hey great pics of the wennie hunting! lol i guess they're not hippies after all eh?

Things are progressing slowly. Today, I added two more fish. The first is a Blue Throat Trigger. He is proving to be difficult to photograph at the moment as he is a bit excited at the new surroundings.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0266.jpg

The other new fish is a Yellow Tang. Every tank has to have one of these right? Actually, I'm hoping he has more of a taste for filimentous algae than the Naso Tang. We'll see. The Yellow and Naso seem to be quite pleased with by each other's company.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0275.jpg

Here's an update on my phytoplankton efforts. I think I'm having more success now. This is an example of what I'm currently brewing. This batch has been going for 2 weeks now and still has a rich, green colour. (not the yellow-green that I was getting before).

Although I've played with the recipe, I think the improvement is because of:
1) Daily shaking to prevent anything from settling on the bottom.
2) 2nd and 3rd time using the same bottles. It's possible that the bottles weren't absolutely clean the first time I used them, but now they are behaving better.

I've manipulated the amount of fertilizer in the mix, but get very similar results no matter what I do.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0280.jpg

Aw dude you have no idea how jealous I am right now. Blue throat trigger flanked by those cool gorgs; awesome picture. :cool:

OK...requests have been made for an updated "full tank view". All these close-ups make it hard to see the big picture.

Here's a room view...
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0132.jpg

Here's a shot that is a bit closer, but not too close.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0136.jpg

Here's a shot of the left side, front view. You can see that I haven't cleaned the left side of the aquarium in a few days.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0137.jpg

Here's a shot of the right side, front view.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0138.jpg

If you look closely, you'll see that I'm starting to have a bit of a cyano problem. I'm trying not to panic about that. It is a new tank, so it is likely to go through that "phase". I just have to monitor it to ensure that it doesn't get so bad that it smothers the life out of anything. I am running some phosphate media, maybe I'll add some more or refresh the stuff that is in there.

The tank looks really good IMO I think that it looks more natural then anything.



well done

Man alive, look at those gorgs ... I hate you .. oops I mean .. wow, awesome. ;) (Just kidding. I really am quite envious though. Awesome awesome awesome. :) )

I use photos to monitor the progress of those gorgs. The large ones..and the golden brown ones are laying down additional body and filling in where they were damaged...so they are going to thrive.

I've not been able to be yet certain if the purple/white gorgs are growing or receeding. I'm sure they don't have xooanthellae, so they are dependent on my feeding. I have some finely powdered sea fan food and I target feed when possible. Jury is out on those ones. Their polyps respond to food, but I can't tell if they are ingesting anything I'm giving.

Meanwhile, the blue throat trigger is fast becoming a VERY friendly fish. I would describe it's behaviour as "begging". The moment anyone is around, he/she swims over and gives you the puppy eyes.

I second what Asmodeus said.

Truly a very natural looking reef so far. That blue-throat is a an amazing fish as well!

How are you cleaning the acrylic?

Brett

I have a Great White Cleaning magnet that does a pretty quick job on the main panels. There are a couple of areas that I have to do with a wand. So far, I've not needed to remove any coraline as the magnet seems to be keeping it at bay. I plan to scrape coraline by hand when necessary.

Here's my rules:
1) Wipe down the outside of the tank prior to cleaning to remove any dust
2) Never leave the magnet inside the tank for storage
3) Never allow the magnet to touch the sand bed
4) Examine the inside panels closely for small snails before starting
5) Use a diaper lubricated with brillianize between the magnet and the outside panels
6) Never allow the acrylic cleaning pad to be put anywhere it could pick up dirt or grit.

That diaper thing cracked me up. I'll have to get some of those and scare the crap out of my boyfriend one day :rofl:

:lol:

I keep forgetting this is an acylic tank. Good diligent rules for the cleaning; Probably wouldn't hurt to be that particular about a glass tank as well. Scratches can sure be disappointing.

Having two tanks continues to wear me down. It's too much for me to maintain both tanks. Yesterday, I moved the clam, green carpet anemone and the Maroon clownfish into the new tank. All seem to have settled in well.

I was lucky that the clownfish is so territorial about his anemone because it made it possible to catch him in the old tank. He refused to leave that anemone, so I simply placed the net over top...It only took him about 2 minutes in the new tank to locate his old anemone and move in.

Moving the anemone was a sticky experience. I wish I had taken a photo of my hand because it was covered with bright green bits. You just can't handle those carpet anemones without them latching on to you.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0285.jpg

The only thing remaining in the old tank now are some SPS that need to be cleaned of red bugs, and the live rock which needs to be cleaned of red flatworms. It is still sad to be shutting the old tank down after 15 years, even though I've now got my dream tank running.

The worst...
 

Bad news when I got home today.

This picture says all that need be said...Ciranolid..
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/100_0287.jpg

Oh man..if this thing reproduces I could lose every fish. This is most seriously bad news.

This looks like a job for CIRANOLID HUNTER...oh where are you caped crustacean crusader???!!!.... Expert says the following, let's hope it works.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php

Man I really feel for you after reading that post those things are scary most likely lot of peops have them but just dont know as they're nocturnal hope you can catch all of them btw that picture was taken when you got home so the lights were on I thought they came out only at night?

Yes, I think they are generally noctural. I suppose I was lucky to have seen it during the daylight hours. It remained attached for at least 8 or 9 hours and has detached sometime in the middle of last night.

A close look at the yellow tang suggests that it may not have been the first time he's been attacked. He has a small scar near the area where this ciranolid was attached. It will be interesting to see if he now has two small scars...

Trap goes in tonight.

Yowzers. :( Good luck!!!

What a nightmare! :neutral: I hope you get them all!

reply
 

What kind of trap catches those guys?

Danny a few traps are used to catch these buggers the most effective that was mentioned that is for the smaller ones was a turkey baster with thawed food water for the larger ones a net and the same technique water from thawed food the scent supposedly attracts them 30 seconds after the lights are out there is also one more technique called fish trap inverted bottle with hole drilled in cap all of this can be found on the link posted under the yellow tang pic.

ekk :eek: , good luck trying to catch those little blood suckers!

I had one of these little buggers show up about a month ago, a week or so after i added some live rock. It attached itself to the side of my clown in the exact same spot as on your tang. Luckly my clown is very easy to catch, practily swims right in the net, and i was able to pull that little bugger off. I haven't seen anymore since the inital incident, nor have i tried to trap them. My fish (clown and green chromis) seem no worse for the wear, so im going continue to cross my fingers that it was only one that hitched a ride in on that live rock. I hope the traping/turkey baster method cofirms for you that it was the only one so you can concentrate on other, more fun matters with your tank. Best of luck!

Your tank is really coming along. Lookin' awesome Dude!!!

The battle begins...
 

I fired the opening salvo in my attack on ciranolids tonight.

I made a small trap from a 300ml water bottle. I'll post a photo some other time because I've been staring into a dark tank for hours and I'm tired.

I dropped the trap in just as the lights went off for the evening. The trap was baited with some pieces of krill. I sat in the dark trying to see into the tank and waited....Right on schedule, (about 1/2 hr later) I could see a ciranolid doing circles around my trap. I watched the circling for about 5 minutes and decided to lay the trap on it's side, rather than standing straight up. The ciranolid didn't like to swim too far away from the sand bed.

30 seconds after doing that, I had him! My first capture!

I watched him to ensure he wasn't trying to escape the trap. No..he just settled in for a meal. So I waited another 45 minutes to see if I could get another one. Nothing...

So, I decided I would ensure 1 kill for the evening and pulled up the trap to extract my prize. Upon inspection, it turns out that I had trapped approximately 25 ciranolids, mostly less than 1/2mm in size...plus one 5mm monster.

Have you ever crunched one of those large, black carpenter ants with your fingernail...? Same kind of noise. Very satisfying.

A quick reset and the trap went back in for the night. We'll see how we've done by morning.

Tomorrow, there will be 3 or more traps. I'm now confident that this war can be won!

Untamed that's excellent news maybe you can start a collection in a container of fw in the fridge so that they freeze to death:lol: then maybe later as a sovieneer!

By morning, not a single one in the trap.

That could mean that if they are given enough time they can escape the trap...but I think it more likely means that they are active only for a few hours after nightfall.

Did you use the drilled cap technique? maybe the opening was too large so they made an easy getaway...

Here's what my ciranolid trap looks like. (Excuse the focus, this photo was taken in complete darkness) Using three of these, I caught exactly NONE last evening. Yes, the entrance is a 1/8" hole in the cap. I'll try again tonight. The trap is unchanged from the one that caught 25 the night before. Hmm...as always, patience is the key. The yellow tang has been "latched onto" twice more since the original photo. In both cases, the ciranolid was much smaller than the first one. I guess they must like the colour yellow. So far, the tang is showing no ill effects from his nightly blood donations.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0290.jpg

(in case you are wondering, the film canister is in there for weight to keep the trap from floating around. It is filled with stainless steel nuts)

And just to show that the tank hasn't been devestated by ciranolids, here's a side view update. I think this is the first posted photo since I got the orange tree sponges mounted.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0293.jpg

Is all the bait gone by morning? If so, maybe they are finding their way out once the food is gone. Maybe try cheching the traps right away like the first time. Just a thought.

Yes patience is definately on your side btw the sponges look great really liven up the tank also ads depth to the whole look!

The bait is much too large to be eaten completely...or the ciranolids are much too small to eat a noticeable amount.

I caught two more this evening within 1 hour of lights out.

I'll test leaving the trap in overnight again but this time I'll first verify that I've caught at least one, then leave the trap in place with the captured ciranolid still inside. If there is at least one still in the trap by morning, then I would conclude that they aren't getting out.

Did you purchase "THE PACKAGE" from Tampa Bay live rock, and were the sponges part of this package? thanks

Amazing tank man, need a new full tank shot to use as a desktop pic :)

Yes...first I loaded with a bunch of base rock. I let that cycle, then ordered the package. While not listed specifically, Richard often throws in the sponges as part of the package.

My sponges are suffering, and I've yet to find anyone anywhere who has been able to keep them alive over a long term.

Ciranolid update
 

The ciranolid traps continue to work quite well. The traps perfectly capture ONLY ciranolids and nothing else. Just about every manner of other critter tries to get in there and take the bait, but only ciranolids get in through the small hole in the lid.

I've learned that the traps are equally or more effective if I simply leave them in place all night. On a good night, I trap 8 or so. Last night, I didn't catch any.

Haven't seen one actually on a fish in over a week now.

sounds like the hunt is near its end! that certainly is good news. good luck on taking out (literally) the last of the pesky parasites.

Ciranolid hunting is sort of "hit and miss". One night I'll get a few, the next I'll get none. I'm no longer concerned about the population getting out of control anyway.

Here's last night's capture. This is the largest one I've seen so far. This was the only one caught last night, but I'm glad to have him out of there!

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/100_0297.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r.../100_0297b.jpg

Looks like he is sitting up begging for it life

New Fish!
 

Went to the store to purchase some tubing...came back with another fish. (you know how it goes...)

Yet another tang. This one is an Achilles Tang. As soon as he arrived, the Yellow Tang attacked. It is funny because I would have said that the yellow tang was the bottom of the tank pecking order until now. Also, while the yellow tang and Naso Tang are best buddies, the Yellow Tang clearly dislikes the Achillies Tang.

Within a few moments, the Achilles had its tail fin sliced completely in half. The tank is now having an extended "nightime". The Achilles does not seem to have his tail blades, so he can't really even mount a defence. You may be able to see the sliced tail in this photo.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/100_0299.jpg

:rofl: thats what i was thinking :wink:


Gorgeous achilles :cool: How big is it?

Its funny how the heirachy works in tanks. I've just recently discovered that my scopas tang can be a mean bugger when he wants to. Which is weird as he's never shown any aggression before to any newcomers.

Fish are strange critters :biggrin:

He may have been..but it didn't work.

The Achilles is large. Maybe 6"? He's bigger than the Naso and the Yellow, but about the same size as the Trigger.