Tank Progression: 60 gallon

[G S P Freak]

Because I take crap pics thru glass. My friend Gary, is a professional photographer & he takes way better pics of my tanks!

Well I can't argue with that! Those pics are beautiful, I too would probably have to get a photographer as I couldn't take a good pic of my fish or aquarium to save my life lol.

[*GSP*Fan*]

I hope the coral makes it . Sun corals really are quite beautiful.

Thank you, me too. If not I do plan on another.

They really are, especially when they're fully opened up. I haven't even seen one in person but basically got hooked after coming across them online.

Having to actually feed them kinda fascinates me as well

Sure are!

Lovely sun and photo!

I need a photographer friend.

[*GSP*Fan*]

Well unfortunately the suncoral didn't make it. I believe it was just too far gone by the time a received it, not to mention it had gotten cold by the time I was able to pick up the package that day. I tried feeding it out of the tank, which was easier than I expected, for quite a while but never saw any sort of response. The skeleton was also showing through the heads after some time, never saw any flesh/polyps. I plan to try again here in a little while but I have spoke with one of my LFS and they'll be able to get one for me no problem. I'll feel better going this route I believe then chancing it getting held up on some truck again.

Anyways, other updates....

My additional 10lbs of live rock finally cured and I added it to my tank two days ago. Heres a couple shots of the aquascape now, with the 10lbs added in. I'm still not happy with the structure on the far left. I'll work with it tonight if I get a chance. In particular, I had a hard time placing a long/tall white piece of rock, it just didn't seem to fit in anywhere. Right now you can see it on the very top on the left.




Ricordias


Heres a closer shot of some of the rocks that make up the structure in the middle. The two items circled are hitchhikers of some sort I guess. I'm just not sure what. The top I believe is a sponge, maybe pineapple? The other circled object looks like a tiny clam or similar, not sure if its alive or not or how to tell if it something along those lines. Any ids would be great.


Heres a recent shot of my leather. Its looked like this for about a week other than seeming to be a little taller/straighter here in the last day or so. I believe its shedding, but am not sure.


I believe my wrasse has ate all of my nassarius snails. I haven't seen any lately and they would usually pop out of the sand often, especially during feeding time. Not a huge loss, it just surprised me. I just realized the other day I hadn't seen any and believe that is what happened. Also, I haven't seen my wrasse today. He's usually out and about. I hope he didn't jump and is just hiding. I did not find him out on the floor or anything but I do have one indoor cat and two indoor dogs... If he doesn't show I will definitely be adding another but will have a top in place beforehand. I intend on getting the kit for the mesh top from BRS. I should have sooner I supposed, definitely my fault if he jumped. He was fine last night and went to sleep before I did, buried in the sand I believe. I had also checked my parameters last night and they were fine. If he jumped it would have had to of been early this morning as I wasn't in bed until about 5 this morning. I don't know, I'm just worrying and hate not knowing.

[Pufferpunk]

Looks like a scallop & a sponge. Yep, the leather is shedding. Maybe the wrasse is still buried?

[*GSP*Fan*]

Looks like a scallop & a sponge. Yep, the leather is shedding. Maybe the wrasse is still buried?

Thank you!

First real 'hitchhikers' I've seen. Since the scallop is closed, looks to be to me, its still alive correct?

Good to know about the leather. I just wanted to make sure thats all it was and that there wasn't anything wrong. I'd say it has moderate flow now, would high flow be of any help or should I just leave it?

I really hope it is. I did a google search of wrasses disappearing (not just specific to my type of wrasse though) and found quite a few threads where others had wrasse missing for some time and come to find out it was just hiding. It just worries me because up until now the only time it had buried itself is when it went to sleep at night, even when I first added him to the take he was always out in the open. He didn't show any signs up illness/stress last night before he buried himself for the night. He's been eating just fine, mysis mainly, but picks at the sheets I feed the blenny too. I'm also assuming he's had himself a nice meal of at least the nassarius snails.

I'd hate it if he jumped, especially since I could have had the top covered which would probably prevent that from happening if that was the case. But I check around and behind the stand, no sight of him. If he jumped out in the open floor anywhere I'm sure my cat or dogs would have picked him up. No sign of that though, not sure if they would really leave a sign though.

I'm hoping he didn't pass last night or something while buried. I've still got some members of a CUC but the nassarius snails would have been nice to have to clean up anything dead obviously. I didn't see any hermits or such congregated to one particular area though, but who knows. Worried that could cause water quality issues with my depleted CUC, so I'll definitely be checking levels again.

I feel as though I'm rambling now, I just hate the not knowing. I really hope he's just hiding.

[Pufferpunk]

Leathers love flow & it's very helpful to their shedding. I agree the scallop is probably still alive & you should see it open occasionally.

Having fun?

[*GSP*Fan*]

He was hiding!! I woke up today and saw him swimming around the tank as he usually does! Guess he decided he'd sleep in all day or something yesterday, who knows. All I know is that it worried me to death and would have drove me crazy if he would have decided to hide over any length of time. It was just so out of character for him since I had added him to my tank, at least now I won't be surprised if it happens in the future.

Leathers love flow & it's very helpful to their shedding. I agree the scallop is probably still alive & you should see it open occasionally.

Having fun?

I have to say I have become far more attached to my fish and setup than I would have ever thought I would. I wouldn't have thought a hiding fish could worry me so much. There have certainly been some aggravations (like aquascaping) and worries (suncoral, hiding wrasse) but I would still have to say I'm having fun. The longer my tank is setup the more I enjoy it, the future planning, researching/learning, and stuff of that nature. I'll admit I do a bit of staring at the tank as its in my living room, its hard not to. Again, not something I would have ever expected for myself.

Anyway, I should be able to slid the powerhead a bit and give the leather some higher flow without any issues. It did look a little perkier and taller today, which I'm happy for.

So now I'm waiting until I'm able to find the puffer in stock that I want. I'd really like a papuan but they are not in stock online anywhere at the moment (live aquaria had medium sized in stock for a short while, but now now) and my LFS can't get me one. I like the bennetts also, so I'll be keeping an eye out for those as well. I don't have a problem waiting for a little while, so if anyone sees either of these in stock at an online retailer, let me know

Edit: That Pet Place has a medium papuan in stock but I don't anything about that site which would worry me. I was waiting on liveaquaria to hopefully get them back in stock before long or even saltwaterfish.com as I've ordered corals and inverts from them twice with no issue yet..

[bertie 83]

Fish can be a bit weird like that, i have a spiny eel i did not see for a good 6mths maybe close to a year. I assumed he died and got eaten by the masses of shrimp or something. Spotted him a few days ago and he is hench, what can i say

[defool89]

You can call That Pet Place and talk to the "marine biologists" that cares for him. They will tell you what their feeding them, when they got him in and approx size. if you do call, ask him/her if they have witnessed him eat. They will refund you the fish money if it dies on you in a few days, all you need is to send them an email with the dead fish. they will NOT refund the shipping price thats around 30$.

I know this because that is what I went through. I dont condone buying Puffers online in general because its a gamble anywhere. Good luck

[*GSP*Fan*]

You can call That Pet Place and talk to the "marine biologists" that cares for him. They will tell you what their feeding them, when they got him in and approx size. if you do call, ask him/her if they have witnessed him eat. They will refund you the fish money if it dies on you in a few days, all you need is to send them an email with the dead fish. they will NOT refund the shipping price thats around 30$.

I know this because that is what I went through. I dont condone buying Puffers online in general because its a gamble anywhere. Good luck

Any place I'd deal with online will have about the same warranty, and I haven't seen anywhere that will refund shipping. I've ordered online, mainly just corals though. I just don't know about that site as far as their reputation and what shape their stock is in basically. I know liveaquaria is a good source and I haven't had any issues with saltwaterfish.com yet.

I would rather get from a LFS but they can't get me any of the puffers I want so my option is online. I'm not worried about online ordering as a whole just don't know about that site is all. Thanks for the information though, I will definitely give them a call if I decide to order from them though.

Fish can be a bit weird like that, i have a spiny eel i did not see for a good 6mths maybe close to a year. I assumed he died and got eaten by the masses of shrimp or something. Spotted him a few days ago and he is hench, what can i say

Wow. After that long I would have definitely thought the worst. Shew, that would have drove me crazy.

I definitely was thinking the worst just after one day. I really thought he had jumped out and my cat or dogs had gotten him, leaving no evidence.

It just took me by surprise because the only time he had buried himself since I had got him was to sleep at night, never during the day. Didn't even hide when I first placed him in the tank. But again, at least now I know not to jump to conclusions if he decides to disappear like that again.

[bertie 83]

Even by this species's standard this was long. Could not believe it when he reappeared

[*GSP*Fan*]

I just placed an order for a few more corals. I'm pretty excited I would have never thought I'd be excited over something like this or that it could be so addicting...

Heres what I ordered..(copied and pasted from the order to make it easier on myself)

WA Live Coral Australian Trachyphyllia trachy brain

WA Live Coral Branching Hammer

WA Live Coral Australian Rainbow Lobophyllia

WA Live Coral Blatomussa merletti blastos wellsi blasto

WA Live Coral Pink Sprinkle Explosion Ultra Zoanthids #3 palys palythoa zoas

All were listed as WYSIWYG and looked really nice to me. I also believe I got pretty good prices but I could be wrong there. The order *should* be here by Friday. I'll definitely post pictures when it arrives.

I do have a question related to corals. I know I need to get more test kits but before I place my order I wanted to make sure I was getting what I needed. I planned on getting the set from RedSea that contains alk, magnesium, and calcium. Are there any other kits I should worry about?

Even by this species's standard this was long. Could not believe it when he reappeared

I know nothing about the species but would expect that amount of time to be very long for just about any. I'm glad he showed up for you though. I can't even imagine how shocked you must have been after all of that time.

[Pufferpunk]

Those are generally the best tests to have.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

I make my own:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#4
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html


I also dose vitamin C.

[*GSP*Fan*]

I've read often about clowns being mean and all, which I'm not concerned about because of my stock, I just hadn't witnessed this aggression first hand until this morning. I was trying to fix some of the aquascaping that I'm not extremely happy with and did have my arms in the tank for a decent amount of time I guess. Well my orange clown, larger of the two, decided it didn't want me in there and nipped at me a total of three times and went after the forceps I used a couple times as well. It definitely wasn't painful, just like a little prick/pinch but it definitely took me by surprise. I thought at first I was imagining things until it happened again and again...

Also, I got emails this morning regarding my order of corals and they're actually being shipped out today which means I'll have them tomorrow

Those are generally the best tests to have.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

I make my own:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#4
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html


I also dose vitamin C.

Thank you.

I'll feel much better once the test kits get here especially after ordering more corals.

I did read up on the corals I purchased beforehand, some more than others. As far as care, most of those are listed as moderate but I did expect that when it comes to LPS. In case I may have missed something, see any potential issues with any of the corals I purchased, like with me being so new to this hobby? I don't believe I got in over my head with any of my choices and have everything covered but second opinions, especially from those with experience, is always great.

I remember seeing a thread on here about Vitamin C, I'll need to check that out. I'm hoping I won't really need to do my dosing regarding calcium, alk, etc. with my stock, or at least not for some time when the corals have gotten considerably bigger. I'll definitely does when/if needed but it'll certainly be easier if I don't need to worry about that right off. Also, I guess its time to look into a different salt mix. I'm using instant ocean now and have a relatively full bucket but would like to look into getting salt that is more suited for reef.

[Pufferpunk]

LPS have a skeleton, you will need to be dosing all 3. What do they test out as now?