KeeperOfTheZoo

Thank you Laura! Wow, I'm going to be getting so many fun goodies from you. Woo-hoo!!

Can I bump my small nassarius snail order to an even 20? I'm going to get some extras to bring home to a friend. I swear, last changes.

I'm looking for a tank, does not matter what kind (glass or acrylic) that is drilled on the short side (width) towards the top. It would need to be drilled at least half way up the tank to suit my purpose, doesn't really matter if it's towards the front or back of the tank. Does not need to have a bulk head fitting on it.

My intent is to use it as a fuge and I want it to be able to gravity feed via the drilled bulkhead into a separate sump tank.

I'd also consider an already built but not drilled acrylic tank with proportions similar to a 10g or 20g tall.

Cyrus,

I have a little ocellaris hosting in a large colony of hairy shrooms (they almost look like a carpet nem), clowns are little hussies for sure! My clown is very gentle and the mushrooms don't mind having her even though she burrows and 'cuddles' with them very actively.

If your clown is aggressive with the nem or is causing damage I'd pull it. I have talked to multiple people who have had their clowns kill an anemone. Catch the maroon clown and take her to one of the big fish stores in Austin and trade her in for credit. I've taken fish to both RCA and Aquatec. Aquatec acted like they were doing me a favor to take my fish and I got nothing for them. RCA gave me store credit, which I happily spent on another fish!

Since my tank is still relatively new I don't have anything all that exciting to offer but I can bring the following if there's interest, I'm really looking for some more colorful zoas and other easy to grow softies.

-anthelia (loose cuttings)

-big bunch of common zoas (they were purple-ish with bright neon green centers and greenish skirts, like purple people eaters until I got new bulbs. Then they turned a little more brown. A lot of my zoas/palys switched colors on me and not for the better so they might go back to pretty purple zoas... at LEAST 20 polyps. Pretty as is, prettier before the new bulbs...)

- couple small kenya tree frags, they will be loose, my mother just dropped babies

- neon green palau nepthea, about 2" long with small branches, also loose as again my mother dropped a baby

Yea,

I know I have anthelia. My original question lost up there was about the relation between clove polyps and anthelia (and xenia in general I guess). Cool description though Cindy, thank you. And does that mean it is indeed a member of the xenia family? What about clove polyps?

I really like it, but it's some seriously fast growing stuff. I have pulsing pom-pom xenia and while it is fast growing, the anthelia leaves it in the dust.

James, I have pulsing xenia in two areas, one towards the top of the tank that gets pretty good flow and one towards the bottom that's in a weird almost dead zone. The one with almost no flow is by far the happier xenia.

Hey Laura, can you add 3 firefish to my order?

Here's everything I wanted, figured I'd post it over here to make it easy on you. If I get a double order we'll know why!

2 emerald crabs

6 nassarius snails (small)

1 cleaner shrimp

the sump (that is getting increasingly infamous)

Are the mandarins eating prepared food? If they are, I want one! If not, I'm going to hold out for a youngster that I can hopefully train to eat 'dead' stuff in addition to pods.

Thank you!

That's a cool looking coral! Would you swap for cash? I'll be at the meeting, if you have any remaining frags I'd like one. Don't really have much to offer in trade. I have a small frag from Neon Green Palau Nepthea that is currently loose as it was just dropped. It is already branching, about 1- 1 1/2 inches. My camera took a hike while on vacation so I don't have a pic of my colony, but here's a link to what it is/looks like:

http://www.coloradocoralfarm.com/true-palau-nepthea/

http://www.atlantisaquarium.net/rare-palau-nepthea-frg132.html

Umm Will, not being snippy but even your links point out a 16g is too small for those fish! A 30 maybe until they outgrow it (eel would be ok), but even that seems to be pushing the ticket a little. I looked at the anglers when deciding where I wanted to go with my tank, it was a predator/large fish tank when I bought it. The anglers are very cool, but I remember reading that 50-70g was the min for any of them, the wartskin will grow to 6", that's a big fish. So you just need to upgrade to a 55g and all will be well!

Like I said, not everyone approaches stocking with the idea of giving the fish plenty of space and I've seen some very pretty tanks that were very overstocked but all seemed fairly well. Total tank volume is good and will help with water fouling, but I don't consider total volume when stocking. My total system volume is up over 150g, but when I look at fish I only take into consideration the size of my display (125g). I will admit I'm anal about fish planning though, I'm fascinated with the idea of building a long term reef 'community' vs. constant swapping of stock. I tend to want to create natural environments (or as much as possible) for all my animals.

I think with some of those fish your firefish would be very likely to be lunch as well!! I know my snowflake eel would happily eat anything he could get in his mouth, he also did a great job burrowing and moving my rocks and corals around. We generally only saw him at feeding time, or we'd see just his head sticking out of the rocks. For an animal that ate a lot he didn't add a lot visually to the tank (aside from bioload). He was beautiful, and it was amazing when he would come out and swim, but I'm very glad he's in a new home now.

Oh... flow is easy to tone down. I'm sure Mama could help you! LOL!!

It's good to play with these ideas and work out the kinks ahead of time. I just aquired a second 55g tank which frees up the drilled 55g I was going to use to upgrade one of my freshwater tanks. You know what that means... a new saltwater tank (and the upgraded freshwater, woohoo)!! I'm playing with the idea of creating a TX gulf biotope tank, but I'm not sure how realistic a goal that would be. It'd make a great science project for my kids though. We had so much fun collecting things off the FL coast, gotta hit the TX coast and do the same.

Hey Andrew,

Do you have pictures?

I'm VERY interested in the dragonfly zoas and the Hawaiian Tropics, but I'd like to see the frags before I commit to the drive to pick them up. Are you going to this months meeting?

I've heard the same thing said of xenia (which in my opinion looks like close kin to anthelia, clove polyps, etc). Huge healthy colony one day, dead and melted the next. I've also heard lots of stories where people simply can't get any of the xenia family corals to grow in their tanks even when other corals thrive. Weird, wild stuff!

I have pulsing pom-pom xenia and the anthelia growing like mad. I'll be sad if either colony crashes, though I do have moments when I fear that between the two they'll take over the entire tank and then have a final show down. My money is on the anthelia.

This is a 16g tank? That's a pretty little tank for most fish.

I'd do a bit more research on the space requirements for the fish you have listed, the predator fish would all need a bigger tank. In some cases a much bigger tank.

I know not everyone approaches stocking their tanks in the same way and I have seen people put juvenile fish in tanks that are much too small for the adult size the fish will reach. It can work, but you need to be aware and ready to find the fish a new home before it gets cramped and miserable. I personally buy fish with their adult size in mind, regardless of the current size of the fish. I have a small yellow tang right now who looks lost, but I know he's going to get big some day! I'm looking forward to years of watching my fish mature and settle into their home and form a community. I don't want to be having to constantly swap out fish that overgrow my tank (and even with a 125g I have to watch size and stocking) or are not compatible with what I want in the tank.

Personally, I think you'd be better off with the smaller community type fish, and even then, check tank sizes and make sure you don't overstock. Realistically you can probably only fit one or two small fish in that tank. I like the firefish, pretty and they stay small.

One other idea... what about seahorses or pipe fish?

Two words: nutrient export!

You can try all the tricks, but at the end of the day if you have excess nutrients you are going to have pest algae overgrowth.

What are your nitrate and phosphate readings?

Others have given you good advice, I just want to emphasize good nutrient export over gimicks. I bought an

established set up about 7 months ago and inherited a massive nutrient build up problem. The tank went through a variety of problems with algae, diatoms, cyano before

nutrient levels dropped and the tank cleaned up. I still have some green algae, but since it's not excesive and is pretty I've come to see it as a good thing. My tang agrees.

If you can add a fuge with macro algae, the granulated

nitrate/phosphate remover work well and does not have to be used in a reactor. Any moderate flow area is fine. I use it in plastic media containers in my sump. Be sure you are using ro/di water for all make up and top off, tap will just add back in the nutrients you are trying to get rid of.

Last, be patient! The excess nutrients that caused the hair algae will take some time to go away.

Be careful adding a lot of CUC critters. I love inverts, but keep in mind they are nutrient recyclers, not exporters. They add to the bioload of your tank and may be as much of a problem as a fix. Or worse yet they will starve and die when your tank cleans up!

I switched from flake to frozen foods. I'm not sure if that really helps, but my fish sure like it more! I feed formula 2 for my herbavores and mysis for my meat eaters. I feed every other day plus nori a couple times a week.

Good luck!

Conchs are both spoken for.

Still have anthelia!

Ok, will cook the rocks and then rinse/soak/dry. They are small rocks, palm size. I wanted to eventually add them as rubble type rock in my fuge.

Do you still have the Galveston rocks in QT? How is that going? I'm hoping to hit the TX coast in the next couple months. I'm toying with the idea of a TX biotope tank with the 55g I'm gonna set up.

So, one last question.... How do I explain cooking rocks to my hubby?

While at the beach I picked up a few hunks of neat porous rock, looks like 'live' rock (old coral skeleton) and probably was when I fished it out of the water. I've had it drying out for about a week now. Not real sure what to do with it. Can it be safely put in my tank, or is anything like that too polluted by the time it reaches the shore?

Great Mark! That's the second conch spoken for.

William and Pegine, sorry... I wish I'd known there was enough interest to justify bringing more home, all the conchs are spoken for now.

Gonna go just to PMs, I'm to old, getting confused between this conversation and PMs! LOL!!

Here's the only pic I have, my camera went MIA while on vaccation. This was taken with my iPhone, so it doesn't do anything justice (and there's my camera hog clown that I'm wanting a buddy for!). The pink Zoas are the colony at the very top. They are a light pink with tan skirts. Their color is usually more vivid, but I shocked them a little when I got my new bulbs a couple months ago. They are health and open completely, their color just isn't what it was before I hit them with a wee bit too much light to fast. It's coming back though. This isn't the actual colony I have for trade, it's a slightly larger one. All the same zoas though. The one I have for trade has at least 12 pink zoas and 1 yellow polyp on it.

Don't know what it is Corey but it's really pretty! If it turns out to be friendly I want one.

Oh... corals....I have the following I could trade (not all, but can pick to make it an even trade) cash or I'd be willing to just pay for the clown.

- neon green palau nepthea frag, not attached to anything. The parent is dropping limbs & making babies!

- kenya tree frags, have a couple small ones. One is attached to rubble, one is loose since my parent just dropped it.

- pink zoas w/ tan skirts, probably 10+ size frag

- anthelia, would be a loose cutting but it is very easy to attach to something and grows very quickly once established.

- tiny frag of blue palys (2-3?), very fast growing but a nice light blue

- Yellow polyps, will be loose but they attach and grow quickly. Very pretty with really long skirts. I have a small rock that has pink zoas and one or two yellow polyps on it.

Hey Christian,

I'd really like the clown! Do you think you could hold him till the meeting if we can work out a deal on him? I live WAY N. so it's a wee bit of a drive to get south to pick him up.

Nemirn, yep I'd be happy to trade a conch for a colt coral frag. I'll mark one as yours.

Msmmze, I do not have a pic handy but if you look up fl fighting conch on google images the most common one that pops up is what these guys look like to a 'T'. I have them all together in with some smaller un IDd snails I brought home, a variety of small fuge snails and a crab. They haven't eaten anyone. They hop and cruise around eating algae and detrius with their weird trunk nose thingy. I love looking in at them... They will follow large movements with their big eyes. They are such weird snails!

Bummer about your clams. I'm trying to ID the pretty snails I brought hone before I put them in my display tank so I don't have a similar issue (no clams, but plenty of targets for predatory snails).

Planning on being there, my oldest son may tag along as well. Depends on what his social calender looks like.

Don't have exciting frags since my tank is just a baby (7 months this month, my how time flies) but I have a couple Fl. fighting conchs! Weird creatures that they are.... Anybody want a conch? I posted them over in the trade/free section too, don't want to drag the poor guys to the meeting if no one wants them. They are happy in my old fuge in quarantine. One lucky weirdo will get to live in the tank, the other two could go live with someone else!

I have a couple random things to trade, would like to trade at the April meeting since I live so far N. getting into Austin is a hassle. Unless of course you live out N. of Lampasas like me!

- 2 FL fighting conchs- I caught these guys off the Florida coast. By the meeting they will have been in quarantine for 2 weeks. As of right now they are healthy and doing great. I brought 3 home thinking I'd be lucky to get one home alive. Well, all three are flourishing in captivity. I only really need one. They are about 2 1/2" long. They are supposed to be great sand sifters/scavengers for cleaning up a sand bed. Reef safe.

- Anthelia cuttings- I need to trim my mother colony back. Cuttings will be small (1-5 polyps or so, depends on how they cut loose). Trust me, this is a GOOD thing. It grows very quickly once established. Attaching the small cutting is easy, within a month or so it will be more than doubled if it grows in your tank like it does in mine and growth from there will increase dramatically. Very beautiful, but again, very fast growing so watch where you put it. Cuttings will be loose, it'll be up to you to attach them (I used the rubber band method, worked great).

Will take pretty much anything in trade except kenya trees & pom-pom xenia. Would like colorful zoas/palys, mushrooms, any other softies. Will give the Anthelia away free if you don't have trades. Wanted to see if anyone was interseted before hauling the poor conchs to the meeting. Guys are well traveled enough as it is!

Without destroying the tank? Yea. Good luck.

I had to catch 2 sgt. majors, an almost 4" yellow tail, an 18" snowflake eel and 4 orbicular cardinals out of my tank (they came with it, after moving it and setting it back up I was dumb enough to put all those ugly monsters back in... well, the eel was beautiful but the fish were not)... none were under 3".

I tried the hook and line... didn't work for me but I'm not much of a fisher woman (it was actually a pretty horrific failure of an experience and hard on the fish. Something I personally would not ever try again). I didn't try a trap, but my fish were pretty dang canny. I tried floating a net with food in the tank and the fish weren't about to fall for that.

100+lbs of rock removal later I did catch all the *$@!>-ing fish.

I learned a valuable lesson: fish go in the tank much easier than they come out. Makes me think a little harder about what I add.

I wish you luck. Lots of it. Try a fish trap.