Hi everyone, I am back and all unpacked from vacation. My SOP or chore list o' items must have worked, because my tank looks great and everything went well with my neice watching it. The vacation was great, the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores was awesome and since I am a Columbus (Ohio) zoo member, I got in free, saved $24 BONUS! I will post a pic or two later.
This may make some of my more "purist" fish lovers mad, but I also took my 12 year old deep sea fishing while I was there. She did well, only "Chummed" overboard once and it was real bad rolling waves that day so I was proud of her. We caught some Sea Bass, a Lizard Fish, some Grunts, A fish the mate had never seen before (So I named the species myself ) and an oyster fish, which was very ugly. Umm here is the bad part, the sea bass was delicious!
Anyway, I met a member of NOAA (National Ocianic and Aquatic Association) on the dock who actually asked to survey our catch. It was cool, he took measurements of the fish, noted the species, the weight and then on the sea bass he asked to cut in front of the gill and remove a floating bone behind the eye of each fish. These bones has rings on them and he showed how each ring was a spawing season where the fish quit laying down the bone deposit due to forceing all the energy into spawining, thus he was able to detmine mine were 3 and 4 years old. They use this data to set the fishing size and limit restrictions for the next season. It was good to see my taxes going to good use for once!
Sorry to be so drawn out, I had a lot to share. I am glad to be back!
Re: you anemone...I have read that if you don't spot feed them, they will tend to stay about the same size and just pick up extra food/phytoplankton/etc in the water; however, if you spot feed them on a regular basis, they will just continue to grow.
I did dome reading and I think I will back my target feeding of krill and silversides down to one a week and see what happens. He is getting so huge! Thanks for the kind words on the tank an jounal as well Reefbaby!
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something else to keep in mind or research up on is a/the triggering effect so the anem can split> thus keeping the smaller carbon copy/half for the growth cycle to start again!
I also looked into this and the way to "induce" a split is to introduce some stress according to WetWebMedia. The don't like the idea of intentionally causing stress to do it, andI agree. Do you have another way you know of?
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i knew you would figure that one out. my work here is done..........
Way off oh wise one from the west. I have much more to suck out of that brain of yours!
Tank Levels
Ammonia - 0 (was .1) Nitrite - 0 (was .1) Nitrate - 5 (was 5) PO4 - 0 (was .25) SG 1.0245 CA - 350 (I still need to dose a bit of Kalk)
Temp 81 Alk - 3.77
KH - 10.6
welcome back Wildeone! glad to have you home again. that's pretty cool about the bone behind the gill. Almost like tree rings...I didn't know they could do that!
Here is a few photos that I need to ID that are in my tank. Some may be nothing, but all are growing. They seem to be getting larger, not fast, but larger over time. I believe this may be hydroids, but I am not sure. They don't seem to get big fast as they have been there for sometime.
Thiese two are very pale and "blob" like items. They look smooth and I have never touched one as they are in hard to reach areas.
And the last almost looks like a cactus! Once again I have never touched him.....
Wesley, I am only using a 4 year old Olympus Digital with a 5.8 to 16.2 lens. One day I hope to step up and get a real camera that I can take real good photos with.
The first pictures are hydroids...they especially like to be in darker areas and you'll often find them on the underside of rocks...
The second set of pictures looks like sponges, as well as the last one that you described as a "cactus-like" thingy. It's actually a Craniella spinosa.
wildman, we have a hydriod thread on the site.
and they look small, how long ago was the last eddition, namely rock or coral?
hydriods have a destinct life cycle for the most part!
some are so close to other coral that im surprissed chemical warfare hasn't started, even at this early stage
Thanks for the information and ID's on the photos Wes, Reefbaby and Veriann. I have been so busy lately getting ready for the new baby, that I have not had much time to sit and read online. Looking at my findings in the tank in the last 10 days I think I need to set aside some time to research.
In addition to the sponges and hydroids, I found a few flatworks that look like this:
(I have seen these occasionally in my tank for month, so I think the population is small. I have read they are harmless, but Rob says they could cause coral damage, so I will dig further to understand them.)
And my wife found a stomatella:
As far as the hydroids go, they are small, about 1/2" or so. I have not noticed any chemical warfare, and actually I began to see them within weeks of putting my rock in the tank. I have not added any LR to the tank since it was purchased.
The vacation was great, the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores was awesome and since I am a Columbus (Ohio) zoo member, I got in free, saved $24 BONUS! I will post a pic or two later.
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