Holly

The zoos in the middle of it opened back up. Sorry but my dig camera won't take a pic of decent resolution of the tank (flame) I'd really like to have sponges! The blue-purpley ones I bought in the Fall--my first--seemed to curl up and die within a few weeks, so I figured I must've done something wrong. (I didn't let them touch air.) If this is a sponge, I'll be happy! I put my finger on the gunk this morning and gently poked at it to try to figure out what it was. It seemed a little squoosy. Where my finger pushed in, it appeared that some whitish dust or fluid or something kinda puffed out of it. Not sure if that's sponge-like or not... My finger hasn't fallen off, so I guess I can rule out tank plague.

I'll take "algae" over "polyp-devouring tank plague" any day

What's the blue gunk around the base of the zoos? (scratch) Yesterday when I cleaned the tank, these zoos all looked great (all open), and this blue stuff wasn't there. I can't find any other blue stuff anywhere else in the tank... It doesn't look like something good, but hopefully I'm all wrong. (whistle)

I had a sea hare once. Died after a few weeks. No idea why. Now that you mention it, mine never got near my powerheads that I know of either... Wonder why that is..? (scratch) Can't say the same for a gorgeous 2" slug I got at FantaSeas. I put it in the middle of the tank and went into the kitchen for a few minutes. When I got back, it was sucked flat across the intake grill of my Tunze. It took less than 10min for that idiot slug to make a beeline for a far-away powerhead and committ Tunze suicide.(flame) Shoulda saved the trouble and just burned the $20.

IMO removing the source of the hair algae's food is the key. "If you starve it, it will leave" ..Toss a bag of PhosGuard in the sump sock and get a phosphate reactor with Pura Phoslock media (or something of that equivalent). That's what I did when my phosphates flew through the roof last year, and it worked famously. I haven't had an issue since. (Kudos here to Patrick at Saltwater Fanta-Seas!) (clap) I had off-the-charts phosphate levels. We put in a reactor similar to this one: http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_filters_kent_marine_phos_reactor.asp?CartId=. I kept Pura Phoslock in it full-time, changing it regularly. (There are other brands you can use, but I've been told that these reactors are best with fine-grain products due to increased surface-area-per-granule; makes sense) It worked so well that I keep it in use full-time now. I haven't had any tank problems since. **knock on wood** I also keep a small bag of PhosGuard in my sump sock all the time now, as well as reef carbon. I check stats regularly to make sure it doesn't leach out minerals, salt, etc, but I've never had a problem. Just my opinion... Good luck!

I love the purple/green zoas. They look GREAT!

Those are great photos Jerry! I felt like I was THERE. *taking shower* I think that's called Asterporndea.

:eek: And here I had no idea I was supposed to be speaking my mind!!! ..I've wasted all this time... **rolling up sleeves** (naughty) I've never seen anyone actually play WOW--I don't know any gamers--but I was laughing out loud at that South Park episode. Classic!

Bob, in the short time we've been here, you've always been so helpful and nice. Sorry to hear you're stepping down. I'm not sure what "the old Lowman" means, but it sounds great!! Good for you! (clap)

Yeah, I saw the slime-trail (as I call it) and was wondering what that was. I checked all over the tank and haven't found another one yet, but I'm sure they're in there, like you said. Just glad they're not evil. (clap) Thanks! PS Speaking of scary surprises, I have a mantis trap if anyone ever needs one. I ordered it online and never got to use it.

**PHEW** Excellent! Thanks! Does that mean I'll be getting more? I can't get used to how you can have a tank for a long time and suddenly a new thing appears.

The little chimney-looking tube sticking up out of the middle of my zoos? (scratch) It appears to have a teensy black thing with two antennae living in it. The tube itself is hard, not soft. I have a bad feeling about this. (scary)

WELCOME!

Finally sat down and watched it. WOW. The Japanese certainly are exacting in their technology. Impressive. That's a seriously huge acrylic window! I really wish aquariums could do more impressive benthic tanks. I think the deepest deep-sea is really fascinating. I'm sure achieving the proper pressure is an issue, but it seems like that's a prob they could work out.

I ended up not getting to watch it, so I set my DVR to record it. I still have the recording, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Can't wait to see it though!

If anyone cares and didn't notice, there's a "Man-Made Marvels" on tonight on OPB at 9pm on the Okinawa Aquarium (77 separate tanks holding 10million tons of seawater). (clap)

I don't see how anthropomorphizing is "insensitive" or "uncouth" .. If anything, I was overly sensitive, not INsensitive. Uncouth means 'lacking refinement,' and since I didn't leap onto the waiter's head or start frothing at the mouth, I wasn't that either. I didn't really do anything but order the smallest steak. Once it arrived, I realized I'd lost my appetite, so I just took it home. I did discover at that moment that it IS "unappetizing" to me to be the one to hand-select the animal to be tossed live into boiled water, though...even if it has no true nervous system. So you're right on the unappetizing part. And yeah, I'm sure the lobster really "LIKED IT" (<--Anthropomorphizing a little there?) :eek: Twitter, that's a valid point. I've always thought lobster was OK-tasting but not fabulous enough to warrant the price for it, anyway. I never order it cuz other stuff always sounds better to me, but that's just my own taste. It also seems kinda wasteful because such a tiny portion of its even edible.

We went to have a special dinner out (steakhouse) and they brought a HUGE live (half-frozen) lobster to the tableside. At the end of the presentation of all the other meats on the tray, the waiter picks up the poor thing and waves it around to show off how big it is. You can see it trying to move it's small legs around. It was covered in frost. (sad) I was just staring at its little black eye buds imaging what it's been through in the past few weeks (months?) being trolled from the sea, frozen, packed, moved, unpacked, shown, re-frozen, etc.. Crap. It ruined my night. I was so upset by it that I completely lost my appetite and couldn't eat a thing. Am I the only one that gets upset by this live-lobster thing? I'm not a vegetarian, but this particular scenerio kinda disturbs me now (used to not bother me so much). ???

This is THE most amazing thread ever. Love it!

I don't know--just asking--won't a MH over something that small create too much heat? Or do you plan to get a little chiller? Do some of you have tanks this size with MHs?

I like that pirate skull Bob

Thanks Austin! Husband's out getting my car smogged, so I'll have to bring it in tomorrow probably.

Welcome! You might just get a hang-on skimmer, since the tank is pretty small. The small SeaClone is for tanks up to 100g and it's Venturi Injection, so I'm sure that'll do the trick. It's $65, but you don't have to drill or buy a sump if you go this route. http://www.petsolutions.com/default.aspx?ItemId=51308112&EID=51308112&SID=FROOGLE As for lighting, what do you plan on keeping? Good luck!

I emailed Patrick at Saltwater Fanta-Seas to ask if I could just give it to him, since no one wants it. I feel badly that it's in this fish trap for almost a whole day now, but it doesn't seem to mind (it's distracted by the mirror). It drove my cardinals into such a state of weakness that my sebae snagged and ate THREE of them in ONE night. The sebae is all swollen and huge today lol I still have no idea how it got all three bodies in it's mouth. I had to pull them out en masse with tongs- 2 little females and a large male. :eek:

Thanks for the advice weg! Sorry..haven't posted on the site in a while. I finally caught her with a fish trap that I bought. She and her mate are now relocated to a 12g nano with their sebae, and all's well .. The big tank's MUCH better w/o them in it. I'll never get maroons again, after this.