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On 7/29/2022 at 3:25 PM, jamieterrin said:

Well that explains that, i was hoping to find something like a goby or loach but the natives aren't as well documented as NZ 

We have lots of great natives, but they require very large tanks. @Fish Folk has a great journal entry for NANF that is lots of fun to follow. 🙂

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On 7/30/2022 at 9:38 AM, eatyourpeas said:

We have lots of great natives, but they require very large tanks. @Fish Folk has a great journal entry for NANF that is lots of fun to follow. 🙂

yeah some amazing "game" fish its true but your right large complicated setups, but there must be smaller fish to fill in the environmental niches, i was thinking about keeping one of these when i was in new zeland 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upland_bully

ps what does NANF stand for? 

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On 7/30/2022 at 8:48 AM, jamieterrin said:

yeah some amazing "game" fish its true but your right large complicated setups, but there must be smaller fish to fill in the environmental niches, i was thinking about keeping one of these when i was in new zeland 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upland_bully

ps what does NANF stand for? 

That is a great looking goby!

NANF: North American Native Fish 🙂

I am currently devouring Amazonas Magazine featuring Hawaiian gobies and WCMM species, and all the cool fish I could never have, like Channa.

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On 7/30/2022 at 11:42 AM, eatyourpeas said:

That is a great looking goby!

NANF: North American Native Fish 🙂

I am currently devouring Amazonas Magazine featuring Hawaiian gobies and WCMM species, and all the cool fish I could never have, like Channa.

its actually a bully like a goby but cold water and i'm sure there must be some little funky fish in the pnw that has the same ecological niche 

exotics are fun but natives are more uniqe

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On 8/3/2022 at 7:14 PM, eatyourpeas said:

They refuse to tell me what this is all about! 😵

image.jpeg.56813e04cb0fb2eeef89bf981890383b.jpeg

somethings you don't want to know 

On 8/5/2022 at 10:25 AM, eatyourpeas said:

Couldn’t agree more. I love my LBF (as @Biotope Biologist calls them - Little Brown Fish) and their quirky personalities!

yeah i called em LBJ's little brown jobbies but look closer and there much more interesting and will often have very surprising colors when fighting or breeding

we just need some recommendations on the smaller fish as few of us can keep a bass 

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On 8/9/2022 at 11:11 AM, eatyourpeas said:

watching the Bay gobies play

Gobies offer endless entertainment in my experience.  They are so silly.  Even the derpy ones like my desert species are still entertaining.  I think I could watch anemones and long tentacled corals sway all day too.  I still love that starfish in your tank too!

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I am putting more air bubbles in the tank, and it has made a huge difference, for the better. O2 is definitely a good thing for these critters, especially at night when it feeds the macros.

This “not so little” isopod was looking for breakfast in the weeds. He has grown quite a bit, measuring 1.25” and still cute as a Tardigram.

 

image.jpeg.66f156734d6fdb799d61b06b8452d5ca.jpeg

Counted 27 aggregate anemones this morning, still no sign of the Flerken kids.

Edited by eatyourpeas
Better photo.
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That is an amazing isopod!  I live that you can just take the critter as they come because this is a box representing the largely unseen below the surface tension in your backyard.  I think a lot of aquarists would have much more interesting (and dramatic) aquariums if they could replace losses by grabbing a net and pulling from their yards.  It's part of what makes this tank such a fascination for me, and I suspect many others around here too.  Thanks for keeping us updated!

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Made some modifications to the V-Sump in preparation for a four-week absence. All media has been shifted and flow is now going through three layers of felt socks before it hits the sump. 200µ each and hopefully they will not become too much of a NO3 factory that the macros can’t handle.

Fingers crossed! 🥸

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On 8/15/2022 at 8:00 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

Good luck, indeed!  And happy travels! 

Also, thanks for the v-sump update!  You know at least one sucker will always love those.  This guy *points thumbs at self*

Yes, remember you were the instigator! 😆 

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On 8/15/2022 at 12:23 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

If I had a dollar for every time someone said that about me throughout my life thus far...  💰💰💰

I can start a tip jar for you!

Morning coffee, very foggy, like my brain:

image.jpeg.37ed46c6b5e68b102d48c846172b9d1c.jpeg

I know there is a city in there somewhere:

image.jpeg.357478d3663243f943cb13543e56e89a.jpeg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Today ended the test run for the new filter setup. Three weeks of no media change, no feeding, just to see how they would fair when I go away for an extended period of time.

Ammonia 0, NO2 0, NO3 0, a little low on Mg but not at a critical level. Not enough evaporation to worry about. Lots of pods and diatoms. The filter media was, needless to say, gross!

All now back to normal, and found a new critter, Alitta succinea. It looks like a bristleworm but has paddles instead of hairs. Anxiously waiting to see a face! The height of the tunnel is about 0.5"

image.jpeg.1a66db03f155233ac90481acd69f4f09.jpeg

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On 8/28/2022 at 5:36 PM, eatyourpeas said:

Three weeks of no media change, no feeding, just to see how they would fair when I go away for an extended period of time.

Ammonia 0, NO2 0, NO3 0, a little low on Mg but not at a critical level.

What have you done?!  That's awesome!!!  Reefers chase that sour of outcome.

On 8/28/2022 at 5:36 PM, eatyourpeas said:

Alitta succinea. It looks like a bristleworm but has paddles instead of hairs.

Ooh.  Bristle worms are one thing I am not looking forward to in SW.  Do you get very my in your cooler tank? 

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On 8/28/2022 at 6:01 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

What have you done?!

I do not use the mesh socks. Instead, I layered floss mats in a strainer sitting under the tank water coming from the bulkhead. These then drain into two layers of felt socks, with a pad of poly filter to do a final polish. The oxygen in the tank has been increased by bleeding the internal skimmer and raising the output nozzle to the tank water surface.

All sponges I was using as biofiltration have been removed. I now rely mostly on mechanical filtration. NO3 levels became too much for the macros.

Healthy dose of macros added to the tank. No feeding. The critters relied mostly on pods, barnacles, and seaweed.

Now that I am back the mesh socks are used again because I am feeding, and the amount of waste is spectacular! 😝

On 8/28/2022 at 6:01 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

Do you get very my in your cooler tank? 

I do. Sometimes there would be four or five in the sock in the V-Sump. Always wear gloves when tending to the sump!

They are excellent housekeepers, always keeping the substrate clean. I simply adore them! 😍 I have only seen one trying to steal food from Ursula Flerken without success, but for the most part they do not bother anyone. The largest one I have spotted is about 7” long.

Creepy crawlies rule! 😆

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