nate.hobart.1

Yeah? What kind?

Thanks. I know my options, I'm mostly curious to hear from other local hobbyists about their experiences.

Hi all, long time lurker and hobbyist. I've been in the saltwater hobby for years now but don't want anyone to think I know what I'm doing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I currently have a 150 gallon (4ft long, 30 inch deep)- It's a mixed reef. Lots of Zoa's, softies, mushrooms, a few birds nests and lps a whole bunch of nems and critters. I have a good amount of super fat fish- I think I'm unusual in the reef hobby because after years of it I find myself more obsessed with interesting fish than coral [emoji4]. Anyway, I'm curious how people keep their tanks cool here in the Pacific Northwest. In years past when it was getting too hot out I'd float ice packs in my sump and run fans over the water surface to keep evaporation up- I've had some hot days and stressed animals before but don't think I've ever lost anything to heat. That said it seems like we are getting more and more extreme in our seasons here and I'm considering something like a chiller. My house doesn't have AC so controlling ambient temperature is pretty basic (fans, shades, etc.) Thoughts?

Boy howdy did auto correct do a number on that poste. Sorry for all the errors, there.

I love eels. Very sadly I don't currently have any- That said I'm trying to locate a ghost ribbon or skeletor eel for my reef tank and have plans to one day keep a species specific eel tank. Snowflake eels are excellent eels are great reef citizens. They are pebble toothed- meaning they are adapted to eats crustaceans- and they adapt well to tank life. All eels require a cave to feel secure in- especially when first introduced to a tank. With any predatory creature I suggest buying the smallest one you can- juveniles are more likely to adapt to a captive diet and things like hand feeding. Eels are very close to blind so feeding with tongs or a feeding stick is kind of a must. I could blather on and on. I'm kinda eel obsessed. Make sure you have no open drain holes or places for them to wriggle thru. Eels can theoretically push themselves up to four inches vertically out of the water along the glass to escape so you'll also really want a good covering for the tank. I've read that a lip along the edge of the top - like most acrylic tanks have will prevent escape as well.

Mesh top

That's awesome news tho.

To be honest tho- it looks more like a bug than a crab to me. Did it have a pair of claws? If it is a zoa spider that is very bad news. From what I understand they lay their eggs in living zoa polyps- making them exceedingly difficult to eradicate once established in a tank.

Haha. I gotcha. I've had numerous hitchihiker crabs over the years. From my experience- fuzzy crabs tend to be the bad guys while smooth shells tend to be pretty mild mannered citizens. Honestly, if it's as teeny tiny as it appears in the picture and you have any wild collected SPS I would guess it's some kind of Acro Trapezia Crab. Those crabs are a MASSIVE boon to sps. They really do a lot of good for fragile or finicky sps corals.

I don't think I have ever seen a crab like that before... initially I wanted to speculate it was some sort of trapezia crab but that looks more like a bug than a crab to me... ?

Mines never smelled too bad at all- and I have a really good nose... perhaps I'm just lucky...

For years I just had a sharpie mark on my sump I would fill it to with rodi. Then I built a crummy little float switch that flips on an aqualifter pump. It works okay but is a wire mess under my stand.

It's funny, but Pets on Broadway has had a couple of flaming prawn goby for a while. They are so itty bitty I think the rif raf that goes in there never notice them.

I have a jebao gyre pump with a wireless controller I'd sell you cheap. Works fine, just don't use it anymore- if you are interested...