Taken on my iPhone 3gs (very impressive video camera.) Scroll to 1:00 to see the diamond goby dart by!
Acro Eating Flatworms
13 years ago
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
New Fish!
Wow, so it's been awhile. I've been pretty busy with the tank, I just haven't made the effort to blog. In any case, there is some big news.
First, a loss. Emiril has passed on. He was a good crab and I don't know why he croaked. Could be I didn't have enough algae for him to eat, but to be honest, I'm happy not to have an algae problem.
Then there's the equipment update. I bought an RO/DI off Ebay. It's pretty cheap, and probably isn't that great. I didn't hook it up to my plumbing. Instead I spent ten bucks making a sink adapter. At the end of the day, it's working. I don't have algae and I'm not running to the store every ten minutes to buy ten gallons of distilled water. It was a good investment.
The next equipment project is lighting. I want to replace my 48" PC fixture with a really sweet 36" MH fixture. 48" fixtures just don't fit the 92 corners becuase even at it's longest point, the 92 gallon fixture is way less than 48". There's just one problem: money. I just don't have it. But I may just be able to pull it off. The MH fixture on Craigslist is $150. I posted my current light on Craigslist for $70 and have several people interested. If I can get the full $70, then that knocks me down to $80 out of pocket. The other thing is that if I keep the current fixture, I'm gonna have to buy new bulbs, which would cost $40. So if I can sell my fixture and buy the MH one, I'll really only spend about $40 for a much better fixture that actually fits my tank. I'm really hoping to pull this off. If I do, my set up will be sweeeeet.
In later news, our original four fish (Jaws, Fins, Red, and Blellow) are all doing really well. Fins is still not over his HLLE, but he seems to be getting better slowly.
The corals are okay, but need better lighting. If the PCs that came with the tank needed to be replaced when I bought the set-up, then more than ever now. Greeny is persisting, but one of the reasons I want to get a new light is to make sure he survives. Him and Red make for great entertainment.
Now for the best part: the additions!
We picked up Hippo off Craigslist for $30. Considering that baby 1" Blue tangs are going for $40, picking up a 4" blue tang for this price was a major steal. Blue tangs have always been one of my favorite fish. They are smart, friendly and beautiful. Just an awesome fish.
Blenny 2 I picked up at Living Sea as one of their specials. When I first threw him in the tank, I really didn't think he was gonna make it. Red and Blellow were really going after him. But a week later he's totally comfortable. I guess the others realized that he wasn't much of a threat. He swims all over. (He gets the name Blenny 2 because "Blenny" was our first fish ever, a midas blenny, with the greatest personality of any fish I've ever seen. Blenny perished in the 75 gallon tank crash last year, but his memory lives on in Blenny 2, who is a lot like him.)
Finally, Chromis is what he is: an out of place green fish. I went to Living Sea and bought three Chromis and threw them in the hospital. A week later, two were dead. I was annoyed, but they were cheap. In any case, Chromis is the last of the three stooges left and seems to love the display tank. Hopefully in the future I'll throw in another three chromis and get a good school going!
And now everyone together!
First, a loss. Emiril has passed on. He was a good crab and I don't know why he croaked. Could be I didn't have enough algae for him to eat, but to be honest, I'm happy not to have an algae problem.
Then there's the equipment update. I bought an RO/DI off Ebay. It's pretty cheap, and probably isn't that great. I didn't hook it up to my plumbing. Instead I spent ten bucks making a sink adapter. At the end of the day, it's working. I don't have algae and I'm not running to the store every ten minutes to buy ten gallons of distilled water. It was a good investment.
The next equipment project is lighting. I want to replace my 48" PC fixture with a really sweet 36" MH fixture. 48" fixtures just don't fit the 92 corners becuase even at it's longest point, the 92 gallon fixture is way less than 48". There's just one problem: money. I just don't have it. But I may just be able to pull it off. The MH fixture on Craigslist is $150. I posted my current light on Craigslist for $70 and have several people interested. If I can get the full $70, then that knocks me down to $80 out of pocket. The other thing is that if I keep the current fixture, I'm gonna have to buy new bulbs, which would cost $40. So if I can sell my fixture and buy the MH one, I'll really only spend about $40 for a much better fixture that actually fits my tank. I'm really hoping to pull this off. If I do, my set up will be sweeeeet.
In later news, our original four fish (Jaws, Fins, Red, and Blellow) are all doing really well. Fins is still not over his HLLE, but he seems to be getting better slowly.
The corals are okay, but need better lighting. If the PCs that came with the tank needed to be replaced when I bought the set-up, then more than ever now. Greeny is persisting, but one of the reasons I want to get a new light is to make sure he survives. Him and Red make for great entertainment.
Now for the best part: the additions!
We picked up Hippo off Craigslist for $30. Considering that baby 1" Blue tangs are going for $40, picking up a 4" blue tang for this price was a major steal. Blue tangs have always been one of my favorite fish. They are smart, friendly and beautiful. Just an awesome fish.
Blenny 2 I picked up at Living Sea as one of their specials. When I first threw him in the tank, I really didn't think he was gonna make it. Red and Blellow were really going after him. But a week later he's totally comfortable. I guess the others realized that he wasn't much of a threat. He swims all over. (He gets the name Blenny 2 because "Blenny" was our first fish ever, a midas blenny, with the greatest personality of any fish I've ever seen. Blenny perished in the 75 gallon tank crash last year, but his memory lives on in Blenny 2, who is a lot like him.)
Finally, Chromis is what he is: an out of place green fish. I went to Living Sea and bought three Chromis and threw them in the hospital. A week later, two were dead. I was annoyed, but they were cheap. In any case, Chromis is the last of the three stooges left and seems to love the display tank. Hopefully in the future I'll throw in another three chromis and get a good school going!
And now everyone together!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
My latest endeavor
Somehow a friend in shul convinced himself that what his new apartment really needed was a big in-wall saltwater fish tank. So he came over to me during kiddush and asked me if I could put one together for him. Tonight we started filling his 135 gallon Oceanic tank (took 3 hours.) Tomorrow I'm picking up the live sand and rock. So far we are doing really well in terms of our budget!
Pictures coming soon!
Pictures coming soon!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Jello Melto
Well, the other night we had a bunch of friends over and one of them asked about the jellyfish, to which I replied, "Oh no! I totally forgot about it!" When something sits on the sand in the same place for two days you just kinda forget. Immediately I feared the worst, and unsurprisingly I found Jello stuck next to the overflow box. Surprisingly, it was actually still alive. I moved it and he pulsed around the tank for the first time to everyone's delight. Then it found a place in the front of the tank and just sat down, per usual.
The next day it was gone. Disappeared. Nowhere to be found. Checked the intakes, the overflows, everything.
Jello melto. RIP.
The next day it was gone. Disappeared. Nowhere to be found. Checked the intakes, the overflows, everything.
Jello melto. RIP.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Blellow Problems
Blellow is nipping at our kenya trees. The smaller one is taking a hard hit, and it's hard to tell how much more it can take. The bigger one is also getting hit pretty bad. I keep him pretty well fed, but it might just be his nature. I can't tell if he's trying to eat the Xenia or the GSP yet. He's also eaten all of the tube worms, bristle worms, etc.
In other words, he's a very pretty jerk.
In other words, he's a very pretty jerk.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Pictures of Jello
Jello is still alive, for now. We haven't had the fortune of seeing him swim yet, but we know he tried because he's managed to move across the tank. My guess is that once he started swimming the powerheads shot him across the tank. I turned off the powerheads in an effort to get him to swim. Still nothing. But here are some pics.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Blellow? Meet Jello
Impulsive behavior usually has disastrous results in this hobby. Throw a fish in your tank without quarantining it and you can expect a debilitating disease. Buy a fish without first having researched it and you can expect compatibility problems or starvation.
Buy a JELLYFISH when you know absolutely nothing about jellyfish or how to keep them?
Well, that's just a waste of $12.
His name is Jello (proper name is "Mr. Jelley.") Right now he just sits on a rock pulsing--he's yet to get up and swim around. Basically, I'll be shocked if he's alive tomorrow morning.
I'll keep you posted.
Buy a JELLYFISH when you know absolutely nothing about jellyfish or how to keep them?
Well, that's just a waste of $12.
His name is Jello (proper name is "Mr. Jelley.") Right now he just sits on a rock pulsing--he's yet to get up and swim around. Basically, I'll be shocked if he's alive tomorrow morning.
I'll keep you posted.
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