colaebola is finally participating!!!

colaebola · 08-25-2006, 11:14 PM

Hello to all in the TR community!

I guess I'll start off with an intro... My name is Adam (otherwise known as colaebola) I am the friend that worked with Astrivian on the educational project that was podcasted posted on August 25th.

My involvement with TR up until this point has been just as an observer - a lurker if you will.

I've enjoyed and learned a great deal from the forums and links posted on this website. I guess its time to participate now eh?

I will admit that it is nice to see that I'm not the only addicted one to this hobby. With some of you I imagine its gone to new and improved levels when I see some of the impressive set ups you have.

Here's what I got... Keep in mind I am rather new to this hobby and I live in a small 2 bdrm condo.

Its an FO right now - but I do have one "hitchhiker" mushroom coral on one of the liverocks and its actually doing quite well just from the cheapo fluorescent lighting I have from above.

In the tank is as follows...

7 hermit crabs - variety of different types
1 fighting conch
bunch of different macroalgae - what kind is that bty?
4# 3-striped damselfish - cheapies I know but they are cool how they bob in and out of the bleached coral I have
2 clownfish - and I have a question on those too...

Oh yes - and I'm sure you notice the underwater gravel filter column to the left. All I can say is that I was a fan of them with freshwater (not so hot here) and I am currently looking into some DIY filtration / refugium setups that can work.

Take a look at the clowns in the pic. These are both maroon clowns - but apparently a different variety. They exhibit some mating pair behavior but not really. They just seem to tolerate each other more than anything. Any chance they'll mate in the future?

colaebola · 08-25-2006, 11:17 PM

oh yeah and do you think its possible to get a low maintance anemome that the clowns can "chill" in? Bear in mind all I got is fluorescent lighting that you'd get a petco for a 20" long tank

**CarmieJo** · 08-26-2006, 12:20 AM

Hi Adam,

to TR. When I was researching an anemone for my maroon clown I found that in nature they only host BTA's. BTA's like most anemones have a symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae and you need at least PC lighting to keep one. That being said, when I upgraded to PC lights I immediately went out and got a RBTA and my maroon was hosting it within a few minutes.

colaebola · 08-26-2006, 09:33 AM

thanks for the tip - I'll have to check it out!

V · 08-26-2006, 10:36 AM

welcome out from the shadows adam! glad to have u with us!
anems are quite hardy, but they do require higher parameters than one might think!
being gross fed can help with less than perfect conditions, but sooner rather than latter u will run into problems it u dont have the min equiptment to maintain them properly! at the very least they will wander constantly & if they start to waste away, sometimes its non-reversable! i dont know much about your system, but lighting as carmie suggested is not negotable with normal output lighting! as for the most hardy out of the bunch, a few carribbean species are the ticket, but the problem is they are pot luck if they are compatable with your clowns

Reefbaby · 08-26-2006, 12:33 PM

to TR Adam! Glad to have you here...and nice to know that some of the lurkers venture out into the open!

So what are you interested in upgrading to in the future? Are you at all interested in keeping some corals? If so, I would recommend getting more live rock and upgrading your underwater gravel filter to a protein skimmer...but you'll get into all of that soon enough!

colaebola · 08-26-2006, 01:04 PM

I would love to get corals in the near future. Obviously, I'm going to have to spend a lot of money in building a better refugium and find a way to "jimmy rig" some pc lights in the tank I have. I'll keep you posted as I advance through this addiction.

***Rob*** · 08-26-2006, 04:03 PM

i would only like to add one thing, anemones are not exactly easy, many are actually quite difficult. the bubbletip anemone (bta) is one of the easier and is more tolerant of less than perfect conditions. so if you wanted one that is where i would start. they can do well under PC lights, but supplemental feeding will be needed.

best of luck to you, were here if you need us..