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Has anyone actually had snail eggs successfully hatch and grow from baby snails to adult snails?  There are a bunch of these eggsacs in my tank right now. Also, I have no idea what this thing is. My tank has been running for almost a year and a half (with a major move a few months ago) and I've never seen one; all of a sudden I notice at least 2 of them in my display tank. Some kind of weird purple shell-less bivalve?  For some reason finding something new in the tank that I have never seen before is one of my favorite parts of this hobby. That said, does anyone know what this is? Preliminary internet searches indicate that it's some kind of sponge? Edit: okay definitely seems to be some kind of sea squirt/tunicate. Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Aug 8, 2012 |
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Aug 8, 2012 05:15
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My snail eggs are more developed! Here's a picture of an eggsac laid at the same time about 12 days ago: What's gonna happen to my little snail babies? 
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Aug 20, 2012 05:53
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That stand is way overkill for only a 40g too, you could seriously use 1x2s and it would hold up fine. Aquarium hobbyists love to overbuild their stands, I guess it gives them a better sense of security that their tank isn't going to topple over. Admittedly, 2x4s are cheap enough that you might as well build it like a tank while you're at it.
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Aug 28, 2012 17:51
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Well, it seems like my tank is leaking. gently caress this poo poo. I noticed it two nights ago because there was a small puddle of water where there shouldn't be. It seems to be somewhere on the bottom of the tank, but it's hard to figure out exactly where. It's a very slow seep, only a few drops per minute. My tank is glass held together with silicon, so I'm guessing it's a bad seal somewhere. I cannot find any cracks at all. I'll investigate further to make sure it's actually a leak and not spilled water or capillary action or something else. I've already checked pretty thoroughly though, and I'm convinced that it's a leak. My LFS doesn't have a replacement 75 gallon in stock, but he can order one to be delivered with his next shipment next Wednesday. Since it's such a slow leak, I think I'll be okay until next Wednesday. If the leak worsens, he can put a hold on the tank and then I can borrow a truck to go pick it up (his supplier is about 25 miles away.) If he can put a hold on it AND I can get a truck today, I might go pick it up later today. Of course PAX is this weekend, so I don't exactly have a lot of free time to take care of this poo poo over the next few days. Baaaaaalllllllllsssss.
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Aug 30, 2012 19:44
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During today's afternoon feeding, I had the pumps off and was squirting the food around the tank with a turkey baster like I normally do when I noticed something odd... where's the clownfish?! Fearing the worst, I checked everywhere in the tank before thinking to look in the overflow box. Sure enough, there he is, stuck in the outflow bulkhead and dumbly staring up at me. I grabbed a wooden spoon and gently poked him out from below, before scooping him up in my hand and dumping him back in the tank. He seemed fairly energetic and is swimming around just fine now, so I think he only got stuck when I turned the pumps off, and wasn't without breathable water for more than a minute or two. I'm very glad I managed to save him in time though - I hate losing livestock! This is the first time in a year and a half that I've had a fish jump into the overflow box, but I'm certainly thankful that he decided to hop in there instead of overboard the tank. I used to have a zebra barred dartfish, but he escaped onto the floor one night and all I found was fish jerky the next morning. Those incidences combined with the fact that my roommate wants to get a cat in the next few months mean that I'm seriously going to have to cat- and fish-proof my tank soon!
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Sep 7, 2012 01:16
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I'm looking for a sanity check here. My first tank was 75 gallons which I had for about 2 years. I had mixed results - I battled cyano and hair algae constantly, which I now believe to be due to my lovely 2nd hand T5 lights. I've been out of the hobby for 3 years now and I'm looking to jump back in. My plan is to get set up a Biocube, likely 29 gallons, with a nice LED lighting system. One thing that I'd like to focus on for this tank is avoiding noise - I'd like for it to be as quiet as possible. That means no sump and the minimum amount pumps possible, except for a few quiet powerheads. Lots of in-tank live sand and rock. Possibly use one of the Biocube chambers as a refugium, but I have doubts on how helpful a tiny fuge would even be for a tank of this size. No skimmer if I can get away with it. Maybe a few external reactors if absolutely necessary. So question number one is basically, how heavily can I lean on weekly water changes to take care of my water quality? With that in mind, here is my current stocking wishlist. Fewer fish, more focused on coral and aquascaping. Fishy types: 2x Clownfish (possibly b&w ocellaris, hopefully compatible pair, even better if I can get them with a host anemone) 2x Neon goby (hopefully compatible pair) 1x six line wrasse (maybe? I've heard they can be aggressive. I didn't have any trouble with mine and he was my favorite fish) 1x royal gramma 1x cleaner shrimp Coral etc: Frogspawn Zoa colonies (maybe 2-3 varieties) Ricordea/mushroom (maybe 2-3 varieties) Montipora Birdsnest Devil's Hand or similar leather Does all that seem reasonable for a ~30gal?
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Dec 16, 2015 00:54
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Yeah I'd like to avoid reactors but would they really add so much noise? On my old tank the sump was by far the noisiest thing including the skimmer, drain, and return. I'm fine with doing weekly water changes as long as that's sufficient to keep everyone happy. I'll probably need a lid to prevent jumpers, plus my girlfriend really wants to get cats haha.
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Dec 16, 2015 01:11
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Well my aforementioned plans for a biocube are on hold for now. Yesterday I looked at some equipment for sale from craigslist, a 28 gallon JBJ biocube with LED canopy, stand and some other extras for $250 (could probably get him down to $200) and I immediately had some doubts about committing to that much tank. Part of why I'm gunshy is that I've started setting up a 2.5 gallon pico reef tank and I feel like it's scratching the itch well enough that I don't feel the need to jump into a 28+ gallon setup just yet. I'm "only" $300 in the hole so far and having lots of fun.  Ran RO/DI water through it for 24 hours, rinsed it, and now I have saltwater going but not so much as a pebble yet. My plan is to hopefully hunt down a few bits of live rock to get a cycle started before I leave town for a week over Christmas. Fluval Spec III 2.6 gallon 8 watt LED lamp Potential livestock: Small shrimp (perhaps a sexy anemone shrimp?) Yellow clown goby (undecided - heard they can be picky eaters but they're small and pretty sedentary) Pulsing xenias Birdsnest Montipora Mushroom or two I'm hoping that the light will be sufficient for a few hardy SPS, might be borderline but wish me luck! If anyone has sage wisdom for pico reefkeeping I'm all ears. In particular, I'm wondering if I should get a 1-2 inch sand bed or keep the bottom bare.
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Dec 21, 2015 11:36
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What's the problem with pulsing xenia? GSP from what I know are incredibly prolific and I'd worry they might get out of control. Definitely agree on the water changes and ATO. My (highly optimistic plan) is to do two 20% water changes per week. Aim high, and if I miss my target I'll at least probably get one per week in. The high frequency of water changes means I'll probably go bare-bottom and siphon off debris on the regular. I can't find the ATO you mentioned on marinedepot, is this the one you mean? Also, for the guy with the spec v what return pump are you using? I switched the stock out with an Aquatop SWP360 which despite its Amazon reviews is a decent little pump and mostly quiet. Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Dec 21, 2015 |
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Dec 21, 2015 18:53
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Nice, that looks like just what I need. Seems like it's already available on Amazon already too?
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Dec 22, 2015 01:11
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   Got some live rock from the LFS for my pico reef. So begins the cycle, day 1. Hopefully it won't be too bad, I added a tiny amount of Seachem Stability to help it along. My auto top off comes Wednesday so I'll set that up and then hope the tank doesn't implode while I'm away for a week on holiday. I was fairly cautious with the rock; even though there's nothing in the tank to contaminate I wanted to avoid ugly hitchhikers if possible. A few of the LFS live rock tanks were infested with asterina starfish and/or aiptasia. Sat for about 20 minutes in regular saltwater, another 10 in hypersalinated water (~1.04 SG) and then a thorough visual inspection with tweezers. I didn't see anything alarming, no aiptasia that I can tell, a few unidentified softy inverts that I'll look at when they open up a bit overnight. So far my only confirmed hitchhikers are three tiny dwarf blue leg hermits and what looks to be a tiny ricordea mushroom. Oh, and about 20 copepods which I individually rescued from the QT buckets with my turkey baster.
Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 08:04 on Dec 22, 2015 |
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Dec 22, 2015 07:54
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Rallos posted:Your setup looks great so far! Are you planning on adding any additional rock to make a higher ledge of some sort?  Got this slim 25 watt heater in the mail today. Fits perfectly in the return pump chamber. I have an inTank basket and the ATO arriving tomorrow. I have some dry rock that needs curing before I do any serious aquascaping. I want to build a sort of rock ramp that goes upwards from the front of the tank to the back. I definitely need more height so that I can position future coral at their happiest lighting level. Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 01:23 on Dec 23, 2015 |
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Dec 23, 2015 01:15
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Added some "dead" rock to my pico tank and did some aquascaping. Not 100% sure this will be the final layout but I like that it gives a variety of heights for placing corals as well as some nooks and crannies for the eventual pair of sexy shrimp.   Also did a big water change since the initial cycle seems to have completed. I'll give it another week of semi-daily water tests before I add a few mushrooms. I saved a bunch of copepods (amphipods?) from the outgoing water too. I must have sucked them up with some of the gunk I siphoned out. They're so cute, like little shrimps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmEMC8HhYTo
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Jan 4, 2016 05:30
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I hadn't even considered mysis but yeah you guys are probably right. I figured they were pods since they're so tiny, probably ~5mm. I wonder if they'll set up shop and start breeding? I know nothing about mysis shrimp aside from people raising them as a food source for certain picky eaters.
Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Jan 4, 2016 |
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Jan 4, 2016 18:58
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Behold! Drip acclimation on a shoestring budget. It works surprisingly well. Poke a hole in the bottom of the bag and pinch it off with a clothespin to control the flow.   Pocillopora, plating montipora, mexican turbo snail, and of course a sexy shrimp Looking forward to trying to track down a 2nd sexy shrimp and a mini maxi anemone for them to host in. Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Jan 7, 2016 |
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Jan 7, 2016 06:38
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A decent RODI is a great investment and will prevent a lot of issues. I had a second hand RODI for my first tank which was less than stellar and I had tons of algae and cyano problems because of it. The other important investment I'd recommend is decent lighting. Don't cut corners when it comes to lights, spend the money for a good LED fixture, ideally with separate dimmable channels for each color so you can mix the right balance for your tastes and needs. As for stocking - research, research, research. Never buy something, especially impulsively, unless you understand its care requirements. My pico tank update:    Sorry for the blue washout, I need to get a cheap UV filter or something. Things are going fairly well. I've had almost no algae and zero cyano in this first two months, so that's great. Microfauna seem to be thriving, I've seen lots of pods, though I haven't spotted any mysid shrimp in the last two weeks, maybe they're just hiding in the overflow box. Unfortunately, I have two big problems. The first is temperature. All three of my thermometers disagree, but from what I can tell the water temperature hovers between 78 and 80 degrees, possibly as high as 82. I know that small tanks have problems with this, and mine is especially vulnerable because not only does the lid prevent evaporation, but it keeps my lights about 1 inch from the water surface. I really don't want to have to drill for an IceProbe, so I need to find a way to ditch my lid and mount the lights and see if that helps. Problem #2 is my sexy shrimp. I have three of them now, and I'm having trouble getting them to feed. They're very shy, and when I squirt frozen plankton and/or food pellets at them they just run away and hide and don't seem to actively eat. I'm worried that they're picking at my pocillopora, they love to hang out near it and I've caught them picking at it a couple of times. Now I've noticed this growing white patch on the coral. At first I thought it was new growth but now I think that it's damage from the shrimps.  Anyone have ideas on how to get my sexy shrimps to eat enough to leave my corals alone? Final thoughts: I think I've identified the tiny hitchhiker anemone from my initial batch of live rock. It's mostly nocturnal and from what I've read it's a small bubble anemone. Most people say it's harmless but does anyone know much about them? 
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Jan 18, 2016 07:36
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Rallos posted:Get this. And be happy!
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Feb 13, 2016 01:35
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God, gently caress vermetid snails so hard. My tank is about 2 1/2 months old and a few came in on my live rock. They've been reproducing noticeably since then, they're even growing on the goddamn glass. I don't think I'm overfeeding my tank, I typically feed each of my three sexy shrimp a tiny food pellet each every 2-3 days, and the ricordeas about twice a week. I guess I'll have to start taking proactive measures against these fuckers.
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Feb 19, 2016 07:34
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visuvius posted:You got pics of your ricordeas? I love ricordeas but for some reason they're not exactly thriving in my tank. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0xRNUAAn8s
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Feb 20, 2016 08:48
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I just use an iPhone with an olloclip, works surprisingly well. I need to get better at lighting and/or get a filter so the UV doesn't mess up the color balance. I don't have any zoas yet, not sure if I'll get any. I'd love to get a maxi mini anemone because my sexy shrimp (I have 3) are completely ignoring the ricordeas. Except for when I try to feed the ricordeas and a sexy shrimp comes along and steals the food. -_-
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Feb 20, 2016 22:55
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Nice looking tank! I'd be more worried about the humidity and splashing than weight.
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Feb 23, 2016 00:27
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Well everything in my tank has been happy for the last month or two so I took the plunge on some stuff online: - Meteor Shower Cyphastrea (encrusting) - Poker Star Montipora (encrusting) - Purple Mini-Maxi Carpet Anemone I think I might have to get rid of my montipora undata soon because it's actually growing too fast and I'm worried it will eventually shade its neighbors. With the new additions I think I'll be on the brink of overstocked, but I do water changes religiously and everything is healthy so far. Especially excited about the mini-maxi, I hope my 3 sexy shrimp decide to hang out around it instead of ignoring it like they do my ricordeas.
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Feb 28, 2016 02:32
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I assume you've tried simply scaring it out from under the rock and into a waiting net?
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Mar 5, 2016 00:59
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 What the hell is this weird purple alien jizz growing in my tank? It's soft and generally formed of globs stuck to the rocks with some tendrils growing upwards almost like they're dripping upside down.
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May 11, 2016 03:58
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/r/reeftank agrees with you. There are already some small pineapple sponges in there so I figured other sponges would be similarly regular instead of irregular blobs of purple goo. I assume it's fairly benign and won't hurt anything?
Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 09:13 on May 11, 2016 |
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May 11, 2016 09:10
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Why not rent a truck, grab a friend, and do it yourself? Unless they're taking care of all the tear down and rebuild, there are few reasons you couldn't do it yourself.
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May 13, 2016 03:16
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With summer upon us I'm looking to augment my 2.5 gallon pico reef with a chiller to keep the temperature stable. Does anyone have experience with the thermoelectric "ice probe" chillers, especially the CoolWorks Microchiller? It seems a bit pricy for what it is (~$250 for the chiller + temperature controller, a bit less if I can successfully modify a spare HOB filter I have laying around) but a 1/15 horsepower inline chiller seems like overkill and would take up waaaay more space.
Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 06:58 on Jun 9, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 06:37
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Ice probes go for $100-$120 and the controller $50-$70, even on eBay; if you guys know where I can get them for cheaper please do tell.
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Jun 9, 2016 19:51
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Maybe, but I live in Seattle where there is no central air and air conditioners are a luxury. It easily gets up to the high 80s or low 90s indoors during the summer. I'd rather have more cooling capacity than I need.
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Jun 11, 2016 01:37
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Tank update! Pics first! Sorry for the mostly lovely cellphone quality. I bought a cheap UV filter on eBay hoping it would help me take better pictures but it seems to have literally zero effect for me. Oh well. Been running this 2.6 gal for about 7 months now.  Super happy with the mini maxi (center) - I love the colors and the sexy shrimps like it well enough.  Encrusting monti (center) seems happy but grows very slowly. In 5 months it's barely started to creep onto its plug.  Tough to see any visible growth on the seriatopora, even comparing it to old pictures. I think there is some, and it seems healthy overall, but it's pretty slow.  This bastard refuses to grow despite being fed multiple times per week. My other ricordea has grown a fair bit however.  My montipora undata just won't quit. I'm actually getting a bit worried about the amount of light it's blocking. I like it a lot and it's super fun seeing such rapid growth but it might have to move on to a bigger tank soon.  Here's a comparison of exactly 5 months of growth. (The bit of seriatopora was a tiny frag I was experimenting with the placement of, it's not the main body. It did not like its position up there so I moved it.) In other news, I have an embarrassing confession to make. I recently changed the filters on my RO/DI and I realized something terrible... somehow I had my fresh/waste water lines mixed up. For six months. I must have been completely spaced out when I set up my system. I've been putting waste RO/DI water into my tank for six months. The fact that nothing in my tank seems to give a poo poo speaks either to their resilience, or TDS levels not being nearly as important as people make them out to be.  I've noticed that my alkalinity, pH, and calcium tend to get a bit low even though I do a water change every 1-2 weeks max. My plan is to buy a cheap dosing pump soon and try and stabilize my levels higher in between water changes. Hopefully that will encourage my other SPS to grow as wildly as the undata is. Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 06:17 on Jul 19, 2016 |
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Jul 19, 2016 06:02
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visuvius posted:Looking good man. Whats the filtration look like in the back of that thing? cheese posted:I think the issue is that TDS can be a lot of things depending on your local water supply. I mean, obviously TDS in general are not a problem. The ocean has plenty of that. If the rest of your system is pretty stable and other needs are being met, a lot of the creatures in your tank will adapt. Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Jul 19, 2016 |
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Jul 19, 2016 19:55
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Probably some kind of tube worm, a picture of the "feather duster" part would confirm. The purple blobs are probably some other organism. Edit: I pulled the trigger on some new stuff today. I'm trying to find a new home for my montipora undata to make room. http://www.tidalgardens.com/coral/sps/velvet-corals-montipora/mystic-sunset-montipora.html http://www.tidalgardens.com/coral/zoanthids/stock-kedds-reds-zoanthids.html Really looking forward to the mystic sunset, and the zoas will add a nice splash of red. I also bought a $60 4-pump automatic doser on Amazon, and I'm about to construct a stand for the tank so it doesn't have to live on a kitchen stool any more... gently caress my wallet. Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Aug 2, 2016 |
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Aug 2, 2016 20:20
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I got my gel filters in the mail and dug out my old camera to take some new macro pics! The filters really help with the color balance. I'm too lazy to go through and inline a dozen images so click here. (SA should really have an automatic gallery inliner already...) Also, people have probably already seen it but I can't stop looking at this "pest only" pico tank Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Aug 17, 2016 |
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Aug 17, 2016 19:15
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Enos Cabell posted:That "pest" tank ended up looking gorgeous. Side note, later in that thread pest tank guy complains about living in Portland and unironically links to this article, by douchebag "author" Matt Forney who wrote a book about how to manipulate foreign women into sleeping with you. 
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Aug 17, 2016 21:06
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Is General Hardness something that is valid to measure in a saltwater tank, or only KH? I tried measuring GA and it was off the charts, I gave up on adding drops to the tube trying to get the color to change. Google isn't being very helpful.
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Aug 20, 2016 00:44
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Makes sense, thanks.
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Aug 20, 2016 02:43
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Lord Kinbote posted:So in a few months I'll be getting my own house and I'll have the space and freedom for a salt water tank. it will be my first plunge into SW but I've kept tropical for years. I plan on getting a big tank, the biggest one my budget or should I start small? I know bigger is better in fresh water because water parameters are easier to control. Also,is RO water a must and do I need live rock and sand because the horror stories with prest hitch hikers like bristleworms scare the poo poo out of me. As for RO/DI water, it's definitely recommended, even if your tap water is relatively "clean" it will have lots of undesirable trace minerals in it. I recounted a horror story earlier in this thread about how I accidentally used my RO/DI waste water in my tank for about 6 months and had few ill effects, but I did have some nuisance algae and diatoms that evaporated almost overnight when I switched to using the correct water line. Hitchhikers and bristle worms - there are steps you can take to minimize your risk of pest hitchers but at some point you are almost guaranteed to end up with some. Even by taking every conceivable precaution and starting from scratch with a "dead" tank, every single rock, coral, and animal you put in your tank has some risk of carrying pests. But it's really not that big of a deal when it happens, most "pests" are actually pretty harmless. Your best bet is to take precautions against the worst of the worst (red bugs, nudibranchs, fire/eunice worms etc) and don't sweat the small stuff. Most things that show up are easy enough to manage and can sometimes actually be pretty cool. Bristle worms for example aren't really a pest, they're scavengers and will only reproduce to a sustainable level so it's important to not overfeed the tank. You just have to be careful not to touch them or wear sturdy gloves when your hands are handling rock (which is a good best practice anyway, worms or not) because their spines do suck balls.
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Aug 20, 2016 20:50
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 My new mystic sunset monti is losing some color on the skin which is a bit worrying. Polyps seem healthy though. Hoping that once I get rid of my huge plating monti and start automatically dosing it will color up some. I also have a new LED bulb on the way that I'm interested in trying out.
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Aug 21, 2016 09:08
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Welp, sad times. One of my sexy shrimp got herself killed overnight. Not sure exactly what happened. I found her stuck upside down in the overflow box between the media basket and glass. I have no clue how she could have even gotten into the overflow, let alone in that weird of a position.
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Aug 24, 2016 07:46
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Enos Cabell posted:Are you sure it's the shrimp and not a molt? I've been fooled before on that.
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Aug 24, 2016 21:47
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