TaylorW

Oh my goodness I'm sorry! I didn't even think about that, I completely understand your point though. I would never purposely offend for something like that, I honestly didn't think about that at all. It's a common name for a group of Clowns and apparently other groups of animals but yeah it sounds a bit outdated at least. [emoji45] Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Just now saw it!! Replying now sorry I have to turn on my wifi when I get home or I won't receive messages and I forgot yesterday. Got home early for once and fell asleep lol Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Oh no I'm so sorry! Look everywhere near the tank, even farther than you'd think even if you have a lid they can still get through but hopefully not. Hopefully it's just hiding, I highly doubt your shrimp did anything, search search everywhere. I really hope you find it!! Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Yeah I did see the series BRS did, and that they recommend getting them young and from the same clutch. Curious why you can't use the H word? Am I missing something?? That's what a group of Clowns is called everywhere I've researched, didn't mean to offend obviously if I did.... Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Tank looking great as always [emoji108] I love the Chromis hovering around wondering why the fuss over Nori [emoji28] my other fish in that tank do the same, get very excited until there see what the Kole is eating. I'm going to try and get a picture or video of mine, I haven't tried very recently but that's a great idea to try getting a picture or video when it's distracted by the Nori. It seems like when it sees me coming with my phone it bolts behind the rocks, very camera shy lol. Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Looks great! It's so nice to see new local people [emoji4] Welcome!! Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Yeah I'd have to agree, bta's can and will move. Any slight change can cause them to roam stinging all your expensive corals [emoji44] I personally love bta's so now I have a tank pretty much dedicated to them, but if you have a lot of expensive SPS like it looks like you do I can see how they could be more trouble than they're worth. Then you have to decide if they're worth it, they're pretty and your Clowns see it as their home but they wander at times and can kill your expensive corals so it can be a tough decision for sure. Hopefully your rock wall will keep it in check! If you do decide however to sell it at some point I'll buy it from you Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Sorry my posts tend to read more like a book lol, but anyway I'd think you'd be better off putting your rocks and such in several smaller coolers and buckets than one huge container because the smaller ones are much easier moved around if needed. And I wouldn't fill the coolers too full with water, just enough to cover the rocks. Remember they will be sloshing around a lot. I'd leave several inches of room on top and use a lid. You don't need to spend a bunch on new coolers, seriously you should call Petco or PetSmart and ask about the styrofoam coolers they receive their fish in, depending on how big of a shipment they get the sizes tend to vary. And I'll ask today at work about the styrofoam coolers we have, we carry different sizes and they all have lids. Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Hmm I wouldn't know about them leaching anything, I have and have used the Coleman coolers for just that, seemed fine. It couldn't hurt to clean with some vinegar water. Heck you can also head to Petco on their fish shipping day and pick up their large styrofoam coolers free they receive their fish shipments in! I've done it several times when I used to ship fish, just call them and ask when they're expecting their next fish shipment and if you can take their styrofoam containers specifically the larger ones off their hands (they just toss them in the garbage) and you won't have to spend a dime on new coolers. I may actually be able to get a few styrofoam coolers from my work for you if you'd like, we discontinued using them so I'll ask if I can grab a few. As far as using oxygen in fish baggies it's really not necessary, it's great if you're shipping longer distances or two day shipping, I've done that myself but for just a few hours or even up to 24 hours you'll be just fine doing it like I showed in the crappy video [emoji23] I've shipped literally hundreds of fish when I used to breed Multi colored Delta Show Guppies and I think out of all those I had two DOA's, which turned out to be the fault of USPS. I've shipped coral same way, very recently actually to someone on this forum. If you want tips on bagging your SPS especially if you have SPS colonies it's a bit different since you'll want to protect them as much as you can from breakage. I'm not a pro at the sps but I've researched shipping them in the past. The preparation for the move, like bagging and packing everything will likely be the most time consuming but just bag them well, double bag if needed and bring a few extra baggies with a container of extra water in case of any leaky bags you may notice on the drive. If you need baggies I have tons of extra breather bags from my shipping days! Or ask Petco. I can't remember exactly what size I have, but they're 2 mil poly bags so they are a good thickness for shipping. Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Oh gosh I pictured someone trying to wrangle one of those things [emoji38] even if it was a Puffer, how dumb can you be? It makes me sad to think of people doing this, so many of the local reef shops are small business owners so this is their livelihood and it hits them harder I'd think. Stealing from anyone is completely messed up but I get angry when I hear about this type of thing [emoji35] Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

I hope they caught them, that's disgusting that people actually attempt that type of thing. Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

I wouldn't even try to put rock in baggies, it just won't work. Just place your rock either in buckets or coolers with just enough water to cover them, depending on how much rock you have it may be easier to split it up into a few buckets because they're heavy. It's a good idea to bag the fish individually and especially the more fragile corals, place baggies in buckets. If you're not the best at bagging fish practice!! I've shipped hundreds of fish so I've pretty much got it down but it took practice. I attached a quick crappy video that shows how I twist the bag to be filled with air. It's basically pinching it off at the very top. Fill up the bag about 1/3 with water, pinch the very top of the bag tight with your fingers so no air leaks out and twist the bottom of the bag around until it's nice and tightly closed, if you do it correctly you should have a good amount of air in the bag, keep practicing until you have that part down, it should be 1/3 or so water and mostly air, wrap a rubber band around it tightly and then I usually wrap the excess length of the baggy around the rubber band part again tightly and use another rubber band. If you squeeze the bag no air should escape. It's not necessary to airate, make sure you have plenty of extra heated saltwater to replace in the tank what you remove to acclimate. I'd personally start acclimating rock immediately, I wouldn't drip acclimate rock just start with something like a 1 cup measuring cup and start removing a cup or two of bucket water tossing it adding cup or two of tank water, repeat until mostly tank water then add rocks to tank quickly. Make sure to rinse rocks some by swishing them first before adding to tank. You can either already be drip acclimating fish and corals or wait til after rocks are added, I've done both. Its easier to dump all fish out of bags into bucket at once to drip acclimate, same with corals in their own bucket. Thats also when you will need to start replacing all the tank water youve been removing to acclimate, that's why having a garbage can or something with extra heat and salinity matched water is good to have ready. I'm sure others have done it a bit different or in a different order but I've had success doing it this way VID_20190626_051105.mp4

I have lots of babies!! I recently got a handful from Suncrestreef and ever morning when I look at the tank I put them in with the lights off there are lots of baby Stomatellas everywhere! If you'd like some I'll gladly share, I can toss in a larger one or two as well if I can find any. I'm located out by hagg lake though, I do plan on heading to the Beaverton and Portland area this weekend though so I'm sure I could probably meet you somewhere Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

I had a bunch of those guys hitchhike on a large piece of rock with a ton of Palys, I saw them everywhere for a while until I'm guessing they ran out of spiroidbid worms and now I rarely see them... They definitely made a difference though, I would have tons of those tiny white worms all over until they showed up. I felt like I was constantly scraping them off so they do help! The tiny nudibranches in my tank are a bright orange, I panicked at first not knowing if they were reef safe but after researching I found they're helpful so I started watching my spiroidbid worm population dwindle right before my eyes Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Also made me think of something I've always wondered, has anyone ever tried stealing live coral or fish from any of the local stores?? I've always wondered if reef store owner's have to worry about coral theft or even fish theft? Pretty off topic lol but your post reminded me of the local farm store here that used to sell puppies, chicks are even kittens and people stole them all the time before they started taking precautions! I've always been curious if anyone has ever tried stealing live coral, I cannot be the only one that's ever wondered that right?? You'd have to be pretty brazen (and stupid) but you never knowSent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Oh yuck [emoji38] I instantly thought of the smell of Xenia for some reason when I read that [emoji40] Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

[emoji23] Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Ahh gotcha, yeah I'm out by hagg lake so I hear you. Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Well shoot I got lots already now!! I got a handful from Suncrestreef not long ago and they're everywhere when lights are off, if you want any you can have them! Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Nobody? Oh well I'm still planning on giving it a try! Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

You haven't had any issues with your emerald munching on your corals? I've had three over the years and all three eventually started chowing down on some corals! All were well fed too, I just recently banished #3 to my sump after discovering it eating an entire frag disc of tube corals! My previous two liked any Euphyllia. One ate two large heads of green torch before I noticed... Good for you if you're able to successfully keep one though, they are definitely great algae grazers too but after that I'll never try keeping one lol. Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Those Stomatellas I got from you are breeding like crazy!! They're all over the front Acrylic when the lights are off, you probably can't see them that great in the picture but they're all over Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Like Exodus said no need to fill up troughs, I'd personally put rocks in a cooler or buckets with water depending on how much you have, put corals in bucket(s) or cooler with water, and fish separately in a bucket with a lid but not snap lid closed completely, just cover basically with the lid to keep them somewhat calm. Maybe keep a Tupperware type container with a few scoops of your old sand to seed the new, make sure there's water in it. You can add a few drops of Prime to the water of all buckets/coolers containers to illiminate any ammonia, I would bet everything will be just fine. I've used old blankets, towels to stuff around the buckets or coolers to keep them from falling over, keep them snug and in place better. Add the seed sand to the new, I just dump it in little mounds here and there, acclimate all the rock and livestock to the new tanks, corals may look a little crappy for a while but odds are they'll perk up in no time. In my experience the corals would eventually look crazy happy from nice clean water [emoji16] so far I haven't lost anything doing it this simple way.

If you want I have some Prime left if you want it it's yours, not sure exactly how much is left but a little goes a long way so just let me know. And if you want that $20 RODI from kjlife I can probably pick it up for you if he still has it, and just pay me the $20 (or even trade for coral or whatever) and I could meet you or your girlfriend Friday or Saturday? He lives close by so no biggie, that is like I said if he still has it. I was almost thinking about grabbing it anyway just because it's a great deal lol Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk

Oh gosh I just read your basically just swapping over everything to larger tanks?? Well geez if that's the case I've done that lots of times!! (My upgrading addiction) Try to have your tanks set up heated all that stuff at your new place ahead of time, add your sand probably wait 24 hours for it to settle. Your live rock has all your beneficial bacteria so add all or as much as possible first when you get to your new place, I usually wait a bit then your corals and fish. It's really much more simple if you just look at it as an upgrade! You just have to travel a longer distance so be more prepared for that part and you're good!! I've never once had a noticable spike switching tanks, as long as you have it setup ahead of time which it sounds like you can just preparing everything else (rocks, coral, fish) for the move is what you probably need to prepare for most. I thought you were setting up your other tanks after you got to your new place, if you have the luxury of setting up your "upgrade" tanks a few days in advance, getting salinity, temp correct then adding new sand you're basically ready to start immediately acclimating your rock once you arrive. I'd definitely recommend doing rock first, then corals and fish. At least that's how I do it. I've swapped tanks, upgraded, moved them, I've also added Prime to the moving water in the past, I've shipped hundreds of fish and it's a great trick for shipping water. If you use new sand (maybe save some to seed) and all or mostly new salt water chances are you'll have little or no noticable cycle. I remember at first my corals would look a little beat from moving but soon after would look crazy happy I'm guessing from all that nice clean water [emoji3] Sent from my BLU R1 HD using Tapatalk