Nart

Dude. Your setup looks sweet Juan! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Started with one. Ended with two polyps. Whomp whomp. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@Jon Lazar thank you Jon. Appreciate the help! It does look like bryozoans. I'll pass on the info.

Appreciate the help all. I would get her to join, but she's in Florida which she is currently looking for a local reef club after they get the whole Irma mess situated.

Thanks Mari. I'll have her look it up to see if it matches. This is her response to @Jon Lazar questions: "It does behave like a coral in some aspects. Responds to light and retracts a bit when touched. One day it never opened, staying closed during all day even when lights were on. It was so tight and small it was hard to see. It did not look like a round closed polyp on a stem like zoa, more like a roundish, flattish, tiny bump on the rock then next day there were two of them. It's not firm like a sponge, more lacey and stringy. It does appear to have a central hole but there is no stalk or visible oral disc."

@Jon Lazar this is how she describes it as.. "It's starting to look strangely like I'm looking up through a tiny hot air balloon.. if that makes sense at all. So, you see the petals? At the junction of each petal, a filament or string is stretched upward, and each of those strings comes together to form small ring above the main petal structure. It retracts when touched." Someone told her it's an encrusting tunicate. But it doesn't match the pictures when you search up encrusting tunicate. Maybe it's because of it's in the early stages?

Hello All, I am trying to help a friend figure out what this is on her rock. She started with dry rocks, so the only way we think it could have hitch-hiked in is by frag plugs. Please see attached. Any ideas? Thank you, Ben

Always enjoy reading your write-ups Paul. I really wish the ocean was closer to me so I could collect ocean water and mud... Speaking of white worms, I still have that culture back when I started caring for the green spotted Mandarin (which I have given away since) I should feed my tank with white worms!

WAMAS meeting at Ben's booth? See ya'll both there.

Appreciate the explanation! I'll have to look into one of these [emoji16] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Peristaltic what what? What is that? lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have one of those AIO tanks. The Innovative Marine 25 Lagoon to be precise. Both the ATO's (Tunze and Smart Micro) float valve/sensors sits in the same place. In my AIO sump, near the last chamber. Where my water remains constant.

The automatic shut-off on the Tunze wouldn't have mattered in my situation. I was watching the Tunze Nano ATO pump in short bursts of 3 seconds of water and then stop for about 10 seconds and pump in another 3 seconds. I was watching it for a good while and tried to plug/re-plug, cleaned off float switch. Nothing worked. It didn't matter if the float switch was above or under water. It brimmed my tank to the top. So finally I just called Amazon because it was just a few days past their 30 day return policy. The unit failed on me in 32 days!! Luckily I was home! and luckily Amazon let me return it.

I personally don't recommend the Tunze Nano Osmolator. That ATO failed on me big time. the float switch was on the off position and it was pumping water into my tank every 5-10 seconds. I tried cleaning and messing with the float switch. Couldn't fix it. Luckily I was home otherwise it would've dumped my 5 gallon bucket into my 25 gallon tank. I switched to the Smart MicroATO and have had no issues with it. Comes with a failsafe where it shut itself off if the top off is too long. Cobalt Neo-therm all the way.

Is that a brackish water porcupine fish? or full saltwater? I can't tell with the hybrids these days :P

Learned something new today. Such a wealth of knowledge Paul. and that hermit....... hit's hugeee!

Excited. Can't wait.

@mari.harutunian What AIO tank do you have? Agreed with Treesprite. I have an AIO tank, IM25 Lagoon. I removed the black vinyl in the back to grow chaeto.

Wow nice @smh254 Here is my progress. Slow n steady. I think I see a third polyp starting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

+1 He's a very down to earth guy. Just like you all too

[emoji106] I really didn't know the coral bleaching was that dire. Really concerning. Any who, I'm not an expert in this nor a diver, I'm really interested in what yall seasoned folks think about the documentary. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Has anyone seen the documentary on Netflix called "Chasing Coral" yet? I just saw it and wanted to get your thoughts and opinions on it. And holy smokes, at the 1:02:27 mark. I think that's a dersa clam? I knew they get big, but wow... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Paul, it's 'MURRRRRRICA! Hope you had a great 4th of July.

@treesprite lmao and before you know it... your whole rock is epoxied :P

I actually asked a similar question during the Big Fish Deal event of 2017 when Joey Mullen (King of DIY), Shane Linder (Planet Catfish), and Larry Johnson (Lake Malawi explorer) were on the Q&A Panel. I asked: "I noticed many of the local fish stores that I grew up with are no longer in business. It feels like the fish hobby as a whole is declining. Do you guys feel that way too?" They replied: Absolutely not. If anything, it's grown quite a bit, especially more so because of access to the internet. In regards to the local fish stores closing, you'll get some angry owners saying I can't compete with the bigger chain stores selling cherry barbs for $2. Why are you selling cherry barbs anyways?? The person willing to pay the cash isn't looking for a cherry barb. Sell something more unique that the bigger chain stores do not sell. Anyways, their response made sense in a way. I do notice the LFS that are still open and making a profit are the fish stores willing to embrace change and utilizing the internet and social media to their advantage. Also, they sell things that chain stores do not, or if they do, they sell better items. I do my part in buying a good portion of my stuff from the local fish store, even though for some items I can clearly save $10 shopping online. Don't forget, a lot of fish stores exist only online as well. So those stores are keeping up with the trend. A bit more than what you needed to know. I visit here and several other forums/google and do a collective research before making a decision usually. Not sure if we are allowed to mention or link other sites on here? so I will stay away from that.