A 55G link in the Golden Chain

[sasquatch]

your not hand feeding Jeff?

[goldenmean]

your not hand feeding Jeff?

No Way. I am not Captain Canuck!

[plecosword]

hahaha, I like him, is there any living creature you can keep alive with him?

[goldenmean]

plecosword I have a total of 3 wennerae mantis.
#1 & #2 live in the display tank and are really great inhabitants.
They havent really bothered the snails or the hermits that I can tell.
The wennerae is a small northern carribean species that only grows to 3 inches. I got all 3 as HH from my LR from TBS (Tampa Bay Saltwater)

[plecosword]

ahh I see, what else came in your LR?

[goldenmean]

Here is a link to TBS's site
Live Rock - Tampa Bay Saltwater Aquacultured Live Rock

I got so much diversity of life from sponges, tinicates, sea squirts, to barnacles, hidden cup coral, gorgonians, sea cucumber, serpant star, sideastrea sp coral. It is really amazing stuff.

BarbMazz is just setting up her tank with TBS so watch her thread too.
Dentoid and ScubaDrew also have TBS tanks.

[plecosword]

Wow! That is really awesome, LR forms in their facilities? thats cool

[goldenmean]

They farm the rock from the Gulf of Mexico.
They put the rock down there and leave it for a number of years.
Pull it up. Keep it in water the whole time and they even ship it to you in water. Their LS also comes from the bottom of the Gulf.

There can be some pest HH too.
Lots of goriila crabs and cirolanid isopods but they can be dealt with!

[fishnu]

Here is #3's new home, filling up. Fixer upper, but the credit market is tight.

[bunjin]

Great journal and pics. As my own multi-month build project is on hold while sorting out living situation, reading threads like this are great read. Keep up the great pics

[goldenmean]

Thanks Bunjin!
Welcome to RS!

[ScubaDrew]

Very cool you were able to keep all 3 of them Jeff.

[goldenmean]

I think so too Drew.
I will miss #3 but he deserves a better home than my sump. He will be much happier in john's fuge with the sand and the light. It will be like a day at the beach for him.
They really are fascinating creatures and this species is no where near like their reputation. Still I have to show them much respect and there is no feeding by hand.

So this week #1 and #2 have exchanged rocks which are on opposite ends of the tank. They have done this once before for a few day but then they were back in their usual homes.

[fishnu]

Originally Posted by goldenmean

He will be much happier in john's fuge with the sand and the light. It will be like a day at the beach for him.

I don't know about that Jeff. Hand fed calamari? I want that!

[goldenmean]

I am quoting myself from 4/16

So moving the crocea up to the rocks when they were not attached was a mistake. Minutes after I made the last post above the big clam took a dive.
Luckily I walked into the room just as he landed. I put him back on the rock and used some wooden pegs to create a crib rail but after just a short time I could tell he was on the move so I put him back on the substrate.

I kept a close Eye on the small clam. I could see bysall threads starting to come down so I thought he was going to attach. Tuesday morning I woke up and he had fallen. Only about 4 inches but I dont know how long he had been there. I picked him up and held him upside down and gently swayed him through the water to remove any grains of sand that may have gotten into him. Then He went back on the substrate. When I got home last night he was not open nor reacting to touch.

When I got up this morning he was dead and the hermits were doing their job.

I know my first mistake was buying a clam that was only 1 1/2 long.
Then I tried moving them to the rocks when they were unattached.

Last night I read in the Fatherree book an Idea to use a cut piece of PVC larger than the clam to create a safe crib to put around the clam when placing them on the rock unattached.

So my other mistake was not finish reading that book before I tried to move them.

I havent posted in about a week.
The larger crocea was not doing well - part of his mantle was starting to pinch and he was not opening up as much. I gave him a 25 minute FW dip but that did not seem to help. Monday - 5 days after the FW dip he was dead. Sooo the same lessons learned above still apply.

In spite of the clams demise and the loss of the fish in QT the tank is looking really good. There has been some set backs but such is reefing.
On a positive note I have cleaned and sanitized the QT tank and left it dry for 2 weeks. New sponges have been in the sump for 3 weeks and I have now set up my 2nd QT. A new thread will follow before too long.