New Fluval 52l - Next steps?

[zerozero]

I keep trying to get those hitchhikers. I love Micro Brittle Stars (but my wrasses eat them) and Stomatellas (but my wrasses eat them too).

That's where having two clownfish is useful, because they're afraid of the Stomatella. The female tries to intimate it when it takes a trip up the back wall, but it just ignores them. She does hunt amphipods though as you can see her hunting face down one a particular rock and taking an occasional peck.

 

[tbrown]

That's where having two clownfish is useful, because they're afraid of the Stomatella. The female tries to intimate it when it takes a trip up the back wall, but it just ignores them. She does hunt amphipods though as you can see her hunting face down one a particular rock and taking an occasional peck.

I've got 3 in my DT and 2 in my sump. Lazy mutts.

 

[zerozero]

I've been looking for one more fish to add to the tank as the clowns rarely move away from return pump or the outflow of the tank. Showed my son pictures of a fire goby and a live one in the LFS. He totally blanked it.

But he was far more animated about a royal gramma; looking over my shoulder whilst I was doing my research and pointing it out with a significant look in the LFS.

He was ridiculously happy when I brought him home. I had been worrying that I didn't have enough caves for RG to feel safe. The LFS assured me that the RG would find caves I didn't know existed. They also said expect not to see him for 2 or 3 days.

We finally introduced him on Sunday afternoon. He immediately ousted the fire shrimp from the most obvious cave but he was out exploring by the time we were easing the lights back on. He's found five caves which he's been trying out.

The clowns have pretty much ignored him, but he'll go and swim with them for a bit. He's only taking live food right now, but I've seen him pecking at the rocks or amphipods.

 

[zerozero]

Inspired by a fellow Evo 13.5 owner on here, @SauceyReef , I thought we could try our hand at RFA's.

RFA's are not that easy to get our hands on, on this side of the pond. There's hardly any budget examples available. So I took a chance on one from eBay. I was expecting something about 2 inches across, but when it arrived it was more than 4 inches. I placed it with the pumps off as advised.

It took it's time to hunker down in to the crevice I chose for it.

I'm usually not one to name our fish/marine friends, but for this I'll make an exception:

"All hail the Almighty Sarlacc"

 

[SauceyReef]

Inspired by a fellow Evo 13.5 owner on here, @SauceyReef , I thought we could try our hand at RFA's.

RFA's are not that easy to get our hands on, on this side of the pond. There's hardly any budget examples available. So I took a chance on one from eBay. I was expecting something about 2 inches across, but when it arrived it was more than 4 inches. I placed it with the pumps off as advised.

It took it's time to hunker down in to the crevice I chose for it.

I'm usually not one to name our fish/marine friends, but this I'll make an exception:

"All hail the Almighty Sarlaac"

Thanks for the tag! Glad to see your build thread. Looks great so far! Love the RFA. Ive never seen an all neon green one before with such curly tentacles. Fitting name :cool:

 

[zerozero]

Thanks for the tag! Glad to see your build thread. Looks great so far! Love the RFA. Ive never seen an all neon green one before with such curly tentacles. Fitting name :cool:

There's such a paucity of options over here; None in London's best LFS and literally only two sellers on eBay.co.uk. The other seller used "ultra" to describe their RFA's. A bit more interesting colouring, I suppose, but twice the price.

 

[SauceyReef]

There's such a paucity of options over here; None in London's best LFS and literally only two sellers on eBay.co.uk. The other seller used "ultra" to describe their RFA's. A bit more interesting colouring, I suppose, but twice the price.

Well I am glad you found one. They are eons harder to find quality / affordable ones since the pandemic ended, and the Carribean had that awful bleaching event. Most of them were coming from some vendors around the Carribean. Now a lot of them are being shipped from DR & Belize, and the process is not as figured out. I will admit it is nice to see a lot of new ones in the market - they look a little different depending on the area.

 

[zerozero]

That's interesting @SauceyReef. I've no idea where the RFAs we get in the UK come form.

Do you feed your RFAs? We blammed some live brine shrimp at ours but got no reaction. I think it's still settling in. Should be water change day today but I think I'll leave it till tomorrow.

 

[SauceyReef]

That's interesting @SauceyReef. I've no idea where the RFAs we get in the UK come form.

Do you feed your RFAs? We blammed some live brine shrimp at ours but got no reaction. I think it's still settling in. Should be water change day today but I think I'll leave it till tomorrow.

I'm guessing it came from DR or Belize if it was recently imported the past 2-3 years into the trade.

Yes! Ill feed them once or twice a month when it has been a while, or when I want to show them off. Mainly they just catch stuff though, and you could get away with never feeding them when theyre med-full size. Give it some time, that is normal for them not to eat until they have found a spot they like and settled for a while.

 

[zerozero]

Not really an update. Things have been going smoothly. I've been adding a few Hiakri algae wafers because I'm a bit worried the conch doesn't have enough to sustain itself.

There are so many outrageous colour morphs for RFA and I know mine is not one. I've seen it taking live brine shrimp and saw it pooping so I assume it is doing okay.

Here it is looking handsome. Image has been flipped 90 degrees anti-clockwise.

 

[SauceyReef]

Not really an update. Things have been going smoothly. I've been adding a few Hiakri algae wafers because I'm a bit worried the conch doesn't have enough to sustain itself.

There are so many outrageous colour morphs for RFA and I know mine is not one. I've seen it taking live brine shrimp and saw it pooping so I assume it is doing okay.

Here it is looking handsome. Image has been flipped 90 degrees anti-clockwise.

I have some not the best news. I am suprised I did not notice earlier, but I actually think this is a Bornemans Anemone which would explain why the tentacles are far more curly. Sadly these are considedered invasive by many. Honestly, you may want to consider taking it out, tossing it, returning it, or starting a new tank for it. They reproduce by budding, and can really start taking over, and beat any coral. Also, I would 100% consider reaching out to the vendor or LFS who gave you this. Reprimand, or at the very least communicate they totally mislabeled this and gave you an invasive anemone. A vendor should not be making this mistake, but if it was in a batch of actual RFAS I can see how it may have happened.

 

[zerozero]

Bornemans Anemone

Wow. Thank you for that info. As you must have realised from not recognising your cowrie I'm pretty new to all this. I'll do a bit of research and see what I ought to do.

Thanks for heads up.

 

[zerozero]

Also, thinking I had an RFA, I got it a friend which arrived this morning :confused-face:

 

[zerozero]

Borneman Anemone… I think I may regret this.

I think I done messed up. So I kept seeing these super cool Rock Flower nems at my LFS and they were like none of others I’ve seen or own. They weren’t sure why they were different, just that they probably came from a different area? Fast forward about 3 months and now I have 3 of them. I only...

www.reef2reef.com

Certainly looks like I have a Bornemans Anemone

 

[SauceyReef]

Wow. Thank you for that info. As you must have realised from not recognising your cow< I'm pretty new to all this. I'll do a bit of research and see what I ought to do.

Thanks for heads up.

It happens. I did not even notice at first. They look really similar. The main difference is RFAs dont really breed other than spawning which you have to be lucky for. These reproduce like other anemones by budding, and have a stronger sting. I do see them in tanks now and than though! Reading some other posts about them here, and some people really like them.

RFA or not - awesome photo with the porcelain!

 

[zerozero]

Borneman Anemone...beautiful creature!

Why don't more people keep these?! This is my new one from Fishnreef...absolute beautiful animal. I love the speckled column. Hopefully she likes the spot I picked out for her!!! (all nems are female in my world lol...too pretty to be boys!) ;):D

www.reef2reef.com

Quote from the above thread: I don't believe it is the Hell's Fire Anemone. The column of the Hell's Fire Anemone has no spots or stripes. The tentacles are also far more "fluffy" for lack of a better word.

I took some pics when we were acclimating the anemone :

The spots/stripes are pretty clear.

 

[zerozero]

It happens. I did not even notice at first. They look really similar. The main difference is RFAs dont really breed other than spawning which you have to be lucky for. These reproduce like other anemones by budding, and have a stronger sting. I do see them in tanks now and than though! Reading some other posts about them here, and some people really like them.

RFA or not - awesome photo with the porcelain!

Thank you again @SauceyReef for looking out for me. Appreciate you sharing you knowledge. That's why I'm here.

I sent the eBay seller a message. I'm not sure what I want to do. I'll probably talk to my LFS and see if they would take any new anemones off my hands. Already quite attached to the one we have even though it twice as large than I was expecting.

 

[zerozero]

In other news...

My autistic son takes a keen interest when I'm browsing on R2R and generally looking at corals. He's so chill and undemanding, but after peeping over my shoulder he has made it abundantly clear he would like a torch coral. I got a good deal on a 24K torch.

I can see it already has spiroid snails, so it should feel right at home

 

[SauceyReef]

Thank you again @SauceyReef for looking out for me. Appreciate you sharing you knowledge. That's why I'm here.

I sent the eBay seller a message. I'm not sure what I want to do. I'll probably talk to my LFS and see if they would take any new anemones off my hands. Already quite attached to the one we have even though it twice as large than I was expecting.

Happy to help! Definitely not a Hellsfire. You would have known by touching it. They look a lot different also.

Awesome Torch! DId you get it through ebay also? Always super cool when a non-reefer finds something specific they really like. Especially your son! Could he ever keep a fish tank in the future, or is that out of the cards with Autism?

 

[SauceyReef]

In other news...

My autistic son takes a keen interest when I'm browsing on R2R and generally looking at corals. He's so chill and undemanding, but after peeping over my shoulder he has made it abundantly clear he would like a torch coral. I got a good deal on a 24K torch.

I can see it already has spiroid snails, so it should feel right at home

He may like this video of them being grown in artificial reefs!