Carrie

You know I have nothing but LOVE for you, Laura!

How do you frag palys? Do you just cut them off of their rock? Or is there some super special way to remove them. I have a rock that contains 75-100 yellow and green guys, and I wanna try to frag them in order to get the hang of it.

Moderators - This could be a meeting topic. I can't be the only one terrified of cutting up my babies! Bring the coral you want to frag and have experts there to make sure you don't kill everything! Of course, I'm not sure I trust Mark with a scalpel, and Laura is downright violent....

PMd

Virus has been eradicated (work computer). Users need to quit surfing the net. This is the third time in 5 months this has happened to that same system!

Just get a Mac....

Was this taken with a Macro lens? I love my halloween hermit from Laura. He is all over the rocks, usually at the highest point he can get to. King of the Hill!

I have 20-30 white legged hermits that I bought from reefcleaners. Turns out they are not only not reef-safe as advertised, they are not fish-safe. When I got up on Monday, they were eating a fish alive. I think, Ok, maybe it was really ill. On Tuesday when I got home, a second fish had been taken out. No signs of illness. First thought, test everything. A small ammonia spike from losing two fish in two days. Nitrate at 20PPM. Everything else, perfect. Wednesday I get up, a third fish is getting eaten alive. Remove all hermits from him, but realize his injuries are too severe to save him, so I euthanize with clove oil. Maybe an illness I can't see? So I stay up on Thursday with a flashlight. I see my fish in their usual night time places, close to the sand bed. I watch as some of the hermits go from the rocks, to dropping down on my sleeping clown. Long story short, these are getting removed from my tank. Free to anyone who has a use for them. Maybe a lionfish??? It would be a fitting end.

I have no luck in this hobby. How do you backup a Murderous hermit gang?

How hard are rock anemones to keep? Do they really stay still? or do they take out corals like other anemones?

I had heard of mushrooms eating clowns, but they were always talking about single mushrooms that were 1 ft or larger in diameter. Most of the mushrooms in the trade, simply don't get that large. The species to be wary of is the elephant ear, which is a fish eater by nature, and will not hesitate to have your clown as breakfast.

I'm in

Carrie Burkett [email protected]

Here's my order.

40 Assorted Hermits 27.60

1 Reef Pods 10.99

75 Dwarf Cerith 17.25

Yes and no. It is mine, but apparently it is up for debate if they are called powder browns or A. Nigricans are. Either way, that's my George, and I am calling him powder brown! He has finally settled in and claimed a cave as his territory. Now I am hoping he will attack hair algae with a vengeance.

I officially asked my father to change his birthday so I can attend!

I will be there, but I may be disowned.... Laura, you'll adopt me, right? I promise I won't take my room apart and leave it in the hallway!

Where's my Aggie sweatshirt! I feel out numbered!

I suppose I will have to root for UT, even if it borders on blasphemy! My mother did pay for my tuition even though she was a longhorn.

I am interested in the ACIII.

We very rarely see a mouse (which is saying something because I live very rural, we don't even see mice/rats in the feed room) and better yet no rattle snakes! All our neighbors have found rattle snake nests, not us. So far anyway. Not sure if it's the cats or my large flock of chickens/turkeys/peahens. We see adult snakes from time to time (so far just big rat snakes in the chicken coop), but no nests and no rattlers.

Be careful with rattlesnakes. My cat lost his tail to one. He got bit, and was such a macho kitty that he didn't complain a bit, so we didn't see it right away. A few days later his tail lost it's fur and turned green. The vet had to amputate. It was really funny to watch him the first few weeks without his tail. He seemed drunk since he couldn't use his tail to balance! That's when he and his sister became house cats.

PM sent

I tend to learn the hard way... Stubborn as a mule. I have had three wipe outs since I have started. Here are a few of the lessons I have learned since starting.

Mass die-off one. Buy a battery backup. You never know when your power will go out. The piece of mind is well worth the 70-100 bucks. Don't put your aquarium on the same circuit as large electronics or other power drains. It can blow a fuse, and it will happen when you are not there to fix it. It may cause you to lose everything.

Don't buy what you think will work for the time being, buy what you know will cover your needs for a long time to come. It is much more expensive to buy something, and later find out it wont support the coral you just have to have. Skimmer and lighting are two that you don't want to go cheap on. I am on my third light set. Started with high output PCs, then T5s, and now MHs. Luckily someone talked me into getting the Remora Pro skimmer, and I have never regretted it.

Have a dummy proof vacation plan. Individual food amounts, pre-rinsed and packaged separately is the way to go. There is nothing worse than being on the other side of the country and getting the call "I don't know what I did wrong, but... " Also, remind the person of the things you take for granted. Wash your hands before you you put them in the tank, etc. Mine had lotion on her hands. She managed to kill not only part of my Fowlr, but also my goldfish?!? You have studied, your neighbor may know nothing about your creatures' care. Die off two.

Listen to the advise of everyone on here, but remember, what works for one person may not work for you. The advise is always well meant, but there are way too many variables to account for everything.

Keep friends in the hobby. They may actually enjoy listening to you ramble on about your latest coral, and they are there for the random emergencies that pop up.

If you can, quarantine. At least dip your corals. Getting disease out of your display can take more patience then the average Saint will contain. Brooklynellosis is particularly hard to get rid of. It took leaving my display tank empty of fish it can infect for six weeks to kill all the developing parasites. I got it from a clownfish from a reputable local dealer. Luckily it only effects Angels, Tangs, Jawfish, Seahorse, Clowns and Damsels. Clowns are a common carrier.

For vital equipment that mechanical failure will cause death quickly, I would keep a backup. You can manage a week without most equipment while you wait for a replacement, but a heater or flow in your tank is essential. Die off three.

Research even the things you may take for granted. Read what others have to say about salt, foods, additives, etc. Some foods can be very high in phosphates, some salts can very greatly in quality, and some additives are nothing more than a reason to spend money, etc. Ten minutes of research before you buy is helpful.

Research every fish, coral, invert, thoroughly before you purchase. You are committing to care for it for the remainder of it's life. Make sure it is something you are reasonably sure you can do. If you aren't sure, wait. Try easier species first. Also, research where you are purchasing. Not all dealers are the same!

Good luck, and have patience!

If I am reading Neptune's website correctly, the ACIII Pro Monitors and corrects PH, Temp, ORP, and Oxygen, and controls wavemakers, lighting, etc. Is that your experience? Would I need to buy anything in addition to the ACIII?

Why does Mark's advice always require me to save money? Doesn't he realize that we aren't all independently wealthy?

OK, fine... Start saving for a controller. Now I just have to figure out which one. Is there a better brand than others? Ones that do more than just PH?

What all did you test for? I assume Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite. Did you test anything else? Did you quarantine your new arrivals? How did you acclimate them? I am nowhere near an expert on these forums, but the awesome people on ARC will most likely need more info. I know that some Chromis are hardy, but others of the same species often die in aquaria. I have two that are fine, but started with six. They died off one by one, for no apparent reason. The last two have survived an extended power outage, and a broken heater. So, for the Chromis, it may have been the individual that was purchased.

I have decided that I need a new test kit brand. My API test kit showed a PH of 8.8 at 9:00 AM and 7.4 at noon. If I really had a swing that high, I think it would have killed everything I own. What brand of tester do you use, and would you recommend it? I have heard from many sources that API is notoriously unreliable.

Also, are the inexpensive PH probes accurate?

Sometimes it takes a day, where stress and circumstances overwhelm, to realize how blessed we truly are. The outpouring of support, and offers of temporary homes for my tank inhabitants, were both genuine and frequent, in the past week. It is rare to find a community willing to inconvenience themselves in order to assist another. ARC does it on a regular basis. From tank moves, rehoming, advice, group buys and lending equipment, ARC members are always supporting each other. I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone involved with this fantastic group.

Four members I really must call out and thank are:

Dave and Robin - for both their support, and humor.

Mark - for always offering advice, and calming me when I worry too much about the critters in my care.

Laura - for being a wonderful caring individual, and helping me with everything last week.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holidays, in whatever way you celebrate!

Carrie

I still have glass shards all over my tank, so I would guess it exploded... I am slowly sifting the sand to get the glass up, but trying not to disturb my fish too badly. I did a 50% water change on Saturday, and I have the water ready to do another 20% tonight. I want to make sure my nitrates don't spike from the snail loss. Hopefully that is enough to prevent any more damage if chemicals had seeped into the water, but as I seem to keep learning, there is never a guarantee in this hobby.

Reefcleaners.org classifies the Bumble Bee Snail as "bad." Quoted from reefcleaners - Sold as a sand stirrer, it eats the micro fauna in your sand that makes it "live".

I love my urchin, but you should consider how picky you are on tank arrangement. In small tanks, they would do some serious rearranging. In my 75, I often find things moved or knocked over. Spike has no idea that the $100 prized coral frag you bought is not a pretty decoration for his spines.

So far I lost a clown I had for a year, some larger snails and the starfish I had added on Thursday. At least my Fugi Goby is Ok. He is already back to torturing anything with a shell. I would have been crushed, had a lost my neurotic little guy. The tank is back up to 78, with a 10 gallon water change. I have another 30 gallons mixed in case anything spikes. My existing corals look ok, but the new frags from last week are bleaching. I can only cross my fingers on the new corals. Being fragged on Tuesday, then frozen on Saturday is a rough week. I am not sure how the cucumber is doing, because he hasn't moved much since I added him. (Mark?) Nothing's eating him, so I suppose he is OK? I fed the fish this evening, and everyone ate like little piglets, so at least I have some positive signs. I was afraid to leave the tank today, but I am sorry I missed the party!