They do look like they could open up a bit carmie. No tenticles that i can see though. Could the be some weird sponges? I will try to get a closer pic and post in a bit.
Oh, i do have to give a shout out to Tampa Bay Saltwater, they were great to work with, shipped quickly (in the same day actually), and i dig the rocks.
Today i am going to get some sand for the display, maybe some glue to hold the rocks together, and possibly my first set of T5 lights (fingers crossed). My wife bugs me about the tank, she wants to know when we will actually get fish I wonder too sometimes, but i need all the various components first, man this stuff gets expensive
__________________ Samuel
"If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.... There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region."
Samuel, I'm not sure, they could be some sort of sponge. Do you see any siphons? Think carefully about gluing your rocks together. It makes it hard to change your aquascape later. I favor drilling holes in the rocks and locking them together with rods. You may have already said this but are you going to use stands for your rock?
Yes, good point about the glue, i didn't think of that. Carmie, do you mean stands that would hold the rock off of the sand? No, i wasn't planning on doing so but i might reconsider. There will not be much sand in the display, since it is only 18" deep. Actually, i just filled one of the two big black containers in the sump with a DSB (4.5" sugar-fine sand) and spiked it with the live sand from the nano, which is now completely dismantled. However, do you think raising the rocks in the display up off the sand a quarter inch (centimeter) or so would be a good idea anyhow? I suppose it would allow more hiding spaces for smaller critters like hermits and snails. For the most part the display sand is just to add a cushion should the rocks fall and add some padding for hermits, snails, crabs, and maybe the occasional burrowing worm or two. The sand in the display is CaribSea's "select" stuff, just slightly larger than the sugar fine oolitic.
__________________ Samuel
"If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.... There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region."
I think that even without a DSB in the display that the stands would help improve flow & prevent dead spots. There are examples in the beginning of Amphibious' tank journal.
I finally have an update to the tank progress. My dumb digital camera broke so i don't have pictures just yet, but check out the DIY Closed Loop video for some video of my tank.
The first thing is the lights. I hooked up two daylight VHOT5s over one side of the tank. As i mention in the video, these are all the lights i have at the moment -- see if you can guess which side the lights are on
I am working on more; they are expensive and i have to buy one paired set at a time (set = two lights + one ballast + two reflectors + four sockets + four standoffs). The set up will be two daylights and two actinics on each side. From my research, this will put me around 1,500 to 1,800 PAR when they are all on. Since the tank is only 18 inches (46 cm) deep, i am sticking to shallower corals and fish.
The other major step is my new skimmer! I got a Coralife SS for a 220 gallon system:
This is the image posed on marinedepot.com.
I hooked it up in the sump and am playing with adjusting it. Haven't quite found the perfect setting yet, but from what i gather it can take a few weeks to break it in. It is a needle wheel skimmer so i wonder if the Euroreef mod shown by David Perry and Gustavo would work for this as well.
LIFE! I also have life now! I got two small ocellaris clowns that i absolutely love. Currently they are the only residents of the tank. The yellow tangs keep dying for some reason. Maybe the skimmer will help? I am at a loss with that.
Lastly, i got some locklines for my closed loop/return line (CL/R). I added some locklines and the flat nozzles to the sections on the outsides of the tank, and a rounded nozzle plus a Hydor rotating deflector to both of the middle CL/R lines. I really like the Hydor things so far. I wasn't sure how they worked at first; i thought they were just angled in such a way as to turn as the water ran through them. However, they actually have some gears inside them that move as the water pushes past an impeller of sorts. This seems okay, although i imagine they will require frequent cleanings. Lots of gunk could easily get stuck in the gears and ruin the device.
I will have to post a short video of the things in the tank. Two of them are facing one another and they give a very nice wave effect.
Anyhow, those are my updates!
__________________ Samuel
"If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.... There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region."
So i finally found my old crappy camera and took some pictures of the tank.
I know i know, it's about time!
So, the first two are some hitchhikers i just noticed. I did some research and was able to nail down what they are pretty quickly. Since they came from my aquacultured live rock from Florida, the species limited down pretty fast to Arbacia punctulata. They do have somewhat of a reputation of mowing through corals, but at the moment i am FO, so no biggie there. When i do start getting corals, i will probably move these two to a separate tank. I kinda like them:
Oh, and there are two of them. These pictures were taken at the same time. If breeding is a possibility, i might look into that some more. Apparently, urchin eggs are considered a "delicacy" by some. Hmm, maybe a delicacy for my corals and fish, but not me!
The urchins were taken in their favorite feeding spots: one loves to devour my coralline and the other loves the bryopsis. If i could only train both of them on the hair algae...
The next pic is my two ocellaris clowns:
Did you see them? "Stay still so i can tank your damn picture!"
Obviously they are quite energetic.
This last fish related picture is of my new Coralife SS skimmer. It has been working quite well (notice all the sludge in the cup). It took a lot of practice to get the thing adjusted correctly. The first few attempts just left the cup overflowing with water. Talk about wet skimming! So, i played around for a while and now i think i am in business.
I recently purchased some Turbo snails.....which were the coldwater ones i guess as they are all dead now. Stupid snails. I swear its not me! The urchins and other various hitchhiker snails are all doing quite well. So, all the skimmate taken in this pic is likely dead snail parts. DEAD SNAILS SMELL SOOOO BAD!
Lastly, i have some bonus pics for you all. This is the reefkeeping dog:
I am thinking of dying his fur green on Halloween and calling him "Hair Algae"
__________________ Samuel
"If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.... There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region."
HA HA !! i have a POM too (but he is solid black) !! i guess great minds really do think alike !!
See if you can get him to fall asleep around a clear plastic pipe, so his furry feet are wrapped around it. Then you can call him "skimmate."
__________________ Samuel
"If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.... There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region."
Actually, i think at least one of the cats would be the urchin She seems to take a bite of dog hair as often as possible, typically from his face (high fiber i guess).
__________________ Samuel
"If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.... There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region."
icon under their name to add to their reputation. 
I wonder too sometimes, but i need all the various components first, man this stuff gets expensive
She seems to take a bite of dog hair as often as possible, typically from his face (high fiber i guess).
The cat is probably bigger that he is. The SPCA is probably going to get on you when you dye the dog green and the cat purple!