[Poseidon]

Man Gene, I don't know what would have done that.... or WHY? I mean eating polyps is one thing, but actually eating the skeleton?

[charlie]

Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Man Gene, I don't know what would have done that.... or WHY? I mean eating polyps is one thing, but actually eating the skeleton?

Yeah, this is why I think that crab is not a suspect in this criminal case...
I'm leaning towards my Rabbitfish, actually. It is the only fish capable of taking a chunk like that out. That creep is about 7" long now, and I try feeding as much as I can without compromising water quality.Still, I see him grazing on the overflow(top of it) where I removed some of the grid to make water go down faster. Some algae grows there and he manages to actually extend his head out of the water and into that area to feed on the algae.
Maybe it is not him either...
The area seems to be recovering at the moment(you can see it in the picture as well, I hope), hopefully no more bites will occur and it can heal itself.

[zhenya]

Who said fighting conch cannot conquer vertical frontiers?

This dude here is amazing climber if you ask me, check this pix out.



Freaked out my cleaner shrimps, too...



And then ,of course, he promptly fell down. Took him like 20 minutes to get out from behind that coral where he ended up after his circus-like behavior.

[charlie]

Maybe he got dizzy??????

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Maybe he got dizzy??????

No, I got dizzy staring at him that's for sure...
Seriously, though, this is first time ever that I saw him this high up on the glass. Weird!

[Poseidon]

He didn't make it very far did he?

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

He didn't make it very far did he?

Not very far, although about four inches off the sand bed is pretty high up for that snail. They not gliders like the others, as you know, so I consider this guy an mountaineer...

[charlie]

Must be from a "remote area".

[Poseidon]

They sure are cool. I want to add one to my 90, but I am waiting a bit to let the new DSB mature for him/her.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Must be from a "remote area".

Yeah...

I still remember that guy from Fedex.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

They sure are cool. I want to add one to my 90, but I am waiting a bit to let the new DSB mature for him/her.

Yes, Mike, this is important to let the sand bed mature before adding one. They mostly feed on diatom type algae, sometime eating cyanobacteria as well. I have a tiger tail cuke and this conch for sand cleaning, and various sand dwelling worms and other polychaetes(bristled type).

[charlie]

Gene, I am thinking down the road here, would it be OK to put one in a refugium with a dsb?

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Gene, I am thinking down the road here, would it be OK to put one in a refugium with a dsb?

Charlie, if you are talking about that 75g refugium then yes, there should be enough open sand in there for it to do well.

[zhenya]

Small update for this month--> I added a pair of Pyramid butterflyfish(Hemitaurichthys polylepsis). My Z.scopas tang and the caribbean cherubfish gave them little bit of trouble for a day or so, however, the pecking order been adjusted and they are left alone and doing fine. Eating very well, mostly cyclop-eeze and chopped up PE mysis and brine. I still add a little brine shrimp that is packed together with spirulina (I consider this as an appetizer ).
Well, on to some images of the little buggers...

Here they are on the first day, actinic only lighting to ease the stress of acclimating to the tank and tank mates.


And some images from today. By the way, I forgot to add that I got these fish last Thursday from my LFS and they had them for two weeks or little over two weeks.

[Poseidon]

Aww..... They're CUTE! I like that last one Gene.

[charlie]

Gene, you are going to love these guys!!!! Great personalities in the system!!!!

[weez1959]

I never dared put a butterfly in my tank, no more room anyways but they are cute!

They sure look like they could use a steak though,

By the way I was just skimming through this thread and saw that nasty worm

I agree with Charlie, looks like a great dog toy and if you were to donate this beast to a dog you would never have to worry about your tank again, those pink mop worms can really bring down the fish population in no time...

May your wrasse R.I.P.

I understand how you feel, my wrasse has become one of my favorite fish!

[zhenya]

Hi Louise,

This two fish definitely need some fattening up, and they do a wonderful job working at it I must add. I feed twice a day now but thinking of doing three times until they get a bit more plump. Butterflies are not like clownfish that get real fat when they mature(like my clark's clown in the anemone tank), although I like to see their belies a little chunkier.
I'll post update on how they do in a week or so. For now they've been left alone by everyone and have become part of the gang.

PS. I agree on the wrasses, they have the most personality of any reef fish I've had to date.

PPS> The pink "killer" worm been disposed off by my ever "watchful" granddaughter...

[dougc]

Gene,

Sorry that your wrasse went missing. I have had my solarensis for a couple of years now and he has just stopped trying to commit aerial hari kari just in the last few months. I think he is more settled partly because there is a swarm of fish in the tank and he feels safer in a crowd.

Love your pyramid butterflies and I hope you make out better than I did with them. I have lost a couple in quarantine, had one die in the tank (along with several other prize fish to a disease outbreak), and had to return one to the LFS when my tank broke a few years ago.

Determined to have butterflies in my tank, I added two Heniochus diphreutes to my tank a couple of months ago and they are thriving. Because of the need for frequent feedings, I invested in a "Super Feeder" automatic feeder. I feed a small amount of a combination of flake and small pellet three times during the middle part of the day when I am not home. I also feed frozen food early in the morning and in the evening for a total of five (small) feedings a day. I am hoping that this will give the butterflies the kind of nutrition that they need. So far, so good. The true test will be to see if they grow to their potential adult size.

Sorry, no decent pictures of the heniochus yet.

Doug