[Meric]

Well it has been a year since I setup my 125 Gallon tank. What a year. I have flooded my basement at least 4 times while learning the ropes with this hobby again. All flooding occured either from me not turning off the RO unit before going to bed (STUPID), or the Protein Skimmer going nuts in the middle of the night pumping out galons of water (Fixed with Auto Shutoff Waster Collector). So I thought I'ld show a few pictures of my tank. I have 7 fish in the tank, but none were feeling photogenic tonight. Maybe at feeding time I can get a few snapshots. So my inverts were easier to get a few pictures. Hey they don't move, or at least move slower than me.

Here is a Full Shot of my Tank, Coraline is out of control. I have to scrape the front every couple of days.



Here is my Pagoda and a Polyp Coral, had these for a year



Here is my Hammer, I've had for 5 months

[Meric]

Cucumber Pics. I have had all cucumbers for a year.

Black Cucumber, he's a monster (6" long and about 2" in diamter)



Yellow Cucumber with Clams from the Grocery Store (Yes I purchased a pound of clams from the seafood department and put them in my tank. Out of 20 Clams, 10 still live after a year)



Tiger Cucumber and Feather Duster and a Clam that didn't make it.

[Meric]

Here are my leathers, I have had these about 3 months...

Finger Leather



I do not know what these are.



Red Mushrooms



So other than fish that's about it. Let me know what you think.

Meric

[kevinpo]

Very nice! The small coral you didn't know the names of are pin cushion leathers (Sarcophyton). They do quite well and will become large quickly. They are easy to frag and should earn you some money and/or trades

Regards,
Kevin

[Penguin]

Looks nice Meric. I have the same yellow cucumber as you--great cleaner.

Can you tell us more about those supermarket clams?

[Meric]

Originally Posted by Penguin

Looks nice Meric. I have the same yellow cucumber as you--great cleaner.

Can you tell us more about those supermarket clams?

About a year ago, just after I had set up my tank, I had just finished adding my live rock, and was into my cycle about 3 weeks. I was at the grocery store, and they had a sale on "littleneck" clams. After a little research I determined that these were the species Mercenaria mercenaria.

These are filter feeder that live within a temperature range of 50 deg F to 86 Deg F. Although optimal temp is 68 deg F, and they do not grow at temps above 86 deg F, I thought they would be an interesting sand bed critter and could survive the temps I keep my tank at which is 78 to 79. I purchased a pound of the clams which was about 20 - 25 clams. The average size at purchase was about 2" and none were bigger than 3".

Since all fresh clams are alive when you buy them, just chilled @ 40 deg F. I had to properly acclimate them to not shock them. I decided the best way to do this was to make a 5 gallon bucket of saltwater @ about 68 deg F. I then setup a drip system from the bucket into the bag of clams. I let the water drip for about 4 hours until the clam were completely submerged. After that I put the clams in the bucket of cool water with an air pump. After 24 hours I put a 50 W. Heater in the bucket and set the temp to 75 degrees. 3 or 4 clams died within the first day. After a couple more days I moved the clams to my Quarantine tank where the temp was about 78 degrees. I think another 2 clams died totaling to 5 or 6 clams within the first week. I left the clams in my Q tank for observation for about a month, feeding DT's and Powdered Phyto twice a week. After a month, I had no more clam losses, I moved them to the main tank. They loved the sand bed and were happy as clams . Within 24 hours all clams had buried themselves in the sand bed. No occasionally they will pop out of the sand moved a few inches then bury themselves again. They will also turn sideways in the sand with the intake siphon sticking out.

The main reason for purchasing them was to have something that moves the sand bed, and they do a decent job of turning the sand bed. But also their main diet is Phyto and Diatoms. Since purchasing the clams I have had no diatom algea outbreaks or even cyno outbreaks on the sand bed. Of course it could just be coincidence. I have had another 3 clams die though. They may not be getting enough food, so I started adding DT's and Powdered Phyto to the tank twice a week. Also all my clams are bigger than 3" in diameter so I know they are growing.

[Penguin]

Interesting. Thanks for the info.