I received a box of rocks today.

[NY_Caveman]

Haha, your stocking list is already including some dear to me, the Midas is borderline my favourite fish in the hobby so far. Yours looks great.

Thanks! We love this fish. He is always out, front and center. Exactly what you want in a fish. Just a bonus that he has such cool movement too.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I was patient and got a couple decent pictures

“Oh, I am so beautiful”

The light affected this, but his chest is quite blue. He is sometimes yellow, pink, orange or blue depending on the lights and his mood.

 

[Raege]

Love Skylers coloration. Real nice pictures. What settings are you using on your camera?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Love Skylers coloration. Real nice pictures. What settings are you using on your camera?

Thanks! iPhone 7 Plus with some Photoshop (free iPhone app) enhancements.

 

[andy020]

Haha, your stocking list is already including some dear to me, the Midas is borderline my favourite fish in the hobby so far. Yours looks great.

It does look good, and yep.. love the Midas

 

[najer]

Love the midas, I need to add my jewel to the big tank, they wouldn't get on!

 

[Victoria M]

I loves his blue eyes!

 

[Dj City]

I have to say, I am loving it too, but that is a problem. This was not an intended addition (freebie coral from IPSF). It has almost doubled in size in a month and it is probably going to be huge. I really have no place to put it in such a small tank. My future stocking plans have two stages remaining:

• Bubble Tip Anemone and Clownfish
• 4-5 SPS specimens

The BTA would go on the right. That rock has a large crevice that was specifically selected for an anemone to plant its foot. The SPS would go on the left atop the large rock structure. There is one place the Leather might work and that is along the back on the right. I could move it there now, but at its current size we would only see it from a side view of the tank. Eventually that will probably be its home.

The problem with that plan is it would be pretty close the the anemone. I am not too worried now though. I will let it grow and just keep moving it as needed. It is currently attached to rubble rock so that is easy to do.

That brings us to the last problem. The snails and hermits keep knocking the leather over. I considered securing it firmly somewhere which brings us back full circle to there is no great permanent spot for it. For now, I have moved it to a hole in the large rock. The rubble it is secured to is wedged pretty tightly into the hole, so I am hoping it is more secure without being permanent. We shall see.

I wish you the best of luck placing a BTA where YOU want it to be.

It's been my experience that they pretty much go where they want and end up being where they want to be.

I have placed BTA's in spots that I thought were perfect as far as a crevice to plant it's foot, light and flow but nooooo..... They decided to roam around. One went under and behind a rock and promptly got comfortable. If not for the Maroon Clown, I don't know how it would have survived.

Besides what could be a crimp in your stocking plans with the BTA placement, all else is solid planning.

 

[Brew12]

I wish you the best of luck placing a BTA where YOU want it to be.

It's been my experience that they pretty much go where they want and end up being where they want to be.

I have placed BTA's in spots that I thought were perfect as far as a crevice to plant it's foot, light and flow but nooooo..... They decided to roam around. One went under and behind a rock and promptly got comfortable. If not for the Maroon Clown, I don't know how it would have survived.

Besides what could be a crimp in your stocking plans with the BTA placement, all else is solid planning.

When I set up my new system I transferred the BTA into it in a place that was easiest for me to get him to. I thought he would wander around until he found a spot he liked. Nope. He is still there 9 months later.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I wish you the best of luck placing a BTA where YOU want it to be.

It's been my experience that they pretty much go where they want and end up being where they want to be.

I have placed BTA's in spots that I thought were perfect as far as a crevice to plant it's foot, light and flow but nooooo..... They decided to roam around. One went under and behind a rock and promptly got comfortable. If not for the Maroon Clown, I don't know how it would have survived.

Besides what could be a crimp in your stocking plans with the BTA placement, all else is solid planning.

When I set up my new system I transferred the BTA into it in a place that was easiest for me to get him to. I thought he would wander around until he found a spot he liked. Nope. He is still there 9 months later.

Anemones are weird. I had an H. magnifica long ago under Metal Halide that was in the same spot near the center bottom of the tank for years. I even moved twice and placed him back in the same spot fine. Then one day he just decided to walk up the glass and parked at the top of the tank on the waterline. I was a bit overdue on replacing the MH bulb and blamed that. After I changed the bulb, he found a new spot about halfway up the rock work and stayed there in his new home for the remainder of his time with me.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Speaking of anemones, it looks like I will be adding one to my system next week. I have an unexpected opportunity to get a beautifully colored Bubble Tipped Anemone and I am taking advantage of it. I will save the details for later, but I wanted to write a little about my thinking on the subject.

My tank has been running for two months and all is going well (knock on wood). It is early in the system’s life, but here are the reasons I am going to take the chance:

(1) I have kept several species of anemones over the years and tended to others in college when I worked for an LFS. I know what to look for and how to care for them. I am not an expert, but I feel quite experienced.

(2) My system may only be two months old, but the backbone of my system, the live rock, is well established. 1/3 of the rock I cured and matured myself for 7 months adding biodiversity along the way. The other 2/3 is real, old school, Pacific live rock. I consider myself lucky to have had that available to me locally. In my mind my system started with very mature components. As an example, my system has never shown a trace of ammonia since day one. I essentially skip cycled my aquarium by design. I do not mean that to sound cocky, and that does not mean I am letting my guard down on monitoring parameters.

(3) Until now, I have moved very slowly and carefully with this build. The livestock additions I have made so far were all successful and all were handled seamlessly by the system. The one exception may be the Duncan coral that, although still looking very healthy, has never fully opened.

(4) I have a great opportunity to get an amazing anemone that I cannot pass up.

Now, for any new reefers out there reading this, do NOT be encouraged by my actions. Do NOT let what I am doing reinforce any risky thoughts or decisions about adding an anemone to a system too early. There are several reasons it is best to wait 6 months to a year before trying especially if:

(1) you are new to reefing
(2) you have never owned an anemone
(3) you started your system with dry rock
(4) your parameters are not stable.

I am doing this and taking a risk. Even if it turns out to be a successful move I want to be very clear that it will be the exception, NOT the rule!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Almost forgot, I added some more pods.

When I first set up the tank I had just tons of pods from the matured rock, live rock and the previous two batches I added (one a Copepod mix and the other a batch of larger Amphipods). They were out all the time and would explode into sight every day when I dosed Phytoplankton.

Since then they are seldom seen. Now, there are many factors to that including:

• the lights are running now
• I have a Pseudocheilinops ataenia
• I have an Ecsenius midas

Now, I am sure they are still there in the rocks and Chaeto and they probably are out more at night. Still, I figured one more seeding could not hurt. I like having them as snacks for the fish, but I also count on them to work hard as part of the CUC cleaning out the tight spots. Go pods!

PS. BTW, take note of the packaging,

“NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION”

Well, it honestly never occurred to me, but because they mentioned it, hmmm... I wonder...

 

[kirstyflash]

Can’t wait to see your bta. I love them almost as much as the Midas.

PS. BTW, take note of the packaging,

“NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION”

Well, it honestly never occurred to me, but because they mentioned it, hmmm... I wonder...

Good luck with that and tell us what it’s like

 

[NY_Caveman]

Can’t wait to see your bta. I love them almost as much as the Midas.

Good luck with that and tell us what it’s like

LOL. It is funny the warnings we see on products now a days. It is all about liability.

I remember as a kid of 6 years old in the Seventies driving with my uncle in the front seat with no seat belt. He had an open beer drinking away. A cop pulled us over and he just set the beer down in plain sight. The cop said, “Just wanted to let you know your tail light is out.” My uncle said “Thanks” and we continued on our way.

It used to be things could be accidents, or simply come from stupidity. People then took responsibility. There was no necessity to blame someone. Everything was easy and reasonable, and then the lawyers came!

 

[kirstyflash]

LOL. It is funny the warnings we see on products now a days. It is all about liability.

I remember as a kid of 6 years old in the Seventies driving with my uncle in the front seat with no seat belt. He had an open beer drinking away. A cop pulled us over and he just set the beer down in plain sight. The cop said, “Just wanted to let you know your tail light is out.” My uncle said “Thanks” and we continued on our way.

It used to be things could be accidents, or simply come from stupidity. People then took responsibility. There was no necessity to blame someone. Everything was easy and reasonable, and then the lawyers came!

Yep exactly. Why accept responsibility for doing something illogical when you can just blame someone else and get a payout.
Sucks balls big time.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Spent most of my morning with the tank. I have posted a lot of pictures lately of fish, corals and shrimp. Here is a picture of something you rarely see highlighted. A simple, rich chunk of live rock.

It is as beautiful as anything else in the aquarium.

 

[Fudsey]

More info on BTA please.

 

[najer]

Spent most of my morning with the tank. I have posted a lot of pictures lately of fish, corals and shrimp. Here is a picture of something you rarely see highlighted. A simple, rich chunk of live rock.

It is as beautiful as anything else in the aquarium.

I love rock shopping, if I see nice pieces at my lfs I buy them and store them in the cube end!

 

[NY_Caveman]

More info on BTA please.

Next week I will have more information. I do not want to jinx anything.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I love rock shopping, if I see nice pieces at my lfs I buy them and store them in the cube end!

Nice! Great idea. I have been thinking about setting up something with live rock just to keep some handy and to store some pods. When I bought this rock I spent a long time at the LFS. I gave them details and they were great. I was basically building the aquascape right there while they brought me different pieces to try. The rock on the right in my tank, with the big crevice, was actually in one of their invert tanks and they let me take it. I had to have it. I was expecting to get about 20 pounds, but ended up getting 25 to get exactly the shapes I wanted. I could not have been happier.