lanman

Quotes from various sites on the internet: "The parents are small and may be maintained easily in a twenty gallon system. They pair and spawn readily and regularly, with demersal (bottom) eggs, and parental care. " "Commercial breeders use short section of small diameter plastic pipe as spawning sites and raise the eggs separate from their parents, but they will spawn and rear their young on most anything solid. The fry are raised on unicellular plankton (Euplotes & Brachionus are recommended). The young are fully developed in a month; which seems fast until you realize their full lifespan is but a year or two. Please see the references below if you are intent on breeding Gobiosoma. " "most Neon Gobies will lay their eggs onto almost any solid surface at the bottom of the aquarium. Although fry are often raised separately from the parents, Neon Gobies do show parental care and will raise their own young if their eggs remain in their aquarium. Unicellular plankton is the diet of the fry; often, Euplotes and Brachionus are used. " " If you do have a mated pair and good water conditions you may be able to breed them in your tank. Both parents will guard the nest and protect the eggs from the other fish in the aquarium. It may be a good idea to separate the parents and eggs into their own tank if this happens. Because they are relatively easy to bred, many places are now offering tank raised gobies for sale. " Sounds do-able, either way! bob

Need any financing? You already know business - and now you have an awesome product line, and I already count half a dozen pre-orders - without an established price. Winner! bob

AND she only lives about 20 minutes down route 28 In case I need emergency hydroid identification services. bob

The little one that gets picked on has a small wound on her side, now - she spends a lot of time letting the skunk cleaner shrimp pick at it. I reckon the others chased her into a rock or something. The other two don't even like to let her do THAT - they chase her away when they spot her getting cleaned. But she's getting quicker - they don't often bump her anymore. And I always make sure she gets plenty of shrimp; the only thing she's willing to fight for. She gets around well, and stays away from them most of the time - but it's obvious she wants to be part of the 'gang'. I'm tempted to put her in her own tank until she's bigger and stronger. But then she would be a 'newcomer' - and probably picked on even more. I guess I'll let nature take its course - with just a little help. bob

I controlled some algae last night. Pulled my hair-algae-covered rock out of the tank, and took a brand new wire brush to it. Rinsed it off, put it back in - and the hair algae was GONE! bob

The trash can is still sitting here if you want it. I'll go try to dig out the pieces. Although I might never find that foam filter. bob

Well, I'll be darned... skimmers work. In my 24-gallon tank, I have never seen ZERO nitrate. 5... 10... never zero. In the last two weeks I've added a skimmer - and three fish to my 45-gallon tank, which is much newer than the 24. Tonight, I measured ZERO nitrates. I thought the test kit was broken, and would read minimum of 5... Cool beans! Everything is doing great in the 24-gallon tank, but I wonder if the coral would grow faster at ZERO? They do make a skimmer that fits in the back of that aquapod. bob

Not the fish for someone who can barely keep a goldfish alive... But it sure is purty! bob

Dibs on the first baby! I like that toadstool. Although - unless I get a bigger tank, I'll have to lop it's head off once in a while and everybody ends up with one. Tang-away's would have nearly filled my 45. Why does the LFS never have any nicely colored sarcophyton's? bob

I used my radial-arm saw to cut my acrylic with - worked very nicely. bob

L I B ... I just googled hydroid jellyfish and found a picture of my little animalcules. You guys are way too smart. bob

Bleah! :( My tank isn't big enough for a whole school of them. I'm just glad they don't cost $80 apiece. One MORE reason to get a bigger tank... They really are pretty in the tank, though. bob

The fish in question is the smallest of the three - and the other two 'bully' her. She even has a little spot on her side, where I think they bumped her into one of the rocks or something. I've been taking extra care that she gets fed, but she mostly just hides down in a corner unless the other two venture to the other end of the tank. I thought anthias were supposed to like one another... Any suggestions? bob

I noticed this evening (along with the first little plate of coralite on my acrylic) while cleaning my tank, that I have some tiny tiny little things (about a dozen here and there) on the 'glass' inside the tank. They are about the size of a period ( . ), and almost transparent (a speck of white) - and when I catch the light just right, it appears they have 5 tiny appendages. Could these be baby starfish of some sort? I can't seem to find a magnifying glass, and I don't think I have a microscope anymore. Thanks, bob

I threw it out... I could never get it to make the kind of bubbles that looked like they would actually skim proteins. I got it really cheap - it was no great loss. bob

Does that sarcophyton have a name? Like Fred? bob

May I assume bringing a guest is okay? We would like to make a day of it - and visit all three. bob

You forgot the part where you have to kill it and examine the skeleton in order to actually make a differentiation. bob

I haven't the faintest idea - just your run of the mill little anemone. When it's open, it has a pink spot in the middle kind of like a zoanthid. It's been in the tank since it was pretty new - and hasn't grown much, if any. It just sits there looking pretty. And occasionally wanders a bit. Or hitchikes. Today it is sitting about where it was before it took a ride on the hermit. bob

My 24-gallon tank has reached what I would call 'stability'. The water is always clear, the numbers are always good on tests, everything is growing and happy, nothing is growing that shouldn't be, and coraline is busting out all over. There have been days when I did nothing to it but enjoy it. 2.5 months. I would say it has 'reached its maturity' - i.e., the equivalent of a 21-year-old. Lots of growing to do, but an adult nonetheless. My 45-gallon tank, on the other hand, is in its early teens... rambunctious, rebellious, capable of taking care of itself for short periods of time, but not yet ready to drive on its own. Capable of holding down a job - such as growing a few corals, but not yet ready for anything complex or demanding. A little brown algae, a little hair algae, some young frags and a couple of more mature corals that probably wish they didn't have to deal with it, but can handle it. I have a feeling this rather rebellious youngster won't turn 21 for quite a while, yet. It takes a village - the WAMAS village has been very helpful to me in raising this one, but I think I still have some rough times ahead. Definitely not mature. bob

And my anemone has decided he can't move fast enough on his own... I laughed at your post last night, and this evening, I came home to this: It's an epidemic! bob

Two orange polyps on eBay for $142 plus shipping - bidding ends in a couple of hours bob

I have been feeding mysis late evenings for one feeding - she does seem to do better, although the other two still get a lot more of it... The other feedings are Dainichi Marine Veggie FX and Reef FX- with Cyclopeeze baby sinking pellets. bob

I got three lyretail anthias about a week ago. One of them is really BAD at finding and eating food. She knows there is food in the water - she makes all the right moves, but almost never actually gets any food. Even when it almost bounces off her nose. I find myself feeding them twice as much as I probably should - just to be sure she gets some food. The snails are busy... Any suggestions? bob

You're sure it isn't a tubastrea? Either way - I want one! bob