NonSequitur

PMs replied

I've decided to thin out the population of asterina stars in my tank, since I think they're irritating my zoas. I don't want to leave them out to dry, but from what I've head harlequin shrimp love them. I have a couple of dozen in a cup already, will be pulling more out as they move into areas where I can catch them. If you want them, they're yours. I also still have plenty of kenya tree and finger leather frags that I'm happy to share, all I ask is that you come to georgetown to get them. PM me.

Looks like it could be dragon's tongue macroalgae, Halymenia

My first impression was toadstool leather.. could be a majano as well, but I wouldn't kill it until you know for sure. If in doubt, I'd say put it in your sump/fuge until you can make a conclusive identification.

I've not noticed any bad behavior from my flame-tail or my lawnmower blenny.. unless you count hiding in my powerheads when they're switched off.

I'm not sure if the marine ich lifecycle can be accelerated by higher temp like freshwater ich, but I just came across this article that might help: Reefkeeping article on marine ich

I use kent garlic extreme, but I've heard the garlic extract from the grocery store (kyolic brand if memory serves me (and it often doesn't)) works just as well and costs less.

I think Hydro posted a while back about a local hydroponics shop that stocks something like that, trying to find the post.

As I understand it, the Ich parasite exists in most saltwater tanks, but tends to flare up from time to time, often in times of stress. Many people suggest supportive treatment (garlic extract to help encourage eating, careful maintenance of water quality), and the fish will often recover on their own, particularly if you can keep them eating. Now that the parasite is in the water chances are high that she'll get reinfected if you take her out and treat her. Others have more experience with this than I do, but other things that I've heard are helpful: UV sterilizer in the tank to kill the free-floating life stage of the parasite, freshwater dip for the fish (very stressful for the fish and very hard to watch, not recommended).

pm sent on frag

Oh wow, that's gorgeous! Waiting to see if the chalice I got from AAF thrives in my tank, but when I know it's going to make it I definitely want a frag of that!

I had a black brittle star in my 12gal for a while (moved him to my 55 to augment the CUC).. didn't see much of him since he lived under the rock, but it was very cool to see his arms reach out and grab food whenever I'd feed the fish.

Agreed.. look up the "Chicken liver sponge." Nasty beast, fortunately those pictured look like garden variety yellow sponges.

Those look like sponges. Mostly harmless, but some can be invasive. I had one overrun a set of zoas, ended up having to remove the rock and scrub it off with a stiff bristled brush.

I don't have any chaeto, but I have plenty of something else.. I think it's a caulerpa variety (profilera or serrulata possibly, based on a very brief search) that grows amazingly well in my fuge (and is readily eaten by my foxface rabbitfish) .. never had it go sexual under a 12 on / 12 off photocycle.

I have a frag of kenya tree and one of finger leather I'd be happy to share.

The snail looks like it could be a variety of cowrie, particularly the way the mantle covers the shell. When it's retracted, is the shell very smooth, polished looking? If it is a cowrie, I'd keep an eye on it, some are reef safe, others aren't.

I'm going to try to make it, if I get out of work on time.

Nice! I'm going to have to steal the idea for the next time one of my users breaks his computer. "This computer has completed it's life cycle..."

First, welcome to Austin and ARC. There are a lot of really good people here and in Austin in general. Any of our sponsors will take good care of you as far as livestock and equipment. I'm particularly partial to Fishy Business.. Shane's never steered me wrong with livestock and advice.

I've contemplated doing something like this.. how did you do the acclimation to saltwater?