the progress continues...

bearwithfish

so i have been "patiently" awaiting the infamous "pods" to show them selves. and have found a ton of various other life in my tank. including the "MONSTER".. i was looking around at my new zoa's and suddenly this thing poped up, then another, and an other... oh my what is going on!?!?!?!?! then it hopped out into the open i have a brittle starfish!!!!!!!!!! its body is about the size of an eraser on a pencil and the legs look almost like hairs.... i was sooo excited... then i noted that my other small colony of zoa's that were next to his home had been moved..what?... so i asked the better half and my daughter and niether had moved it. i liked the new location so left well enough alone.. then this morning it was moved again!!!! grrrrrr to i placed it in a better crevice away from that part of the tank and hopefully it will be left alone... i wonder who is moving it?!?! could it be a worm, crab, the star, or some other mysterious inhabitant i have yet to see?
oh yeah and speaking of seeing. i was looking at sometihng totally unrelated in the tank and my eyes sort of lost focus and relaxed and i thought i saw something on the glass this morning.. so thinking i was just beeing hopeful i ignored it for a bit... then i was looking close because it kept happening... I GOT THE PODS!!!!!!! they are so small but i saw like 30 of them and no mistaking it was them for sure.. they look like miniture fleas and the tend to move in a semi-circular motion. and they move jerky.... wow when you all said they were small you were not kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i dont know how many ways to say it I LOVE THIS ADVENTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

aunt kymmie

That sounds AWESOME! I'm so glad you are enjoying yourself. Any updates pics for us??

bearwithfish

camera batteries are charging and our plan is to shoot pix tonight then i intend to do a pic log of this tanks evolution and continuing progress....i have to send a few more from my phone and grab some from other posts that i do not have on my home PC then all should be in order.. so i thin kby this week end i should be ready to post and document this tank

aunt kymmie

Looking forward to seeing your pics. I love that you're so excited. It's contagious!

Justina

Bear,

I have a question for you. What type of protein skimmer do you have?

And how much rock do you have in your tank? Did you buy all live rock?

onefish2fish

the brittle star your talking about never get bigger then about that size.

bearwithfish

actually i don't use one at this time and based on my plans i may not use one.. the use IMO is based on live stock and i intend to do only inverts and corals at this time. as for my LR and LS i have 45 pounds of LS and at this point i have put in 47 pounds of base rock (dry rock) and 4-5 pounds of Live rock.. the LR and LS will seed and mature the base rock and as of right now is doing a really good job at it... the sand and rock do the vast majority of my filtration and what little other stuff needs to come out at this point is being done by an HOB with a sack of carbon in it.. (no pad or floss as the changes every day are just a pain in the back side i don't really want to bother with LOL...i am a lazy man)... i am building a skimmer just for the point of the experiment not the need for it that way if the thing does not work no big deal and if it does GREAT!!!! (i am a firm believer that one can never "over filter" any kind of tank).... i hope that helps if not i am sorry :)

1f2f - thank you i did not realize that the star wont grow much if any larger.... its still very cool though and i am always happy with new and interesting life in my tank. in particular life i did not know was there... although i must admit it is a bit frustrating to find things and see things that i can not identify and that are so brief that i am unable to take pix of to try searching them out LOL... for example i have these tube like creatures that poke out of the rock at night (and sometimes during the day) that don't ever fully leave the rock and i can not tell what they are.. or that in one spot under my original piece of LR i get little piles of detritus and then the next day they are gone (good CUC!!!!) or that at times i can see the drop of this but can not see the creature (perhaps the worms??) but man it is cool....

Aunt Kymmie- thank you for sharing in my enthusiasm!!!!! i love when i can spark a positive emotion in others.. (usually i just get them angry LOL)..... the photo shoot last night went well now we are just organizing the pix in an order that flows and deciding what parts to leave or cut.... i think that it would be helpful to include most of this journey in the log as this will show other new folks that it is possible to have this adventure... i am still so new to SW yet i have learned more in the last 4 weeks with this tank than over the last year or so with my FW ones!!!!!!! i love that i learn more by the hour (literally) and that this project is an on going learning and growing process.... i have plans to expand this tank already but as i am in such a good spot right now i don't feel pressure to make it happen NOW and that is great.. i can finally slow down and learn and grow WITH my project..... man listen to me i could go on for days LOLLOLOLOLOLO....


sorry to write so much but.... man.... wow ... i can not get enough....

Justina

Bear,

Did you get the dry rock from a LFS or did you purchase it online.

bearwithfish

LFS.. my guy specializes in salt water and when i went to get a piece of LR i saw this piece sitting by the holding tank and asked about it... he made me a really good deal on it and then i went home and broke it up LOL that was an adventure.... if you want the guys site pm me and i will send it to you.. he does ship....

bearwithfish

pssssssst... i am getting some beautiful purple all over the rock in my tank!!!!!!!!1 i just noticed it as i was looking at the pic thread LOL.... i mean a saw it at home but for some reason it never really sank in til just now.. woohooo i so excited lol