bprinehart

I have a Red Ridged Clinging Crab (Mithrax Forceps) which are pretty much identical to emerald crabs, we have had our ups and downs. I banished him to the fuge (before there was anything in there except some chaeto) for about 3 weeks after I caught him eating my Kenya Tree. Then I decided that I missed the little **** and his algae removal services so back in the display tank he went. He really is a terrific part of the cleanup crew, but the second I catch him nipping at any of my sps or lps, he's gone for sure. He's just too comical. I added a candy cane frag the other day, and there was some algae around the base of the frag plug, he must have pulled the plug closer to his little nook he was hiding in. When I came back into the room I noticed the plug had moved, so I readjusted it and decided to see who the culprit was, and sure enough, suddenly a patch of coralline came to life (he camouflages very well into the rocks) a little claw reached over and pulls the plug back over to the rock and begins chomping away on the algae again. He didn't touch the polyps, so I decided to let him keep it there until later in the day after he had picked the algae clean. It's hard to hate them when they really have neat personalites. Good luck with yours Forrest, I'm sure it will work out, no matter where he ends up.

This is the one I helped you move when I picked up the frags, right Steve? It's lookin good! I like the 92s but would hate to have to reach in there for something.....

$9.99 Normally. It's definitely the nicest cultured rock I've seen around here. John is getting ready to expand his business as well, so he'll have multiple stores soon, and at that point he's hoping to make the rock a Seasave exclusive. Give him a call if you have questions he's a good guy to work with. His livestock prices are decent as well.

1) bprinehart 2) Brian Rinehart 3) GSP mat under actinics

Mine are pretty boring, but I'll join the fun... \

I am a proud Dremel user myself! I think it's important to read up on the least stressful way to frag first though...a friend of mine who shall remain nameless gained the moniker "Sgt. Slaughter" after a few attempts at fragging some Xenia. Whatever you do, make the fewest number of cuts, incisions possible, use a sharp blade (this is terribly important) your livestock with thank you. About the Anemones, they frequently reproduce through fission (Splitting) in the wild, and I think people frequently slice them directly across the oral disc with a sharp blade to create clones of their own. I think flowerseller has a video somewhere on Youtube where he demonstrates how to split a BTA. I personally don't have the heart to do it. But I will go after a candy cane with a pair of bone cutters like a mad man!

Sorry I missed your initial post but a belated Welcome! to WAMAS. Ditto on donating some corals for your classroom tanks. Brian

ROFL....You made Heineken come out of my nose!

I'd gladly volunteer to do the pickup and get in on the GB. I live in Ferndale, which is almost halfway between the Rockville/DC area and Parkville, where EA is located. Let me know Brian

Robert, Not sure where you're located, but Seasave cultures their own on a private lease in FL. It's usually covered in macro, oysters, clams, brain corals, palys, and just about anything else you can think of and maroon and pink coralline. He usually quarantines it to check for mantis shrimp before hand, and John is a straight shooter. They always have TONS of it. www.seasave.net. Pardon my density.... Honestly it might be worth the drive. Brian

Thanks for the advice guys....Scales it is I guess!

Hey Guys and Gals, I'm looking to pick up a pair of cleaners for my reef tank, and was wondering the best place to get them, either locally in MD or online, HOT (sadly, my LFS) wants 30 for some less than 1" specimens. I haven't checked with Seasave because I haven't seen any in there for a while. Any direction would be appreciated. Brian

Also, I would caution against keeping a BTA in a 14 gallon. They can grow to over 12" naturally, and are pretty sensitive to changes in water quality.

EDIT: Nitro after reading this post, I realized it could possibly be taken as being contrary to what you said, that is not my intent, I am in agreement with you here I think alot of it depends on the quality of the live rock you put in to begin with. Not saying that he won't experience a cycle, in fact it might be a compressed cycle, for example a friend of mine had his biocube up and started stocking in a week when he transfered the rock and sand from his established 180. But definitely take is slow this is mistake most people make when starting out, your wallet and your livestock with thank you. Everytime you add a critter, you need to give the bacteria in the tank time to adjust to the new bioload. You probably have a decent amount already if you got your rock from a well established tank like Bemmer's, but you still need to let it mature and grow to the proper density for the amount of rock in the particular volume of water. Also, if you don't have one, get yourself a master test kit, especially when you are first starting out, things can go south in a hurry if you don't have one. For your fuge light, my friend used one of the mini CF lights in a clip on desk lamp after he scraped the paint off the back of the glass. His chaeto and caluerpa do very well in there. Just my .02, and the pistol / goby combo is awesome.

IMHO, the Maroons and Tomatos are the most beautiful. I have a Maroon, and it took her awhile to pay the anemone some attention and decide to host it. But I can't begin to tell you the difference in her behavior since she did. She was constantly harrasing my YWG before she decided to host, literally following him around the tank and constantly tail beating him and just being dominant. Since she's hosted, she's never more than a few inches from the anemone, and hardly gives anyone a second thought, unless they get a little too close to her home (even me while cleaning the glass). It's quite interesting to watch her feed it and take care of it as well. I agree on putting the anemone in first, and letting it aclimate to the tank. While I did the exact opposite, as I obtained my Maroon as a rescue. I would almost certainly do it the other way around if I had the choice, as they can lavish quite a bit of attention on them, even if the anemone is not receptive to it. Just my .02

Thanks Tracy. It really was quite cool to see nature at work. I'd put that right up there with coming home from work and finding my maroon finally giving my BTA some attention. We're finding this hobby does require quite a bit of vigilance, however the rewards far outweigh the minimal amount of time required. Speaking of the hatchlings, I've seen 2 or 3 this morning floating around yet, and they still appear to be moving. On the off chance that 1 or 2 do make it, what would be a good food for them, rotifers, DTs? I was thinking about adding some type of phyto to the tank food mix just in case. Thanks, Brian

My wife and I were spending some time watching our tank this evening, when she commented on how big one of our peppermint shrimp had gotten. "Look how big the tail is now!", Lisa said. Upon closer inspection it was very apparent that she (Consuela, our peppermint) was harboring countless numbers of larvae on the underside of her tail. We were extremely excited to know that we are providing a home our critters feel secure enough to reproduce in. Then, without warning, she literally shook the larvae free, causing a snowstorm of little peppermint babies to fill the tank. My wife had looked away for a moment, so, I let her know what had happened by exclaiming "Look, the babies!" We were tickled pink. In very short order our Maroon Clown, Coral Beauty, and Yellow Watchman began feasting with gusto. Poor kids never had a chance. We couldn't help but feel extremely privileged for having witnessed such a display. Just wanted to share that with all you fine folks this evening. Probably old hat for most members here, but exciting for us nonetheless.

New member here, Glen Burnie, work in Baltimore. Thanks for having me!