Jump to content

Recommended Posts

On 1/25/2022 at 12:55 PM, eatyourpeas said:

Today, epic poo!

There must ba another clam worm in there, since this thing is longer than a goby! Came out for a midnight snack and finished off the leftovers. 😵

PXL_20220125_194959470.jpg.02bd3f8732ba184b4273b4797da1d17a.jpg

This almost looks like a painting, what is the blue thing bottom center?

The goby is camouflaged!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/24/2022 at 6:56 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

I think you should feed the offending isopod to Baby.  Why?

I admit to having to look that up because I had no idea what you were referring to. 🤪

On 1/25/2022 at 4:25 PM, Streetwise said:

your tanks have more drama than a BBC series.

I am aiming for BBA to start, maybe it is because I am stuck on BBC that I can't seem to grow the thing.

On 1/25/2022 at 4:16 PM, Torrey said:

This almost looks like a painting, what is the blue thing bottom center?

It is a broken piece of mussel shell. I love my ninja critters, as they all seem to have mastered the art of camouflage! 😍

  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I have been working on a homemade carbon reactor for this tank, and finally installed it yesterday. The thing is amazing at removing the yellowing of the water! Next step is to add the phosphate absorption bit so that my coralline algae can grow happy.

All of this comes from the need to modify the filtration system so I can go longer between water changes, which are now every four weeks. My goal is to reach 4 weeks of no touching the V-Sump and see how it goes. The socks are going to be completely bypassed during the first stage but not the last, when the system is in this mode. These modifications would enable me to leave the tank when I need to travel for several weeks.

The critters were fed algae wafers and dry food for the first time. Ursula Flerken and Lola turned up their noses at it, but the other anemones loved the algae wafers, with one even wrestling The Acrobat for it (and winning!). It was very entertaining to watch him try to open the anemone up to get his wafer back. No way to get these guys to open when they do not want to! The gobies went crazy over the Hikari Crab Cuisine pellets, and the Aiptasia anemones took everything that floated away from The Acrobat biting on the wafer.

Again, all of these are not the norm, as they are going back to fresh/frozen food. But it brings peace of mind to know that they can eat dry foods.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
  • Love 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/4/2022 at 9:16 AM, Odd Duck said:

Please tell me have video of the the Acrobat wrestling with the anemone over the algae wafer?

I do not, unfortunately. I was not near my phone and my hands were in gloves while I was feeding them and fiddling with the V-Sump. But it may happen again, just like I was able to get the gobies doing their territorial dance.

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/4/2022 at 11:26 AM, eatyourpeas said:

I do not, unfortunately. I was not near my phone and my hands were in gloves while I was feeding them and fiddling with the V-Sump. But it may happen again, just like I was able to get the gobies doing their territorial dance.

Too bad.  This tank and your writing about it are endlessly entertaining.  I always read through all of the new posts on this thread no matter how many I’ve missed.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is the world's most entertaining tank thread. Not just from the gladiatorial arena nature of the tank inhabitants, but I think we feel that because we get to see it through your evocative and engaging descriptions of the inhabitants.  I appreciate this tank, but I appreciate it even more through your stories about it. Thanks for keeping us all hanging on for the next episode of "As the Tank Turns"!

On 2/4/2022 at 10:46 AM, eatyourpeas said:

I have been working on a homemade carbon reactor for this tank, and finally installed it yesterday. The thing is amazing at removing the yellowing of the water! Next step is to add the phosphate absorption bit so that my coralline algae can grow happy.

All of this comes from the need to modify the filtration system so I can go longer between water changes, which are now every four weeks. My goal is to reach 4 weeks of no touching the V-Sump and see how it goes. The socks are going to be completely bypassed during the first stage but not the last, when the system is in this mode. These modifications would enable me to leave the tank when I need to travel for several weeks.

This is a piece of SW keeping that I think fuels the tech used there.  WC when you don't live within walking distance of an ocean are not as trivial as they are for FW.  I know plants can help achieve this in FW, but in SW it's all algae based.  It's part of why I am so curious about your BBA tank project.  I wonder if it will serve the same function in your FW system as the marine species do in SW.  And you are a person with both so there can be direct comparisons.  It's going to be super cool!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Acrobat got the last laugh after all. The anemones all spat back the algae wafers, so the crabs (CUC) went to work. I went to the beach and got some clams for Twinkle Toes, and now they are all happily buried in the sand substrate.

A note to self: the absence of green macros is causing a rise in Nitrates. I tested the water today and they were at 20ppm (usually at 0ppm). This means the filter has to work a bit harder and I have to feed less. I did a water change and vacuumed the substrate, with The Acrobat following me around in attack mode. We played tug of war for a bit, then he got bored and went away. I always let him win! 😉

Ordered some Purigen to help with the Nitrates, and so that I can have a visual reference on the waste, because other than the test, the water is clear and no obvious signs of distress on the part of the critters.

I gave them an oxygen bath yesterday (meaning lots of air bubbles) and the anemones loved that. They always love their bubbles!

The predation continues, as I could only find one Hermit crab. Pippi Longstocking was nowhere to be seen. The brittle sea star had three arms out yesterday, and that was fun to see.

The red macros are growing beautifully, albeit slowly, so the tank has a bit of a desolate feel at the moment. Like being in Mars?

Once the lights come on I'll add some photos.

 

Edited by eatyourpeas
  • Like 4
  • Love 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beautiful day, so I went down to the beach and could not resist "gathering"...

The Acrobat is happy with the salad bar:

PXL_20220206_232413715.jpg.b261570e76239dc7fb33544267601c4a.jpg

 

Ceiling shrimp:

PXL_20220206_225726724.jpg.2ffa454853fb3adb4a23d644e5d7d056.jpg

 

An Opalescent nudibranch:

PXL_20220206_231945451.jpg.73d9d82c05db83e2f1327085c751525c.jpg

with aiptasia on the menu for him:

PXL_20220206_232422929.jpg.0b40279898c85d34c39b236c8dff871c.jpg

 

New Hermie and shrimp:

PXL_20220206_230713414_MP.jpg.b0f0309673b2f4439dec58c66b582b19.jpg

 

That looks tasty!

PXL_20220206_230740941.jpg.2ef27b311dbc8f823598b271df595072.jpg

Can I have some???

PXL_20220206_230758058_MP.jpg.4b77be271ff1f73ffbd3e72774c12c5a.jpg

 

And so, life continues in the tank, ready for the bedtime stories:

PXL_20220207_001643181.jpg.fad32b004cde3c0fd42ec4c26d3f07f3.jpg

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
  • Love 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/8/2022 at 11:13 PM, Torrey said:

The musical score is a perfect accompaniment!

Awesome video, you could set up a livestream camera on your tank for people.  I can see it now:

Puget Sound Biotope OnlyFishFans

I think that would bring me too close to my previous life, and I like the absence of reasons to spend time in front of a computer. If it takes more than five minutes, I am not doing it. But thanks for the compliment! 😍

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...