[Ninong]

Here is a picture of one of my three remaining Elysia crispata:



And here are the other two:



This picture is a view from the left side:


In that last picture you can see a patch of the green algae just beyond the first purple Kaelini piece. You can also see some of the tube worms on the first piece of rock at the bottom of the picture.

Observations: I need to keep the camera in my room so that it will be available in the middle of the night for surprise shots. That's the only way I will be able to take a picture of my little Holothuria sp. sand cuke. There is really so much to see at night. At least I can see the stuff that's close to the front glass pretty clear. I can't believe how many amphipods and copepods I have in there scampering all over the rockwork at night.

I noticed two fairly large bristleworms sticking out of the rough looking piece of Kaelini rock that is the highest point in the middle of the tank the other morning. And to think I always thought they would only be found near the bottom rocks and the sand bed. Makes me a little more leary about touching the rocks with my bare hands anymore. One of these worms was about 3" long and the other was about 2" long. I don't know if these guys came in with the live rock or if they are part of the 12+ baby bristleworms I got from Inland Aquatics a few weeks ago. All of those were no longer than an inch or so at the time. Maybe they grow fast?

I'm still startled whenever I hear the sound of one of the Strombus alatus banging its shell against the glass of the tank. They do that every now and then. Happens maybe two or three times a week, probably when they are in a jumping mood. I'm glad these guys won't get any bigger than 3"-4" max.

I rearranged the live rock just a little. I have a pretty good sized piece of Buna Spiney in the first compartment of the sump now and I'm thinking of removing a couple more pieces soon. I still have too much rock in the tank.

I have some red Tang Heaven (Gracilaria parvispora) growing in the back of the tank. That came from a single little piece about 3" long that was in one of the bags from IPSF. It has grown into a dense 'bush' about 6" x 3" now.

So far all of the little Tapes sp. sand bed clams are still in the sand. I only lost two or three out of the 28 that they shipped me. At least they are the ones that never buried themselves in the sand so I assume they didn't make it. I haven't tried to remove any of those because they are in spots that are hard to reach. Of the 6 Trochus sp. snails from Inland Aquatics, two have died. Of the 12 Trochus intextus snails from IPSF, five have died. Of the 10 Astraea phoebia snails from Reeftopia, three have died. Of the Cerith snails from Reeftopia (can't remember if I got 18 or 24), two or three have died. Of the 100 Nassarius vibex snails from Reeftopia, I can't say if any have died that I know of. I believe all of the Nerites from IPSF are doing fine, too. Both of the Strombus alatus are going strong as is the little Holothuria sp. sand cuke.

It's difficult to say anything about the Strombus maculatus from IPSF because they are nocturnal, as are the three Stomatella varia from Inland Aquatics. I see some of them every night but I don't know for sure if any have died.

Three of the original four Elysia crispata are doing just fine. I have no idea what they are eating yet but so far they seem healthy. They like to soak up the rays when the lights are on, but that's just part of their nature. I would love to be able to catch one of them eating something where I could see a before-and-after difference but so far I haven't seen that.

The 10 or 11 remaining Scarlet Reef hermits seem to be doing fine. One or two were D.O.A. They like sinking algae (spirulina) discs a lot. The Nassarius go crazy over Formula One pellets. Not all of the Formula One pellets want to sink right away, which causes some to go through the overflow, so I have taken to soaking them in a cup of tankwater first and squeezing them with my fingers to make sure they will sink when I put them in the tank.

The two Lysmata amboinensis cleaner shrimp hide a lot. It's hard for me to find them unless I turn off the pumps so that I can see down through the water column to check out the rear of the tank, which is where they usually hide out.

[zhenya]

Ninong,
After reading your previous post I came accross this thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=232372
something you've said about small umbrellas.I just hope it is not one of those algaes that Ron is talking about...What a pest

Edit: Forgot to add that you have alot of snails I think I'll give reeftopia a ring and get some more for my tank,especially those cerith snails

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Ninong,
After reading your previous post I came accross this thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=232372
something you've said about small umbrellas.I just hope it is not one of those algaes that Ron is talking about...What a pest

Edit: Forgot to add that you have alot of snails I think I'll give reeftopia a ring and get some more for my tank,especially those cerith snails

Nope, it's not that one. I believe I know what family it's in but I'm waiting for a little more development first before I say anything.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Nope, it's not that one. I believe I know what family it's in but I'm waiting for a little more development first before I say anything.

Thank God!

[Ninong]

I finally identified the alga on my flat piece of Kaelini that forms the roof on the right side of the central cave. It was Caulerpa nummularia. I say 'was' because I have removed it already. My only problem is that it was impossible to prevent it from breaking up into dozens of tiny fragments that I was unable to retrieve. So now I have to be on the lookout for those tiny pieces settling elsewhere in the tank and growing there.

I don't have any herbivorous fish in my tank yet and I'm hoping to hold off on that for another two or three weeks. I finally decided that it was growing too fast to ignore any longer. The stolons were shooting out in all directions and adding at least 1/4" a day in new growth. The original patch had gotten to 2 cm tall, 7 cm long by 3 cm wide from invisible only two weeks ago. And there were three smaller patches that were beginning to take off.

[zhenya]

Ninong,

I'm asuming that taking this rock out of the tank wasn't possible without wrecking entire reef structure? I hope that it does not settle anywhere else as well,however it is not the case when I prune my Caulerpa serrulata,I always find a new patch growing somewhere where it was not prior to the harvesting How invasive is this particular algae?

[Ninong]

In order to remove that piece of rock I would have had to remove a minimum of five or six large pieces of Kaelini because they are all interdependent.

I don't know if C. nummularia is any more invasive than any of the other Caulerpales but ATJ has it in his tank and he says he hasn't been able to get rid of it. He pulls it out every other week. The stolons had 1/2" long very fine hairlike holdfasts that were penetrating deep into the porous live rock and the stolons were shooting out in all directions at a rate of about 1/4" new growth per day.

I assume that Zebrasoma spp. tangs probably eat it but I was hoping to wait another two or three weeks before getting one of those (either Z. flavescens or Z. xanthurus). And besides, it's not good for them because of the toxins.

[zhenya]

Yes,I saw a picture of it on ATJ's site and it does look like the same "type" of menace that i have and by your description it sounds like you might have to battle it in times to come and I totally understand that sometimes removal of one piece of rock can be a PITA or simply impossibile without tearing entire reef appart.
Anyhow, good luck with this,Ninong,I hope that it just perishes somehow and never reappear again.

PS. Forgot to add that maybe a foxface rabbitfish could be a better herbivore in this case. Plus,less agressive and less territorial I think and not as choosy about which algae it eats. Just a thought

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

PS. Forgot to add that maybe a foxface rabbitfish could be a better herbivore in this case. Plus,less agressive and less territorial I think and not as choosy about which algae it eats. Just a thought

Do you have one? They are available locally and look quite nice but I have always been a little shy about putting anything with venomous spines in my tank.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Do you have one? They are available locally and look quite nice but I have always been a little shy about putting anything with venomous spines in my tank.

Yes I do
I know that it has venomous spines but it is so shy,atleast in my case,that I don't think you stand I chance to be poisoned by it.
Unless you will chase it around and try to grab it with your hand of course

here's a pic of mine...

PS. i think you stand a better chance to get pricked by an urchin then one of this

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

PS. i think you stand a better chance to get pricked by an urchin then one of this

No, I don't, because I have no intention of ever getting an urchin for that very reason and besides, I don't want any urchins eating the coralline off my live rock that I paid good money for.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

No, I don't, because I have no intention of ever getting an urchin for that very reason and besides, I don't want any urchins eating the coralline off my live rock that I paid good money for.

Ok, so you won't have an urchin but I was just trying to make a comparison Besides,I don't think that one urchin can polish off all of your rock.The only reason I never got one becouse I was afraid to get caught by one of those needles and be a wimp after that One fellow in our local club came once for a meeting and showed me his hand...and I said nope,not me
I think the rabbitfish are very cool and can erradicate some of the algaes from a tank in a heart beat,to boot. I am not sure that they will munch that much on the caulerpa however,atleast in my case it did not happen as I think nothing will eat my type of caulerpa,maybe some Oxynoe type slug or something.

[Reefland]

Ok, let me butcher your thread for a minute.

I am starting to think about adding the one big fish back to our tank and I think the rabbit fish are cool looking and have the added benefit of eating algae if it presents itself. You mentioned that yours was shy; are you saying you hardly see it? What are the different types of algae that they eat? Would they eat hair algae or maybe even that red crap? I don't have either but if one was to show up it would be very nice to have something to control it before it presented ANY problems.

Scott

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Ok, let me butcher your thread for a minute.

I am starting to think about adding the one big fish back to our tank and I think the rabbit fish are cool looking and have the added benefit of eating algae if it presents itself. You mentioned that yours was shy; are you saying you hardly see it? What are the different types of algae that they eat? Would they eat hair algae or maybe even that red crap? I don't have either but if one was to show up it would be very nice to have something to control it before it presented ANY problems.

Scott

Scott,

If you are asking me? I said shy but it was probably a wrong shoice of words to use.I should've said not agressive and very easy going towards other inhabitants and he's out and about all day. As far as the algae choice,I think mine prefers any filamentous algae and probably will eat the hair algae as well. I get this stringy green algae that grows on top of the overflow box,around the top edge mostly in a high flow area,especially where the return lockline pipe is and I see him grazing there most of the day.He does pick on the rocks as well. If I put a Nori under my Magnavore magnet he goes for that as well. Your red algae looked like the tang heaven to my eye but I'm no expert on the algae(or anything for that matter ),if it's anything like the tang haven he'll chomp it down in no time.
I really do believe that they make much better grazers then tangs and agressiveness issue is not there as well.

[Ninong]

Gene,

Does your Yellow Tang get along with your Foxface? Which one did you have first?

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Gene,

Does your Yellow Tang get along with your Foxface? Which one did you have first?

They do now My yellow tang is the original fish in this tank and basically second in command after the Clarkii. The Foxface was greated rudely at first but having the venomous spines on the top helps alot and he was left alone in about 15 minutes or so. I have him close to a year or maybe a bit longer,I don't remember I'm bad with keeping records.
I made a rookie mistake and got that yellow tang first and been paying for it ever since.Not a good first occupant in my opinion and as they get larger they get more and more agressive and hardly tolerate any new additions.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

...but having the venomous spines on the top helps...

On the top and the bottom. Both the dorsal and the anal fins have venomous spines. If you ever have to net him, you want to be very careful. I'm thinking of getting one now. I wanted my first fish to be a herbivore and yet I knew that putting a Tang in the tank first would make subsequent additions more difficult.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

I wanted my first fish to be a herbivore and yet I knew that putting a Tang in the tank first would make subsequent additions more difficult.

I agree 100%, Ninong. I think that tangs should be added last and so are large single clownfish I know that they have those nasty spines on the bottom as well but when I release my fish I never net them. I simply slowly exchange water in the bag that it came from untill I'm sure that none of the LFS water remains and just let them swim out of the bag on their own.Usually takes me 35-40 minutes tops. I really don't believe in long acclimation of fish,clams yes but not the fish. It had worked for me for years and I'm not about to change something that works . I mean q-tank is good to have when you making new additions but first or second fish is fine to just add to the tank I think.

Anyhow, I think you'll be happy with the Foxface as a grazer and a tankmate. Don't forget to post a pic when you get one,please

[Reefland]

I am looking for one now. Has anybody spotted one online yet and if so, from where?

Thanks,
Scott Z.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I am looking for one now. Has anybody spotted one online yet and if so, from where?

Thanks,
Scott Z.

Hi Scott,

I believe Marinecenter has/had them and not just the one that I have but more of the rarer kind.My PC is out of comission for now and I had to borrow my dauthers loptop-I hate this things ,so I can't give you the correct URL becouse it's on my hard drive.I hope Ninong chimes in and....you know