My 4 sq feet of ocean. And all my questions that go with it....

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by IbanEz
http:///forum/post/3255221
Beautiful Martin Joe, What do you play with it?
anything i can finger pick
from the bio archive
Most all fish spend time in an energy-saving state that can be called
"rest", and we might even call their behavior "sleep", though it is probably
different than "sleep" in most land
animals. Many fish, like Bass and perch, rest on or under logs at
night. Coral reef fish active in the day, hide and rest in crevices
and cracks in the reef to avoid being eaten at night.
The resting behavior of fish is very different from their behavior the
rest of the day. Many minnows, for example, which are very active in
schools during the day, scatter and remain motionless in shallow
water at night. Many fish "rest" or "sleep" during the day and are
active at night instead, but almost all fish sleep.
There are some animals that never stop swimming, like many species of
shark, however, they HAVE to keep moving to push water through their mouths
in order to breathe, and they may still sleep while moving,
we just don't know yet.

 

[handbanana]

Thanks Joe, its an interesting subject. One im going to try to find out more about. Ive even noticed sometimes the clown will lay sideways on the sand too. He doesnt open his mouth either when hes resting. Who knows?
Im not so good with a pick (not that anyone asked) but I like to play Reggae, surf music, classics that ppl can have a few and sing along to since I cant sing and play at the same time. good old rock and roll.

 

[mony97]

Man I leave the threads for a few days, come back and bam you have good thread going and some great pics!! Anyway, glad to see things are still going well and your tank looks great I like how the sand is kind of wavy, and the cove you made, awesome... My LFS has the same lights your using for sale I cant tell you how many times I have almost splurged and got a couple, I think if I did that though I would want to add corals soon after, but my tank isn't quite ready yet, few more months..
As for the skimmer I have had mine for a month or so and had similar issues ended up emailing some guy that had done an extensive review on the model skimmer I have (Joe actually sent me the link, Thx Joe!!) he was very polite and responded saying that with the set up I have and the very light bio load that is totally normal, and once I step up my bio load and maybe add some corals it should get pretty nasty so just wait till you get some more fish it should darken.
Speaking of fish what do you have so far, and whats your stock list if you have one?
And last my clown does the exact same thing, she has her little spot that she "sleeps" in every night sometimes literally laying there.. My other clown on the other hand seems to think resting at the top of the water in the far corner of my tank is a comfy place to sleep, its weird and when he first started sleeping there freaked me out (thought he was dead).. my two spot sleeps in a hole which is pretty cool, and last my Potters chills behind a rock.. Wish I could just crawl up behind a rock and be cozy and safe.. haha

 

[florida joe]

(Joe actually sent me the link, Thx Joe!!) he was very polite
Oh sorry at first i thought the polite was directed toward me, and i said to myself what the f... i understand now it was not and i feel much better

 

[handbanana]

Hey Mony! whats goin on? I finally started my thread.
I thought I had to wait for months for corals but Ive been doing some research om Mushrooms and Zoanthids and I think possibly I can get one of each. Im going to give it a shot. I read that they are hardy and good beginner corals.
Wow, stocking list. That is a good question. Right now I plan on another perc for Junior. Cuz hes probablly a little lonely. I have a scooter blenny as well. I really would like a tank full of coral and inverts with a few fish, mainly small sand dwellers. gobys and such. I def want a flame hawkfish tho. Thats a must. Ill Get a bigger tank if I have to. I fell in love with that crazy fish when I first went to Rubios.

Pajama cardnials. goofy lookin but cool. I know I cant have one but a powder blue or yellow tang would be awesome. Ive seen one about an inch and a half at my LFS but I know they are free range swimmers and get pretty big. any reccomendations? I kinda lost track of my stock list when I chilled out and took a breather.
I would like a pistol shrimp/ watchmaan goby combo. That would be too cool. But Im not sure of the goby and their demeanor with having a hawkfish.
Plus I dont have a lid on my tank.

I think In all honesty my next major tank purchase will be either a stand and canopy or the materials to make one. Mine looks like I made it with broken furnature...
I made a kind of cureing tank last night because it occured to me that I want to add more LR to my "cove" and It might not be compleatly cured. The LFS says its LR is cured but it is kinda stinky so I dont want to take that chance. I plan on about 40 more lbs. Its a ten gal cureing tank so that should be interesting.
Im very excited to get my first frag tommorow. I plan on also getting my CUC a little better outfitted and another small perc.

 

[handbanana]

When I first got a piece of LR from the LFS it had this tube made out if small pieces of crushed shells. I tore it off and cleaned the rock and put it in my tank. Now the tube is back and winds all arount the inside of the rock, good size tube too. and its made out of my crushed coral this time. I will try to get a pic later but does this description sound famillar to anyone?

 

[mony97]

Sorry not sure on what your critter may be, but as far as tangs go unless I miss read the info Fenner makes a statement in his book that growing tangs are acceptable in tanks as small as 50g. I'll will double check the book tonight, keep in mind that you WOULD have to find a better home for him/her when they grow up.. Or you could also try your hand at a Kole tang or Tomini they can be be kept in smaller tanks with better success. Cool ideas for the stock list with all the corals and hiding little guys. Flame Hawks are pretty cool too my LFS gets them all the time thought about getting one, maybe someday.. My stock list got all jumbled when one of my PJ's died and caused quite the ruckus in my tank but looking back on it now was one of the better things to happen to me, made me stop and think and really put thought into every move I make with my tank now.. Right now just trying to battle high phosphates (or at least I think they are high?).. Other than that (knock on wood) all is good .
Oh and PS my LFS specializes in reef systems and they critters that fit best in them, so I may just have to look into some corals.. I'll still wait at least a month or so and really try and soak up some knowledge about them. who knows maybe I'll end up with a reef tank?

 

[mony97]

Originally Posted by Handbanana
http:///forum/post/3255586
I fell in love with that crazy fish when I first went to Rubios.

Is that a resturant? haha and whats the story behind that?

 

[handbanana]

Originally Posted by mony97
http:///forum/post/3256191
Is that a resturant? haha and whats the story behind that?
Oh man, yeah its a resturant and the best thing about it is their salt water tank display. Im forced to eat there more oftin than I care to admit.(work thing).
They have an awesome puffer and flamehawk tank tho.

 

[handbanana]

So I got some coral today!

Some assorted Zoas and a kenya tree. The frag the Kenyas on had a bunch of Zoas I got for free. I was pretty excited to get them. I was talked into the kenya frag. Or I guess its a piece of rock? IDK. anyway their all in my tank now and about half have opened up. Unfourtunatly one rock with Zoas fell into the sand twice. I dont know if this hurt them or not but they still look awesome.
I also got a new Occeliris, occeleris,.... Occecelris?.... a clownfish. he went in the tank and went under a rock and wont move. I hope he ok. I have a bad feeling he may not be.
Just thought I would try to stay current with my thread.

 

[handbanana]

Im a worryer. the clown is fine. went away for half an hour and the two are practicly dancing together

 

[handbanana]

would it be possible to rename this thread to my 4 Cubic feet of ocean.... I couldnt fig out if theres a way to do that or not.

 

[handbanana]

here are some pics. My Xenia is actully separating from the rock.

 

[handbanana]

have a bit of cyno

 

[meowzer]

LOl...How do you like the scooter? I love mine. I have it in the 29G...had one in the 54G, but it disappeared after I got the Longfin sleepger Goby

As far as the cyano, I'd get to siphoning....water changes...etc etc....A lot of bubbles going on up there
LOVE THE TANK THOUGH

 

[handbanana]

I do a ten gallon change every weekend.
Its the clowns fault. he beggs for food and I cave. I cut back to feeding half of what I was feeding them and put my lights on a 6 hour cycle insted of 8.
That scooter is a riot. He gets right up in my face and flares up like hes got beef. Its pretty hilarious. I ad-lib his thoughts a lot.
Glad you like my tank. Im so happy with it. Its a little rough around the edges but im getting there.

Heres my Xenia doing weird stuff

 

[handbanana]

Just got my order from SWF! A ton of cerith snails. I orderd 10 got about 20. Reef pods, Some marine snow, aFrag of ten plus Zoas and a shroom. But theres 2 shrooms in the bag! Thanks SWF.com!
Also something that looks like a black tick. Gross....

 

[handbanana]

One man thread!!

Anywho I was wondering if anyone had a mushroom up and take off on them? I had two that I thought were pretty well attached to my substrait untill sunday morning they were both gone. I had them under a jar so im kinda stumped. do they move like anenomes?
Do I tear my tank apart to find them? Or might they come out on their own?

 

[handbanana]

heres another.
What do you do with salt creep? is it ok to put it back into the tank? how does creep effect salinity levels?
Oh yeah and since egg create is lighting diffuser panels, does it effect lighting when used as a top?

 

[handbanana]

Well Ive been reading some other threads and They talk about having enough flow to keep stuff from setteling on the sand bed. I have a lot of cyno on my sand as well as what appear to be bubbles on and under my sand. The sand has a sort of crusty layer on top.
How do I get enough flow on my sand bed without blowing sand and poo all over the place? I have had issues with sandstorms in the past and thought I had them under controll but now my sand bed looks like someone barfed on it.

I have 2 cleaner clams, 10 nassarius snails and a brittle star on order from SWF.com. perhaps these might help?