Pocky's RSM 130D Adventure
- Thread starter Pocky
- Start date
Then water changes should be the answer - all the best !
Pocky
Member
Here is an update. On Wednesday, I went to the LFS to buy water to do another water change, and they had a shipment of fish in. I couldn't resist the adorable clownfish so I picked 2 little guys still in bags from the quarantine facility. I hoped that they would pair up and be friends. After acclimating, as I put the second clownfish in the tank, he swam immediately to the other guy, and they've been buddies ever since. They are too cute. They are very small so I think they are juveniles. I can't wait to see how their relationship develops as they grow up. I also picked up a purple tipped frogspawn.
On a sad note, one of my trochus snails didn't make it. He was the sluggish one of all 6 of my snails. Then he got stuck in a crevice in the live rock, and I had to take a couple rocks out to rescue him. Unfortunately, he didn't recover after the rescue. Instead of taking him out, I put him on the sand to see what would happen. One of the nassarius snails found him within 5 minutes and had a steak dinner. After the first was done, another nassarius had a smaller feast. I was a bit grossed out at first seeing the snail climb on the dead one. But this is nature at work and a good thing.
Ocellaris Clownfish Buddies
Purple Tipped Frogspawn
Nassarius Snail Snacking on Trochus Snail (Sorry if this is offensive to anyone)
On a sad note, one of my trochus snails didn't make it. He was the sluggish one of all 6 of my snails. Then he got stuck in a crevice in the live rock, and I had to take a couple rocks out to rescue him. Unfortunately, he didn't recover after the rescue. Instead of taking him out, I put him on the sand to see what would happen. One of the nassarius snails found him within 5 minutes and had a steak dinner. After the first was done, another nassarius had a smaller feast. I was a bit grossed out at first seeing the snail climb on the dead one. But this is nature at work and a good thing.
Ocellaris Clownfish Buddies
Purple Tipped Frogspawn
Nassarius Snail Snacking on Trochus Snail (Sorry if this is offensive to anyone)
Pocky
Member
One question: Should I leave the frogspawn on the little square it is on or cut it off with a razor blade and glue it to a little piece of live rock? Right now, the piece it is on looks ceramic and has a leg on one side. I guess I can break the leg off the ceramic piece so I can put it in more places without it being tilted.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
Congrats on the beautiful clownfish ! Love clowns !!! Pretty 1st coral too, great colors - wavy/flowie corals always make the tank look great
Really no right way on the coral... what I usually do, is leave mine on the plugs for awhile, so I can easily move it around the tank, looking at it to see both where I like it visually & most importantly to find his "happy place", then I usually remove them & mount a few months latter. The plug will cover with coralline algae over time, if you leave him on it, so you can go either way.
Really no right way on the coral... what I usually do, is leave mine on the plugs for awhile, so I can easily move it around the tank, looking at it to see both where I like it visually & most importantly to find his "happy place", then I usually remove them & mount a few months latter. The plug will cover with coralline algae over time, if you leave him on it, so you can go either way.
Congratulations on the first fish and best wishes for success with them! Juvenile clowns are real cuties, and getting young ones means you'll have a pair after the dominant one changes to a female. Touch decision on the frogspawn. Frag plugs aren't the prettiest thing, but I'd recommend leaving it as it is. Their flesh is pretty tender and fragile and you might injure it trying to remove it from the plug. That one isn't very tall so the fleshy part of the stalk is probably very close to the plug. I got a fairly large 6 headed torch a few months ago (not on a plug) and had a tough time mounting it where I wanted it, and mangled it a bit in the process, and within a week or so 3 of the heads died. The other 3 are fine and already splitting into more heads. As Glenn said the plug will eventually get covered in coralline and won't be so visible.
If you do try to remove it be as gentle as you can with it.
If you do try to remove it be as gentle as you can with it.
Salty Water
Member
Exciting getting your first fish isn't it? I've read through your thread which was very interesting. Thanks. Everything seems to be coming along in a very controlled and informed manner. It's funny, I had imagined you to be a man, probably in his thirties/forties, but then I saw you say that your "hubby" was laughing at you. The internet is great at mind games isn't it!! lol. Anyway, back on topic...
Great choice on Oceallaris Clowns, as they're supposed to be easier to keep and hardier than Percula Clowns. I chose the Percs (because the colours are slightly bolder) and they also look fantastic in the tank but they are, initially, very difficult to keep happy and, in my experience, they appear to be susceptible to more illness. I had a few problems with mine but now they're doing fine. With everything else to think about, I could have done without the hassle in the beginning. Clowns look great and your children and visitors will love the Nemos! On the flip side though, Clowns don't do very much, particularly once they have found a host. Don't be surprised if they only occupy only a few cubic inches of your tank (or to one side) and just dance up and down all day long. Mine have only recently started venturing elsewhere. Personally, I like fishes that swim in and out of the rockscape and that are always active, hence loving my Six-Line Wrasse and Flame Angel. You'd probably want to leave these territorial fish until the end though...
I'm surprised that you chose not to run the stock skimmer for at least a few weeks to see how you get on with it. I found it to be very good. I just think that it's good to endure some "pain" so that you can appreciate the differences and learn about how everything works for yourself first. A lot of people are running stock everything with great success, including me up until a few weeks ago. I admit, after a while, I did find the stock skimmer to be noisy and my wife did mention it a few times, etc, but the main reason I swapped it for the Tunze 9002 was so that I could use the media rack.
Good luck for 2011.
Great choice on Oceallaris Clowns, as they're supposed to be easier to keep and hardier than Percula Clowns. I chose the Percs (because the colours are slightly bolder) and they also look fantastic in the tank but they are, initially, very difficult to keep happy and, in my experience, they appear to be susceptible to more illness. I had a few problems with mine but now they're doing fine. With everything else to think about, I could have done without the hassle in the beginning. Clowns look great and your children and visitors will love the Nemos! On the flip side though, Clowns don't do very much, particularly once they have found a host. Don't be surprised if they only occupy only a few cubic inches of your tank (or to one side) and just dance up and down all day long. Mine have only recently started venturing elsewhere. Personally, I like fishes that swim in and out of the rockscape and that are always active, hence loving my Six-Line Wrasse and Flame Angel. You'd probably want to leave these territorial fish until the end though...
I'm surprised that you chose not to run the stock skimmer for at least a few weeks to see how you get on with it. I found it to be very good. I just think that it's good to endure some "pain" so that you can appreciate the differences and learn about how everything works for yourself first. A lot of people are running stock everything with great success, including me up until a few weeks ago. I admit, after a while, I did find the stock skimmer to be noisy and my wife did mention it a few times, etc, but the main reason I swapped it for the Tunze 9002 was so that I could use the media rack.
Good luck for 2011.
Pocky
Member
Crabby Paddy gave us quite a scare this morning. We woke up to seeing him upside down on a rock. My son had a sad look on his face so I told him that we could get another one when we went to the LFS today to replace the trochus, since they have a 15 day guarantee. I was thinking that I'm doing something terribly wrong because the snail died and now Crabby. I then thought he may have molted but didn't want to get my hopes up. After about 10 minutes, I looked around the live rock and he was out in front in a crevice. Thank you Crabby for not keeping me in suspense for too long!
When I saw this, I got that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach....
Crabby Paddy was just hiding it turns out.
When I saw this, I got that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach....
Crabby Paddy was just hiding it turns out.
Good news on Paddy ! I remember when my cleaner shrimp molted the 1st time, I was like oh... no... I lost my cleaner shrimp, then in a day or so he reappeared, they usually hid until thier new shell hardens 
Pocky
Member
Thanks, Glenn and Terry. I will leave the frogspawn as is, but will try to break that ceramic leg off gently so I can place it elsewhere although it looks pretty happy where it is.
Tammy, my 4 year old daughter went to the LFS with me to pick the clownfish so she was excited. My son didn't come but was very excited when he saw plastic bags floating in the tank with our first fish and coral. Everyone is enjoying the tank and the kids love Nemo!
Salty, at least you got the age range correct! Not 40s yet, but not far from it.... My husband is from Ireland so when I was pm'ing you about your Tunze problem, I asked him where the Isle of Man was. He said it was in between Great Britain and Ireland and to tell you about being a Manx. Now I'm wondering if you were the one from Isle of Man and whether I'm getting you confused with someone else? I was bad about not running stock first. To be honest, I was just being lazy. I figured that if I was going to swap out for the Tunze anyway at some point, I didn't want to go through the learning curve of the stock skimmer. Plus, noise is an issue with me. I'm just following the path of so many before me here on this forum. There was also too much downtime/boredom when I was cycling the tank and I had happy internet purchase fingers...
Tammy, my 4 year old daughter went to the LFS with me to pick the clownfish so she was excited. My son didn't come but was very excited when he saw plastic bags floating in the tank with our first fish and coral. Everyone is enjoying the tank and the kids love Nemo!
Salty, at least you got the age range correct! Not 40s yet, but not far from it.... My husband is from Ireland so when I was pm'ing you about your Tunze problem, I asked him where the Isle of Man was. He said it was in between Great Britain and Ireland and to tell you about being a Manx. Now I'm wondering if you were the one from Isle of Man and whether I'm getting you confused with someone else? I was bad about not running stock first. To be honest, I was just being lazy. I figured that if I was going to swap out for the Tunze anyway at some point, I didn't want to go through the learning curve of the stock skimmer. Plus, noise is an issue with me. I'm just following the path of so many before me here on this forum. There was also too much downtime/boredom when I was cycling the tank and I had happy internet purchase fingers...
Nemo was a Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
Salty Water
Member
Pocky, I'm from Cardiff, Wales. I dealt with a supplier of Tunze equipment in the Isle of Man.
Information About Cardiff
Enjoy.
Information About Cardiff
Enjoy.
Pocky
Member
Tammy, I thought all those things myself. My son, who loves science class, has been helping me with the water tests. I've also explained to him that one of the clownfish will most likely become a female, which just boggles his mind. It's all such fun and educational at the same time. My daughter is still a bit young to understand it all but I know she is soaking it in and it will click at some point.
Salty, so you're Welsh. My husband has been to Wales many times growing up in Ireland. His family used to take the ferry from Ireland to Wales and then drive to London. He says Wales is a beautiful country. I've never been but hope to some day. We may take a family trip to Ireland this summer since his parents are pestering us. We did an England/Ireland trip when our son was 3 and daughter was not yet 1 to go to a wedding but have not been back for over 3 years now. My husband also wanted me to mention that we watch Fireman Sam all the time although if you don't have young kids, you may not know who Fireman Sam is...
Salty, so you're Welsh. My husband has been to Wales many times growing up in Ireland. His family used to take the ferry from Ireland to Wales and then drive to London. He says Wales is a beautiful country. I've never been but hope to some day. We may take a family trip to Ireland this summer since his parents are pestering us. We did an England/Ireland trip when our son was 3 and daughter was not yet 1 to go to a wedding but have not been back for over 3 years now. My husband also wanted me to mention that we watch Fireman Sam all the time although if you don't have young kids, you may not know who Fireman Sam is...
Salty Water
Member
lol...Fireman Sam is a legend! You probably know "Norman Price" too then!? I have two children: my daughter is 3 years old and my son is just 7 weeks old. My daughter loves the tank and impresses our frineds with her knowledge of the underwater world. It's funny when visitors say to her, "ooo look, that's a lovely little Nemo isn't it?" and she replies, "that's not a Nemo, it's a Clownfish, and that's a Wrasse, that's a Goby and those are Hermit crabs, and those are Turbo Snails"...lol.
And, YES, Wales is beautiful.
And, YES, Wales is beautiful.
Salty Water
Member
Regarding fixing corals, personally, I wouldn't bother. I've moved mine millions of times. You'll find that you want to move yours an inch, or slightly up or down, or next to that other coral or away from that aggressive coral, etc. I would take them off the ceramic tile only if you want a look of temporary permanency (bit of an oxymoron I know) or otherwise wait until you've got a few more corals so that you can get an idea of the composition/form you want and then fix only if you're happy. You might be fairly satisfied with the rockscape now but I will bet you a $1 that you will have rearranged it again within the next fortnight and probably more than once. Cheers. Ben
You're headed for the naughty step Terry!
Well, it's a fact. I can't be put on the naughty step for telling the truth!