tranceFusion

When I got my tailspot blenny, he kept getting thinner and thinner for a couple of weeks and then one day he just started going nuts and eating anything I put in the tank.. who knows..

Sorry, I'm a little confused.. why are the FragFest and Summer Meeting so close together? Is there not supposed to be frag vending at the meetings anymore, or did it just work out this way? Or is frag vending not the main point of Frag Fest (I haven't been to one yet). Thanks!

me + guest..

i got one a couple of weeks ago.. he kept jumping/falling to the sand.. i came back after a long weekend to find him attached in the sand to a small piece of rubble. I put some rics in his old place, but then they were getting knocked down to the sand, so i think it was snails rather than him jumping.. anyway i put the clam, attached to the rubble, back in his old spot. i figure if he detaches from the rubble i will know he doesn't like it there and isn't just getting shoved off.

i'm sorry, friday night just isn't a time i usually spend sitting at the computer..

I got mine, like pretty much everything in my tank, at Mr. Coral. When I was there I think he had colonies that are $20-$80 depending on the size you want..

well these guys seem to be coming out and feeding and appear to be healthy thus far.. i am a bit concerned about the nutrients in my tank though. i only have a 12g and "feeding each polyp" seems to turn into me dumping a full cube all over the polyps.. i don't imagine this practice can be too healthy for the tank, with all the nutrients being added. i know most people use turkey basters, but i haven't been able to do anything elegant with mine (like feed a single polyp).. it seems like my bristleworm population is growing out of control though..

I basically looked and saw where it seemed like there was a clear straight line between the polyps.. I intended to cut directly up this line but ended up with 3 frags instead of two... one is just two polyps. So far, the two larger colonies are opening up. They are completely out but they did partially open up and accept some food.. here is a pic:

found him! i looked in the bins in the back sump area but i didn't see him before.. well he was back there (its an aquapod so he can just hop over the wall). He was in the bin with the pump in it and it seemed like he had been doing quite a bit of struggling to keep from getting sucked into it. Seems like he will be ok with some rest!

i did but i didn't find him.. though i suspect the dog would have made a snack of him if he did. and I just posted on here yesterday about how my fish never even attempted to jump out of the tank :( way to jinx myself..

I got a new clam and a bunch of frags over the weekend so I was rearranging my rocks several times.. now my tailspot blenny is gone. He isn't one to hide - he is always out and in the way when i am working in the tank. I took down all the rocks that I was moving and I don't see him in there. Does it seem like he could be trapped in the rockwork somewhere? Could I have dropped a rock on him and crushed him? Those things don't seem very likely to me.. but I don't know if I should should tear down the tank to look for him. He is my favorite fish that I've owned. He has been fat and happy.. and him and my clownfish are best friends!

i am not sure what kind of opening you'd need to cover, but plastic gutter guard generally works well for that type of stuff. plus its only like $2 for 3 ft of it. How do you like the CPR? It seemed quite pricey so i never got one.. i made one of those DIY refugiums out of an aquaclear 70.. it doesn't do much to increase the water volume, and i don't think the clip on light i am using is really as bright as it should be to get the chaeto very noticeably., but i used to have to occassionally pluck pieces of macro out of the display area, and i don't anymore, so i guess it is doing something.

I used the glass top for a short while but I no longer use it.. I don't think it would break.. it does keep the tank a degree or two cooler.. which isn't a big deal for me since i usually cool my place to the low 70s.. however, there is poor gas exchange with the lid on and it was making my pH low. I don't think your concerns are a big deal. Yes, snails go into my filter bins.. they also come back into the display.. it really doesn't hurt anything for them to go back there.. in fact, if they go back there and stay there i figure there is algae back there they are eating. they never leave the tank because, well i don't have marine water outside of it There are fish that are surely jumpers, but I haven't had my clown fish or blenny even look like they wanted to jump.. if they ever get stressed they are darting into the rocks, not out of the tank.. I would leave the top off, and then if you have problems, you can try to come up with an alternative..

the monti is a great idea! i got tired of messing with it and i had a couple of small dark areas i really wanted to fill in.. so i took the dremel to it. i hope it survives.. it is 3 frags now.. i had really good intentions of being careful but it ended up cracking and being a massacre. anybody have a suggestion for the maze brain frag in the bottom right? can i just leave it in the sand? i can't find anywhere to mount that won't look ridiculous..

ok I tried to stick the sun coral in between a couple rocks but i still don't think the shade is that great, and it doesn't have any where to spread out to.. I was thinking maybe I just just frag it into smaller pieces and then glue the polyps up under some ledges? also i was wondering about the maze brain coral frag.. can I just leave it on the sand and it will grow out on its own skeleton right? any other suggestions or tips about my tank are more than appreciated

ok I'll snap a pic when I get home and post it up here.. its only a 12g so I feel like I am ripping the whole thing apart every time I get a new frag.. it is kind of frustrating trying to provide proper conditions, room for everything to grow, keep aggressive stuff away from each other, etc.. and it just ends up looking like a contrived rubble heap..

I just got a nice frag of sun coral. They were out and eating the next day but I had them jammed under an overhang in the back. I am a bit torn - I would love to display them prominently with plenty of growing room, not to mention somewhere easy to feed.. However I am worried that they will be damaged or stressed getting blasted by Metal Halide lights.. is this a concern at all? Thanks!

I want to re-do the aquascaping in my tank. The problems I have are: 1) Getting flow to all areas of the tank, behind rocks, etc.. without blowing my fish and rics away.. 2) Having room for low-light low-flow corals that I want. 3) Not enough space to clean glass easily. I want to take out maybe 25% of the rock. Is that bad? I feel like my tank is pretty healthy right now so I am scared to mess w/ it. The thing is, the only things I want to keep in this tank are LPS, zoas, and rics, so I feel like alot of the higher up, high flow areas are getting wasted when what I really want is more ground room.. I am not sure exactly how much rock is in there, but I would say it is maybe 18 lbs in a 12g. Thanks for any suggestions.

We were probably going to go in the fall when it is cheap - September? I know it is cheap because of hurricane season, but not sure why hurricane season causes the prices to go down - I might make a note to look into that before purchasing the tickets.. Anyway, it will make short work of the economic stimulus check

Ok, it sounds like I am going to stick to the snorkeling, and invest in some decent snokeling gear. I am not sure about taking a cab to places on our own.. it seems a little overwhelming to go too far off on your own in a foreign country when you have to be back at the boat at a specific time - which I guess is why they get away with the prices of the excursions.. are the disposable underwater cameras any good? I just bought a Canon G9 and they sell an underwater case for it, though I am still a little skeptical about taking a new camera in the water.. i'm a little inept when it comes to common sense things..

Sorry to get off topic but how do you like the Solana? I have Current's 12g w/ sunpod and I was looking to upgrade to something larger..

thanks for all the feedback. It sounds like diving is the way to go, although I am not sure if I'm quite ready for the time and financial commitment to doing it. I was reading though that on some of the cruises you can get your certification on the boat (for an additional arm and leg I am sure). Not sure if I can get the woman into it though

Hi guys, My girlfriend wants to go on a cruise. I am not a big lay out in the sun kind of guy so I was thinking that I could incorporate some sightseeing of reefs into it Anyway, I was looking at Royal Caribbean cruises and they have one that stops in Belize and Cozumel. There are excursions at both places to check out the reefs. There are a few different options: Submarine, Semi-Submarine, Snorkelling, and Scuba diving for beginners where they give you an hour intro and you dive out from the beach. (they also have an option for those with their scuba license that have already been on a dive, but I don't fit in that category) So, are the reefs at these locations worth seeing? What is my best bet as far as a method for seeing them goes? Does anyone have any experience taking these types of excursions from crusies? Any input is much appreciated!

That stinks! Sorry to here about that.. I bet a float valve is looking like a nice investment right about now :( I know its a little late for this but I usually make water into a 5gal bucket in the bathtub so that if it overflows, it goes down the drain.