ReefGrammie's 90-Gallon Reboot

[vlangel]

Son and I took the grandkids to Emerald Bay and Music City Aquatics yesterday. I always love to see the local fish stores wherever we happen to be. One of them had a skittles cyphastrea about the size of a fingernail for $82. I need to do some fragging!! Mine has to be at least 5 inches across!

On another note, my tanks are at the mercy of my husband. He has a list and is supposed to call if anything looks “off.”

Are those lfs in Nashville area? If so, I have also got frags at Emerald Bay. We have a son who lives in Nashville and they have some good lfs there.

 

[ReefGrammie]

Hopefully he does good!

He did fine! I made it easy for him this time. Both tanks have an ATO and I had filled both reservoirs. I just told him to check the water line and the temperatures. Easy enough. He had to add calcium to the 90, which I had premeasured and he just had to dump it in. Easy enough again. I fed Thursday morning and again was planning to come home Saturday and feed when I got home, so I didn't ask him to feed the fish. I kind of regretted that because I stayed an extra day.

Next week, I'm leaving Wednesday and coming back Saturday or Sunday, so he'll have to feed the 90. I guess I'll have to premeasure frozen food in several containers, put them in the frig, and take my chances! I hate to trust him with the pellets because I know he'd dump half the container in the tank! "They looked hungry." They ALWAYS look hungry!! I need to order more pods this week anyway, so I'll just give the possum wrasse in the BioCube some new pods. She will be happy with those.

 

[ReefGrammie]

Are those lfs in Nashville area? If so, I have also got frags at Emerald Bay. We have a son who lives in Nashville and they have some good lfs there.

Yes, they are in Nashville! Emerald Bay is where our 3-year-old grandson got to pet and hold several reptiles. They were so nice there! Every time our son takes him in there, he asks to hold a snake. Unless they're extremely busy, they always let him hold one. Our daughter-in-law is terrified she has a snake in her future...I think she does! Our son has a 20-gallon planted FW tank, but I definitely see salt in his future! He says the tank was for "Teddy," but I think it was for him!

I also like to go to Aquatic Critter there, but we didn't have time this trip. Let me know if there are any other LFS in Nashville we need to visit!

 

[MrsBugmaster]

He did fine! I made it easy for him this time. Both tanks have an ATO and I had filled both reservoirs. I just told him to check the water line and the temperatures. Easy enough. He had to add calcium to the 90, which I had premeasured and he just had to dump it in. Easy enough again. I fed Thursday morning and again was planning to come home Saturday and feed when I got home, so I didn't ask him to feed the fish. I kind of regretted that because I stayed an extra day.

Next week, I'm leaving Wednesday and coming back Saturday or Sunday, so he'll have to feed the 90. I guess I'll have to premeasure frozen food in several containers, put them in the frig, and take my chances! I hate to trust him with the pellets because I know he'd dump half the container in the tank! "They looked hungry." They ALWAYS look hungry!! I need to order more pods this week anyway, so I'll just give the possum wrasse in the BioCube some new pods. She will be happy with those.

I pre measured both frozen and pellets in little containers for my tank sitter. Works great that way

 

[vlangel]

Yes, they are in Nashville! Emerald Bay is where our 3-year-old grandson got to pet and hold several reptiles. They were so nice there! Every time our son takes him in there, he asks to hold a snake. Unless they're extremely busy, they always let him hold one. Our daughter-in-law is terrified she has a snake in her future...I think she does! Our son has a 20-gallon planted FW tank, but I definitely see salt in his future! He says the tank was for "Teddy," but I think it was for him!

I also like to go to Aquatic Critter there, but we didn't have time this trip. Let me know if there are any other LFS in Nashville we need to visit!

Actually Emerald Bay and Aquatic Critters are the only lfs I have been in Nashville. Aquatic Critters is only 10-15 minutes from our son's home so I have been going there a few years. I had not heard of Music City Aquatics.

ReefGrammie, where do you call home? I am from north of Pittsburgh, PA.

 

[ReefGrammie]

Actually Emerald Bay and Aquatic Critters are the only lfs I have been in Nashville. Aquatic Critters is only 10-15 minutes from our son's home so I have been going there a few years. I had not heard of Music City Aquatics.

ReefGrammie, where do you call home? I am from north of Pittsburgh, PA.

I believe Music City is fairly new, or maybe they just changed location? Our son is east of Nashville, so Music City and Emerald Bay are closest to him. Music City is half freshwater and half saltwater, which is similar to my LFS. I'm actually in the Chattanooga, TN area, so I'm about 2-1/2 hours from Nashville.

 

[ReefGrammie]

I've been quiet over here. Fun find this weekend...duncan eating a shrimp molt...at least I hoped it was a shrimp molt!

Quick check for the shrimp...fire shrimp is ok!

Cleaner shrimp is ok! Whew...

In other news, I ordered a CUC. It's been awhile. I love my banded trochus snails since they can flip themselves back over and also because they breed in my tank. I ordered mostly crabs and 2 juvenile pincushion urchins. I have a love/hate relationship with the urchins. I hate the way they carry stuff around (like coral frags). I think I'll be ok since I'm pretty much done buying frags for now and everything is glued down. I love the way they keep the coraline under control, especially on my glass where I don't want it!

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I've been quiet over here. Fun find this weekend...duncan eating a shrimp molt...at least I hoped it was a shrimp molt!

Quick check for the shrimp...fire shrimp is ok!

Cleaner shrimp is ok! Whew...

In other news, I ordered a CUC. It's been awhile. I love my banded trochus snails since they can flip themselves back over and also because they breed in my tank. I ordered mostly crabs and 2 juvenile pincushion urchins. I have a love/hate relationship with the urchins. I hate the way they carry stuff around (like coral frags). I think I'll be ok since I'm pretty much done buying frags for now and everything is glued down. I love the way they keep the coraline under control, especially on my glass where I don't want it!

Tank is looking good! Glad it was just the molt being eaten.

 

[ReefGrammie]

I have to give a shout out to John at @reefcleaners for another great CUC order. Been buying from him since 2008!

I got assorted hermits, various snails, 2 juvenile pincushion urchins, a tiger pistol shrimp, and one of my old favorites, a fuzzy chiton. Everything was packaged great and looked healthy. After following the acclimation instructions, into the tank they went!

I was on the wait list for the urchins. I had had my previous pincushion urchin for several years...I'm not sure how long they're supposed to live, but it suddenly lost its spikes and that was the end...no change in water parameters, so I have no idea. Anyway, the juvenile urchins were about the size of a quarter or maybe slightly larger, but they've been working hard on my coraline, which is why I hired them! Everything I have coral-wise has grown up and is glued down, so I shouldn't have a problem with the new ones wearing my frags as a hat and carrying them off!

I can tell which ones are the new hermits. They have nice shiny shells that aren't covered in coraline (yet)! I've had several sightings of the fuzzy chiton, who arrived on a shell. After acclimation, I placed the shell on a flat spot and the chiton started working it's way off the shell pretty quickly. Such an interesting creature, who looks quite prehistoric.

It's not a very good picture...he was all the way in the back of the tank...the greenish-looking thing right in the middle of the picture.

The only thing MIA is the tiger pistol shrimp. It looked perfectly healthy and disappeared into a cave. No surprises there really. I'm hoping my YWM goby finds the shrimp and they pair up. There's always a possibility they won't pair up. There are all kinds of tunnels in the sand under the rock from previous shrimp. I'll post an update if I have a sighting...or hear it snapping in the middle of the night! Interestingly, the goby always comes out one of two tunnels in the front of the tank, but has been hanging out in the back of the tank for the last few days. Hmmmmm, I hope there's something to the goby relocation!