March 14, 2004

Well, here is my attempt at "catching up".  As I mentioned on the home page, I lost everything in my other tank that had been running and flourishing for three years.  I am trying very hard to do things better this time, like running a better skimmer, got better lighting, bought a canister filter, got a bigger sump, etc.  I am disappointed to report, however, that I am once again battling some algae growing on the sandbed. I refuse to let this stuff tank over the whole tank though and am determined to prevail.

I had the misfortune of the return hose shooting off from the return pump last weekend causing quite a mess, not to mention, getting electrocuted when I turned off the surge protector and wavemaker inside the cabinet.  Lesson learned - hose clamps.  It gave my family and me quite a scare to see sparks shooting out from the surge protector.  It could have been worse, and I could have fried my lighting, or not been home and found the tank completely empty upon my return.  So I am thankful that I was home and was able to take care of it timely.

I have had a few other mishaps too.  One of my Clown Gobys got sucked up into the overflow box and was stuck to the strainer inside the drain leading to the sump.  He didn't make it.  I bought another one yesterday to replace it, but can't find it anywhere in the tank.  Maybe the Clownfish decided the anemone needed a midnight snack... A few months ago, I bought a Orange-Spotted Goby to sift the sand.  Worked great for about two days.  Then he dug him self a hole under one of my rocks and I haven't seen him since.  I am beginning to think I shouldn't try to keep fish.  Although I did get a Lawnmower/Algae Blenny a week ago.  His name is Grinch.  I cannot tell if he's really doing a good job cleaning the algae off the glass and rocks or not, but he's quite interesting to watch, and sometimes looks like he's trying to talk.

In the way of corals, my latest purchase is a Blue Gorgonian Fan I purchased from Aquatic Gallery yesterday.  I had never seen anything like it before, and just had to have it.  By the end of the night last night, almost all of its polyps were opened.  It is gorgeous, and it's always nice to add a splash of color to the tank.  Prior to the Fan, I bought a Bubble Coral.  It seems to be doing real good, except when Grinch decides to hang all over it. 

All of my Zoos are reproducing at an incredible rate.  My plan is to have that one whole rock covered with just Zoos.  At this rate, it is not going to take long.  I am always looking for Ricordia frags, as that was my plan for one of the other rocks in my tank - dedicated to Ricordias.  It is difficult to find just one or two Ricordias for sale, as most places sell good size rocks with many of them already attached.

Well, that should cover just about everything so far.  As always, I am still learning new things about this hobby, and I still enjoy it as much now as I did four years ago.

March 1, 2002

A couple of things have changed in the past month.  I now own a digital camera - which I have decided is much better at photographing the tank than a regular camera.  I was tired of taking a whole roll of film to be developed and getting only a couple of shots worth uploading.  I love this camera, although I can remember swearing I would never own one.  So I have become a "digital freak", taking hundreds of pictures of Bob, Priscilla, and the rest of the gang.  They do not seem to mind at all, especially Bob, who always seems to get his big blue eyes right in the center of the pictures.  

I also purchased a Reef Relief kit from Flying Fish Express.  In case you are wondering - the kit contains a variety of critters supposedly adept to cleaning reef tanks.  I'm not sure how well they are cleaning the tank, but they are definitely interesting to watch.  The most bizarre of the critters are the Impatiens Cucumbers.   The kit ships with two of these strange looking things.  I have been unable to get a good picture of them yet, but I've been working on it.  One is hiding in the back of the tank in a dark corner and the other is hanging all over one of my powerheads.  I also have two Mithrax (Emerald) Crabs, which if nothing else, add some color to their environment.  The Abalone did not survive the Federal Express delivery process, and although Flying Fish Express has a "Arrive Alive" policy, I chose not to ship the little guy back (I kept the shell however).   The kit also contains a Hawaiian Black Brittle Star, a Banded Serpent Star, a Red Fromia Starfish, and some Burrowing Cerith Snails.  Like I said, how well these things are cleaning the tank remains to be seen, but at least I have some new critters to gaze at.  

Everybody seems to be getting along with the exception of Bob and the Arrow Crab.  The crab's legs have tripled in length since I first brought it home and he likes to use them to "club" Bob over the head as he swims by.  While this could be considered somewhat entertaining, I am worried that if Bob gets too upset by the daily beatings, he will "toxify" the entire tank and leave it lifeless.   I have never been concerned about it until now.  Usually all the inhabitants of my tank are docile and seem very happy to be around eachother.  This crab is a different story, and I have decided that I can live with the Bristleworms if I have to.  In other words - Bob stays - the crab goes.   We'll see how it goes, I may be selling an Arrow Crab on eBay!  

Well, I guess that's about it for now.  I have uploaded some new pictures and even two mini-movies (which take awhile to download) to the Critters and Corals page.  Don't forget to check them out.  And as always, thank you for visiting and come back again soon.

February 3, 2002

Am I a flake or what???  I promised I would keep this web site updated regularly . . . . . .

Well, today I did my bi-monthly tank cleaning.  I purchased 15 gallons of sea water from the LFS, rolled up my sleeves, and scrubbed and scraped.  I hate to admit it - but I had let it go for quite a while this time.  I had a lot of algae to scrub off the glass as a consequence to my lack of attention.   It looks great again though, as it always does right after a water change.  

A friend of mine was telling me about his reef tank and how he has these two bristleworms that are the size of small snakes!  After hearing that, I rushed down to the LFS and bought an Arrow Crab (known for making meals out of the little prickly worms).  Well, I can attest to his enthusiasm when it comes to seeking and destroying those worms - He's a double-fisted eater most of the time and looks as if he has almost doubled in size since I brought him home.   I took some pictures of him today, hopefully I'll be able to post them pretty soon.  

Other than that, not much else has been happening.  The same friend that has the mondo bristleworms gave me a chunk of sea mat polyps and took some of my caulerpa, mushrooms, and polyps.  It's nice to finally be able to "share" and "trade" corals and not just spend more money on them all the time.  Bob and Priscilla take food right from my fingers now.  I have to keep an eye on Bob though - he doesn't like certain colors of nail polish I wear - and nips at my nails instead of the food!   Priscilla has made a home out of the Pearl Bubble Coral, and I must admit she looks mighty cozy all nestled in it at night. 

That's about it for now - I will probably be putting up some new pictures soon.  Hopefully they will show the amazing growth I have seen over the past few months.   And I will be doing some shopping in the near future for more critters.  I'd like to get some more hermits and snails and maybe a couple shrimp.  I am also considering getting another Mandarin Goby since they are so colorful.   I think my tank has been established long enough now that it would have plenty of "stuff" to eat. 

Until next time . . . . . . . 

July 7, 2001

I cannot believe it has been so long since I last updated this site.  A lot has been going on in my tank over the passed seven months, most of it - good.  I do have a few fatalities to report, however.  I lost my seahorse and both of my scooters.   I am blaming it on "old age" since everything else is flourishing.  Those three critters had been with me since I had the 29-gallon set up.   Also, my Mandarin Goby died soon after I bought it.  I never saw it eat anything, so maybe it wasn't very healthy when I brought it home.  Regardless, the only "swimming" critters I have now are Bob the Boxfish, and Priscilla the Clownfish.  

I have not bought anything new since January, but it hardly looks empty in the tank.  My Hairy Mushroom has split itself into a total of eight pieces now, all of them happy and healthy.  The Brown Star Polyps are still taking over the whole right side of the tank.  I am considering doing a little pruning of them and taking them to the LFS for a trade.  I am a bit skeptical of the process however.  I wouldn't want someone taking an Xacto blade to me while I was sleeping!  But if it doesn't get done soon - I will have an entire tank of Brown Stars.  

The Red Slime Algae I thought I had gotten rid of came back, even with the protein skimmer running.  I purchased a bottle of Red Slime Remover from Pet Warehouse a couple months ago and WOW - It worked, and it's still working.  There's not a trace of that stuff anywhere in the tank, and there were no side effects like when I used the Poly-Ox.   I have not had any maintenance problems since the Red Slime episode, thank goodness.   I am going to replace the both the bulbs in my light fixture today.  They have been in use for a little over a year now, and are probably losing their intensity.   

Other than that, life in the tank has been pretty quiet, but still very entertaining.   

January 27, 2001

Well, it's finally 2001.    I hope everyone had a joyous holiday season and I wish us all the best for the upcoming year.  I am pleased to announce that I won the battle with the Red Slime Algae.  I purchased a SeaClone protein skimmer back in October and that seemed to take care of it.  I had to "fidget" a lot to get the right combination of air and water, but it works great now.   

Everything in my "underwater wonderland" is flourishing!  My Brown Star Polyps are multiplying (encrusting) at an unbelievable rate.  I can really see the new growth before the lights come on while the polyps are retracted.  They're spreading to three different rocks now.  My Green Star Polyps are multiplying as well, but not as quickly as the brown ones.   I have several patches of Yellow Polyps sprouting up everywhere.  I started out with just two rocks covered with them, but now I find them all over the tank.  The same goes for the Purple Mushrooms and Green Striped Mushrooms.  Every couple of days I see a new "sprout" of one or the other, usually in some very inconspicuous place.  I will have to get out my camera and take some photos so the "befores" and "afters" will be more conceivable.   

I do have one fatality to report - I lost my clam when I was battling the Red Slime.   I had been trying to get rid of the algae with Poly-Ox, which, if you read the label, is some pretty potent stuff!  Well, I'm not sure if that's what caused the death of my clam, but considering it was doing fine until then, I don't have anything else to blame.  I have not decided whether or not to purchase another clam.  I suppose if I find one that really catches my eye - I'll try again.

I purchased a Mandarin Goby today and a Long-Tentacle Anemone.  My Clownfish and the Bubble Anemone had a falling out (similar to the Porcelain Crab and its anemone).   So I am hoping that the Clown and the new anemone will find each other and live happily ever after.  I have always been fond of the Mandarins, they have such beautiful designs, now I have one of my own to admire.  

I will try to update this web site more frequently, although it seems to me I have said that before.  I will at least try to take some more photos ad get them posted.  That's all for now.

August 19, 2000

Well, so much for my good intentions to update this site on a weekly basis.  It's harder than it sounds, especially when spare time (or lack of) is an issue.  I added a few new pictures on the Critters & Corals page - don't forget to check them out.  I had hoped to add more than I did - Unfortunately my photography skills aren't the best.  

I seem to be fighting a battle with some Red Slime Algae, which came as a surprise because I've been really lucky in the algae department.  This stuff is awful though.  It's even growing on my seahorse's back!  I read in one of my books that raising the pH will get rid of it, so I'm adding Kent Marine's Superbuffer dKH daily.  I also read that a protein skimmer will help.  I am in the process of comparing the different types of skimmers and will purchase one within the next two weeks, something I probably should have done months ago.  

As far as livestock is concerned - I decided to try another Pumping Xenia and I also added two tiny patches of Green Star Polyps.  Bob is still "Mr. Personality" although he's not very photogenic.  He now sucks the brine shrimp right out of the end of the turkey baster I use at feeding time.  Since my seahorse only eats live brine shrimp, that is what I use to feed everything.  I enrich the brine shrimp first using phytoplankton to give it some nutritional value, then give the non-filter-feeding critters a little squirt.  It's pretty amazing to see how strange some of the things look when they're eating.  My Pearl Bubble is a good example, so are my Button Polyps.  And recently, I noticed that my Open Brain coral extends these little tentacle-looking things whenever it's feeding time.  For giggles one day, I gave it a little squirt of brine shrimp to see if it would eat them.  Eat them?  It devoured them all, first catching them with the tentacles, then shoving them in its "mouths" (it has four).  And I swear - as it's eating, it turns an even brighter neon green than it normally is.

That's about all I have to report on at this point.  Hopefully I will have won the Red Slime battle when I update again.   Until then . . . Happy Reefing. 

July 25, 2000

I am sad (or am I?) to report that my Yellow Tang has been relocated to a friend's tank.  It seems of all the Yellow Tangs in the display tank at the LFS, I chose the neurotic one.  It was picking on my seahorses day and night making them miserable.  At first I thought it was just a phase, but after two weeks, I decided, phase or not, the fish had to go.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I actually paid someone to remove it from my tank.  I didn't want to tear up the entire rockscape or stress out everything else, so I talked to one of the salespersons at the LFS I go to and offered to pay him to get the little demon out.  I figured he was as close to a professional as I was going to get.  Well, one and a half hours later, my tank was void from the Yellow Tang.  My seahorses are much happier now, but I do miss the splash of color the Tang added.

On a happier note, the Hairy Mushroom that I thought was splitting into two, actually split into three!  So I have one large shroom and two smaller ones now.  All three are doing well, one isn't quite finished forming yet, but it's making daily progress.  The whole process has been going on for almost two weeks.

I also added another anemone, but this one was home to an Anemone Crab.  They must have had a "falling out" because the crab has moved into my Atlantic Anemone (at the opposite end of the tank).  I had taken some pictures before "the move" and hope to get them developed soon.