peacocks are the most commonly imported species and they will outgrow a 10 for sure, but there are several other smaller species that will work fine. as far as breaking glass goes, I've seen it happen, when a large specimen was provoked to do it. None of the species that I would advise you keep in a 10 will ever get large enough to shatter glass. I got my 4" Gonodactylus chiragra riled up yesterday just for fun, and he punched the glass on his 10G multiple times in the same spot while trying to take out my eye.. and there were no ill effects, other than making an evil genius frustrated... I'm pretty sure he's building a doomsday device out of LR rubble and algae in his burrow. some relatively easy to come by species I'd reccomend are N. oerstedii, N. wennerae, or O. haveninsis, you can look them up here http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/cr....html#directory

here's a link about seaweeds that are routinely grown for human consumption- http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/Y4765E/y4765e0b.htm I'll stop now before I totally hijack this thread.. but in all seriousness I don't think I'd eat anything else I grow in my tanks

i actually use more grape caulerpa than chaeto, and the trick to keeping the macro in the caddy is keeping the lip of the caddy just above the surface of the tank, my snails crawl in there every now and then, and the lion got stuck in there once, but has since learned that there's no food in the big green mess and he leaves it alone now. Stirring the macro up isn't really a problem, I routinely reach in and shake it around a little every couple of days to get some the micro organisms into the rock and sand below it... which is great for my anemone and all of my LPS. *edit* the other reason I prefer grape caulerpa to chaeto is actually a little strange, if you pull a handfull out, rinse it in clean fresh water and put some rice vinegar on it it makes a great salad for human consumption.. I've only gotten to eat one since I implemented my caddy-fuge 2 months ago, but it's actually quite tasty.

got my schedule for next month, I'll definitely be there

I use a sponge in my power filters, just for the mechanical filtration aspect, but I get around the nitrate problem with a big mess of macro in a suction cup shower caddy stuck inside the tank just under the filter output, this has the benefit of being under the reef lighting, and that much algae right under the lights burns nitrate faster than my reef inhabitants produce it, and I've got my dwarf lion in there, so you know there's waste being produced.

mantis shrimp. tough, hardy, and easily the coolest SW critters that exist. we have been getting more of the smaller species in lately, keep an eye out, we're sure to get more in eventually.

I could trade you a couple of zoos or palys for a bunch, I'm working on getting more macros into my mantis/condy tank

you can look in my gallery on here for an idea of the quality of my camera, but I might be able to help you also

actually, I can one up you on dead anemone stink, how about a bag of 60 mexican turbos that spent 3 extra days in transit in June. sorry the anemone didn't pull through though, lots of them just don't acclimate well.

yellow tangs will turn brown if they consume too much protein, sounds like getting the sheet algae back in its diet is already fixing his colors, he's probably fine.

if it's just closed up but doesn't appear to be spewing its internal bits about, that's normal behavior while adjusting to new systems, if you are seeing any sort of open wounds or parts of the animal that are dissolving or lacerated I'd just pull it and freeze it, make sure your water parms check out and good luck with the new critter

oohh.. they've also got O. havanensis mantis shrimp.. very cool species

that is gross, bear in mind though that you really can't blame your local shop for this packing mishap, every brand of food claims that they package under strict, sterile conditions, and frozen foods arrive at local shops hermetically sealed, I'm sure whoever sold them to you would happily replace that pack with another that is hopefully roach free. but definitely write to the manufacturer if you want to make a stink about this, these companies actually do listen to customers since this is such a small hobby nobody making their living in it at any level wants to lose a regular customer.

It's a hypothetical game that groups of people play drafting their dream team of players from the whole league into one team and comparing the stats they earn in real play to see who's team ends up with the best stats at the end of the season... lots of math and reading tables of numbers that don't make sense to anyone who isn't fanatical about the game in question... That being said, I'm going to have to pass on this one, I'm a baseball kind of guy

LOL- http://www.willitblend.com/videos.aspx?typ...mp;video=iphone

I took a different tack to this problem in my own reef at home, I picked up a suction cup shower soap dish at target, and put a fistful of macroalgae in it, I stuck that to the side wall of my 20underneath an aquaclear 50 power filter, the result is an in-tank fuge that benefits tremendously from the lighting above it, and keeps the algae safe from marauding hermits. the amount of water that gets stirred through that algae under the main reef lights really burns my nitrate up. if you buy a handful of the macroalgae from our back specimen display I can assure you that you will get some pods in with the algae.

they'll do fine in small tanks until they outgrow them, which they do fairly rapidly if there's sufficient food provided.

we actually have a nice Tunze skimmer, not sure which model, for $100 on consignment right now, it's probably worth your while to have a look. we also have a selection of new skimmers, but they start a few dollars more for an inferior skimmer.

I'll come by if I'm not working, Bruce hasn't written my august schedule yet.

give the new girl some time, if she's eating you're ahead of the game. *edited for gender