Sharkey18

Wow. Sweet. Tank Tour? Laura

I hate DIY projects! Well maybe it's cause it's my first one. I just finished putting acrylic baffles into a 40 breeder for my new sump and it's the UGLIEST sealing job you've ever seen. I will eventually use the sump for both the 54 DT and a 30g frag tank from NAGA. My question is this: I bought an Eshopps overflow for the frag tank. The overflow bulkhead has a 1.5 inch tube out the bottom with threading on the outside. I also bought a 1.5 inch flexible tube to run to the sump. What do I use to attach this bulkhead to this tube (or any tube) and where do I get this stuff! Now I remember why I buy everything already put together. Laura

At the very least get that fish in a QT! This will give you a chance to figure out what is going on while giving the fish a chance to recover. If it is something in your DT then at least the hippo will not get worse and has a chance of recovery. If he does start getting better then it will also tell you if it's something in your DT that is causing it. Do you see any evidence of flatworms? What other fish are in your tank? Good luck, that little guy must be strong if he's still swimming with all that damage! Laura

That is awesome! Wish i had the skill (and patience) to do it. Looks great! More pics! Laura

That is awesome! Wish i had the skill (and patience) to do it. Looks great! More pics! Laura

That's too bad. Do they remove Nat Geo programs of lions bringing down gazelles? Too bad for extreme tooth decay. I enjoy watching the predator - prey interactions and don't think it's any different than feeding crickets to a lizard. Laura

Thanks so much! The frags are just for me... no way I am ready to grow stuff to sell! laura

I saw the video of the shrimp handing over its limb and it is fascinating! It's another piece of the puzzle that makes you wonder about the whole pain thing. However just because the shrimp did this, doesn't mean that crustaceans and decapods don't feel pain. There are plenty of other explanations that could account for the shrimp to have the ability to feel pain AND be able to rip off and hand over a limb. Like survival mechanisms designed to block pain in order to hand over a limb in exchange possible survival. I'm not saying thats what happened I'm just say ing its a possibility because we don't KNOW for sure. In fact there is plenty of evidence that this same thing DOES happen in people. Horrible injuries, including loss of limbs that do not "hurt" at the time because of the bodies amazing arsenal of survival mechanisms, both chemical and psychological. They are not claiming that is it like "anything that we can associate with as what we call "pain" . And just because the hermits switch shells doesn't mean they do feel pain like humans only that it meats the criteria that the authors set forth. And no one is claiming that crustacean and decapod pain is the same as human pain. The authors definition of the POTENTIAL to feel pain: "indirect methods and argument by analogy may be applied in an attempt to answer this question (Sherwin 2001). Thus a species is considered to have the potential to feel pain if it fulfils certain criteria, such as: having a suitable nervous system; displaying protective motor reactions; showing trade-offs between stimulus avoidance and other motivational requirements; having opioid receptors; reduction of responses to noxious stimuli by analgesics and local anaesthetics; having high cognitive abilities; showing avoidance learning (Elwood et al., in press). We briefly consider these points with respect to decapods. Certainly that definition is open to discussion and they acknowledge that this is an active debate. It's just more information on a subject that is not well defined. I am not convinced they proved what they claim either but I don't think it's ignorant to ask the question. Even if they did feel pain would it change anything? I doubt it. Laura

The study is pretty interesting, but the responses to it are even more interesting! It seems pretty obvious that creatures with even a simply nervous system would have the ability to feel pain and this study shows some interesting results on that end. I don't really think there is anything in this study to get ruffled about. I mean there is no doubt that cows feel pain yet we slaughter them,not particularly humanely and eat them by the thousands, me included. There is very little threat to us as aquarists and carnivores from this information. It's just information so why the resistance to the information, especially if you didn't read it? Just because you may disagree with a premise doesn't mean the science is junk. It just means you disagree. That's what peer review is for, to put forth ideas for discussion. I always laugh when people are so put out when science is able to define sensory perception in other animals. I mean could we be any more in charge of this planet? Do you really think PETA is going to get a huge following of crab rights people that are going to significantly influence our lives? I doubt it. Methinks the protests are curiously strong. Interesting. Laura

I ordered a 24" x 24" x10" frag tank from NAGA and it's great. It was delivered earlier than expected and the cost was less than the original quote. He even met me in College Park so i didn't have to drive all the way out there. I am taking on adding baffles to create my own sump and if I get frustrated enough by my inability I wouldn't hesitate to ask Jeff to make one for me. As an aside, the tank was about half the cost of what glasscages quoted me and no hanging out in Manassas for a truck. Jeff met at Starbucks . And after everything I read about Glass cages, that's a chance I will NEVER take. Laura

Hi all, I just got a new (and my first) frag tank. It's an awesome 24" x 24" custom job from NAGA. I want to plumb it into the same sump system as my display tank and have a few questions. 1) If I split the return pump plumbing to return water to both the display and frag will I need a stronger pump? If I am pumping against a 4' head and then split it to pump up TWO 4' heads does that equal 8 ft? (I got a C in physics). 2) Do I even need to return water to both tanks or can I have the water gravity flow from the display to the frag and then from the frag to the sump and just be pumped back to the display? 3) Any suggestions on what lighting to use. My display has T5's. Any help or advice on getting this all together is welcome. I am not a natural DIY-er and not even sure I should try... Laura PS For what it's worth, I had an excellent experience with Jeff (NAGA). Product is awesome and was done much sooner than expected, for less $$ than quoted. Can't beat that!

Nasty! Holy crap.

Yeah, My clowns were pretty put out by the whole affair. It was cool to watch. Seeing it on the glass would have been awesome! Laura

Pics are now online if anyone is interested. I can not for the life of me upload images to a thread or even a new gallery album so anyone interested can view them at http://gallery.me.com/sharkey18#100150 Before split, the anenome was about 8 inches across. It looks like I now have a 3 inch and a 5 inch. Thanks for the inquiries but I'm keeping this clone or returning to oirginal owner, Robz. Laura

Still wasn't done but I had to get to get my butt to work. I took some really cool pics and will upload when I get home tonight after 9pm. Laura

Woke up this morning to find my RBTA splitting. Very cool to watch and awesome because it was getting so big I had to keep moving corals out of reach of its tentacles! Laura

I think I might try the wrasse. I can't get out there until Wednesday afternoon. See you then! Laura

Unfortunately, it seems like the wrasse is not an option. My tank is only 54g and it seems like this fish will also eat everything else in there and even "re-aquascape" in an attempt to find critters to eat. Too bad, it's a beautiful fish. Will definitely consider when I get my 120! Laura

Thanks for the help. So far I have caught them on my now deceased kenyan tree but suspiciously lost a colony of zoas as well. I am picking up a frag tank from Naga this week and will move the softies asap and will consider the wrasse. Thanks! Laura

My softies are falling to these tiny pests at an alarming rate. I have removed 2 very small ones, about 1/4 inch. Can I set a beer trap or something? Any suggestions? Laura

I have a large fish trap. Laura

Hey, Big Thanks to Rob for having a couple of new reef tank people over today to watch his really cool tank, ask questions and share info. Thanks so much! Laura

Check this out, studying hermit crabs... http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/27...pain/index.html

I would be thrilled to come on sunday, but please don't change it just for me. Laura