Randy's Tank and Learn Thread

[rhizotron]

Nice to see you have a tank to share here, Randy. I have really appreciated your help with chemistry here and there in my projects.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Nice to see you have a tank to share here, Randy. I have really appreciated your help with chemistry here and there in my projects.

Thanks very much.

Happy Reefing!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Looks like a nassarious snail or a related species. :)

 

[twentyleagues]

Looks like a nassarious snail or a related species. :)

It is possibly a whelk. I am not great at telling the difference. From what I remember whelks have darker shells and dark mottled "siphons" judging by this pic I would say whelk, but I am not 100% on that and not all whelks are predatory. @ISpeakForTheSeas ? Hopefully they are around.

 

[Troylee]

Looks like a nassarious snail or a related species. :)

Might be a dove snail.. how big is it? I have large nassi snails and they never leave the sand.. then I had an explosion of little guys I thought were whelks as they cruise the rocks and turned out to be dove snails. A dive snail is typically 1/4” to 3/8”

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would estimate the shell is 3/4”. :)

 

[rishma]

I’d guess whelk

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Livestock on the way

Second half of the TBS package is confirmed for a week from today (May 15). It will have the premium rock and the clean up crew, which will likely consist of Florida hermit crabs, astrea snails, serpent or brittle stars, sea cucumbers, and peppermint shrimp. Excitedly waiting. :)

The pods that Dinkins is sending as a replacement for the wrong mix sent first time (now double the amount at no cost!) is arriving the next day.

The following week the corals from Dwest (elegance, cali tort and green leather) and DIY reefer (yellow Fiji leather) should arrive, and fish donated by Dr Reef (captive bred yellow tang and mandarin pair plus 5 green chromis) will arrive soon as well.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This glue:

Plus this epoxy:

Is the god-tier combo.

That exact epoxy brand is best because it’s supple and doesn’t crumble when inserted into the tank.

You’ll want to knead it until the gray and pink parts are homogeneous.

Gently press and twist the frag to the rock to lock it in place.

Edit: You do the sandwich method outside the tank, then press the frag to the rock inside the tank.

Those exact adhesives are arriving from Amazon today, so I should be good to go for mounting the cali tort. In the meantime I’ll prep a rock for it.

 

[Reefer1978]

@Randy Holmes-Farley have any more recent pics you can share?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

@Randy Holmes-Farley have any more recent pics you can share?

Not at the moment. I’ll take some of the base rock before I add the new rock, but even the base rock looks good .

The mantis trap caught two snails and an amphipod the first night, but then I had to take it down since I’m not there to remove it when it catches anything.

I’ve been keeping the lights low for now so there’s no apparent algae on the rock and sand and just the beginning of some on the glass.

I’ve been periodically bringing up some of the red gracilaria from the refugium and letting the little mithrax crab(s) in the display clean any green algae off them. They like it and the gracilaria gets a cleaning.

My wife really likes one of the crabs and named it Ruby since it may be a ruby mithrax. It’s quite amusing to watch it eat. :)

 

[BryanM]

Not at the moment. I’ll take some of the base rock before I add the new rock, but even the base rock looks good .

The mantis trap caught two snails and an amphipod the first night, but then I had to take it down since I’m not there to remove it when it catches anything.

I’ve been keeping the lights low for now so there’s no apparent algae on the rock and sand and just the beginning of some on the glass.

I’ve been periodically bringing up some of the red gracilaria from the refugium and letting the little mithrax crab(s) in the display clean any green algae off them. They like it and the gracilaria gets a cleaning.

My wife really likes one of the crabs and named it Ruby since it may be a ruby mithrax. It’s quite amusing to watch it eat. :)

I loved our crabs, they just all got hungry for softies.

Super fun critters to watch.

 

[Maize & Blue]

Here’s my thoughts on the pump the 7 versus the 9, the cost difference is minimal but you can always turn the 9 down where you can’t turn the 7 up, and the head pressure from 10 feet might be a lot, especially with twist and turns from fittings, each directional change with fittings adds to the head pressur, you might find that the 7 struggles where as the 9 will probably do well. $70 dollar difference vs $500 if it struggles and you need to buy the 9.

 

[Miami Reef]

Those exact adhesives are arriving from Amazon today, so I should be good to go for mounting the cali tort. In the meantime I’ll prep a rock for it.

Let me know how it goes, buddy. :)

 

[LiverockRocks]

Looks like a nassarious snail or a related species. :)

Whelk, get it out.

 

[Freenow54]

Whelk, get it out.

Why I love them dopy but sure keep my rocks clean. My wife just commented on that an hour ago

 

[twentyleagues]

Why I love them dopy but sure keep my rocks clean. My wife just commented on that an hour ago

Most whelks are predatory they only clean the insides out of other inverts.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Whelk, get it out.

If I see it again, I will. Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Here’s my thoughts on the pump the 7 versus the 9, the cost difference is minimal but you can always turn the 9 down where you can’t turn the 7 up, and the head pressure from 10 feet might be a lot, especially with twist and turns from fittings, each directional change with fittings adds to the head pressur, you might find that the 7 struggles where as the 9 will probably do well. $70 dollar difference vs $500 if it struggles and you need to buy the 9.

Thanks. I’m using the Jebao DEP 10,000 and it’s working great at 60-80%. I have a DEP 8500 as backup, which also serves to send water from my to/di reservoir to my new salt water reservoir. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Let me know how it goes, buddy. :)

Will do! :)