lanman

Looks nice! Much better than my 'pile of rocks' aquasculpting technique. bob

Need a ruler in the picture - how big are those ugly things? Are they as slow-moving as they look? They look like dust mites on steroids. bob

Considering it doesnt' often live long in captivity - it is almost certainly taken from the ocean. I hate to encourage stores or producers to take from the ocean corals that are going to die. However - the damage would seem to already be done in this case; so read up, feed it well, and hope it gives you many years of pleasure. Maybe yours will be the one that acclimates well, propagates well, and survives well enough to become 'captive-grown' Goniopora. I'm afraid if you take it back, someone that hasn't a clue will get it - not feed it properly, and it will be gone in a month. Oh - and by the way, I'm new to the hobby, but I love star polyps; I have about 5 different varieties growing. Give me a few months, and I should be able to supply you with some nice frags. One of them (I got from Jacob?) - has fat, fluorescent green 'leaves' that almost glow in the dark (and do glow very brightly under blue light). Unfortunately, so far it is one of the slower growing GSP's. I also like encrusting gorgonians - I have a pink that seems to be growing like crazy. GSP's and encrusting gorgonians need their own rocks, or they will spread over everything bob

I like my TEK. bob

Tell me about wavemakers... I just want something to kind of break up the flow, move more water through some dead spots. Right now I just have a little powerhead on a timer that runs 15 mins on, 30 mins off, pointing in the general area of slow flow. I know there are set-ups that move around - are oscillating pumps like the zoo-med powersweep any good? http://www.desertcoralaquatics.com/powerhe...76199e978b3ffb7 Other suggestions, without getting into 6 powerheads and an electronic controller? I just have a 45-gallon tank, after all. bob

Do you know if that 'local reefer' is a member here? You might suggest it to him We're all going to want to see pictures of it at 60 pounds a year from now... bob

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